"It kind of hits the talent a lot" - Wrestling veteran shares honest thoughts on impact of CM Punk's bold message (Exclusive)

CM Punk made his presence known in the wrestling industry with his no-nonsense and straightforward attitude. His controversial WWE tenure made his future seem shaky. Recently, Teddy Long cited the impact of stars standing up for themselves against unhappiness backstage at promotions.

In 2011, the 44-year-old went up against Vince McMahon and his family in a heated rant now referred to as the iconic 'pipebomb' promo. Though the blurry line between reality and fiction still seems distinct to this day.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's latest show, The Wrestling Time Machine, Teddy Long highlighted that CM Punk's media scrum rant enabled him to not only garner recognition but also encourage other talents to speak up:

"Well, one thing it keeps his (CM Punk) name out there. The second thing is, this wasn't possible many years back because there are a lot of things that may be going on backstage that a lot of people don't agree with. But they can't say anything about it. A lot of guys I went to work a lot of days and I used see a lot of guys come to work and they were miserable. You know what I mean about what they had to do and what they were asked to do, but they did, wasn't able to talk about it. So, I think it kind of it hits the talent a lot." (5:44 - 6:16)

Check out the entire interaction below:

The Second City Saint was last seen on AEW television at the All Out pay-per-view, where he defeated Jon Moxley to win his second title reign. He had to strip off the championship following his involvement in the controversial brawl out.

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Teddy Long emphasized the impact of talents speaking out while considering CM Punk's promo

CM Punk took on the persona of being 'the voice of the voiceless' during his Straight Edge gimmick. The multi-time WWE Champion had a knack for voicing his unfiltered opinions on the mic.

In the same edition of The Wrestling Time Machine, Teddy Long cited the cruciality of the truth while speaking out and vocalizing their issues backstage:

"I don't think you need to speak out about something because you're gonna get mad at somebody. So, now you want to sink the ship, it don't work like that. I think when you're gonna come out and start speaking about something, if it's happening to you then it needs to be the truth. And also it needs to be where it's going not only to help you, it's going to help other talent in the future." (6:52 - 7:16)

CM Punk is currently a commentator for Cage Fury Fighting Championship. There has been no confirmation or update on his future in the wrestling industry. However, there were reports of a potential buyout in his contract by the Jacksonville-based promotion and vested interest from WWE.

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