Summary

CM Punk has added more heat to his ongoing issue with Pat McAfee, saying McAfee has crossed a line by talking about WrestleMania ticket sales despite never having been in a position to move tickets himself.

Speaking on *All The Smoke*, Punk said wrestling has long welcomed outside celebrities and personalities in the hope that they bring attention to the product. He drew a sharp distinction, though, between attracting eyeballs and convincing fans to spend money. That led him back to McAfee, who recently inserted himself into the WrestleMania 42 picture after attacking Cody Rhodes on SmackDown and later taking aim at the state of the business.

The latest comments keep the story moving after McAfee answered Punk on SmackDown with a Saudi Arabia jab, and they add another layer to a rivalry that has already spilled across multiple WWE shows.

Quote from CM Punk

Asked about McAfee's place in wrestling, Punk did not hold back:

"Wrestling has always, sometimes to a fault, embraced people that we believe can get eyeballs on a product. Eyeballs on a product and people actually investing and buying tickets are two wildly different things. Pat was a wrestling fan who became famous outside of the bubble and was afforded an opportunity to be invited in. Somewhere along the line, he forgot that he was a tourist. To me, that can easily be rescinded. Pat is great at what he does. Pat is not great at what we do. Cody is going to handle it. Poor Cody has to deal with this guy. When he disrespects the business and he says something out of pocket, he's going to get checked and he's going to get checked by me. You can't be running your mouth about ticket sales when you've never sold a ticket in your life. I would prefer to not have to deal with Pat, but we'll see what happens. I don't think Pat realizes the dangerous things he's doing."

What Punk's latest comments mean for McAfee and Cody Rhodes

Punk's remarks make it clear that this is no longer just a one-off promo exchange. By directly tying McAfee's comments to disrespect for the business, Punk framed the issue as something serious enough that either he or Cody Rhodes may need to answer it on screen.

That also keeps McAfee positioned as more than a celebrity cameo in the WrestleMania 42 conversation. If WWE continues this angle, Punk's latest comments give the company another clear hook to build around McAfee's tension with both Punk and Rhodes.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.