CM Punk
On November 26, 2014, Punk appeared on his friend Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast. During the podcast, Punk decided to break his silence on his decision on leaving the WWE. Punk said the WWE had suspended him for two months after he walked out in January, and that he was fired by the company months later on his wedding day in June 2014. He said that them firing him on his wedding day was the last straw and he said that he would never return to the WWE. He also said that after a legal settlement with WWE, there would not be a further working relationship between them. The settlement that was reached included Punk giving the company permission to sell the rest of his remaining merchandise. Punk said that the main reason he left the WWE was because of his health problems. Punk said that during his last months with the company, he was working through an untreated and possibly fatal MRSA infection, broken ribs, injured knees, multiple concussions which included one at the Royal Rumble when Kofi Kingston kicked him, as well as having lost his appetite and ability to sleep well. He felt that the company had been pressuring and rushing him to wrestle before he was fully healed. Punk also noted that he was unhappy with his failure to main event a WrestleMania (saying that his entire career was a failure as a result), him being paid less than the other top wrestlers on the card for WrestleMania 29, being "creatively stifled" and him having the feeling that there were no long-term plans for wrestlers other than John Cena, as well as receiving smaller paychecks and not getting answers as to how the WWE Network would effect the salaries of the wrestlers. Punk ended with saying that he has "zero passion" left for wrestling.