CM Punk & Dave Prazak Interview 2002

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CM Punk & Dave Prazak Interview - 2002



CM Punk added another feat to his growing list of achievements Saturday

- working shows at both Midwest Championship Wrestling (against Danny Dominion)

and then in the main event at the Lunatic Wrestling Federation (he beat Vic Capri).

Punk talked about the feat and about why he did not face Acid as originally

scheduled at the MCW show. Punk said Acid didn't feel it was an appropriate forum,

but Punk - who called himself a "gunslinger" - said such issues don't matter to him.

Punk and his manager Dave Prazak sat down after the LWF show in Midlothian.



CW: Was it difficult to do 2 shows in one night?

Punk: I didn't think twice about it.



CW: I know you consider yourself a hard worker and a lot of people call you that, too. Have you had your weekend off yet?

Punk: No, still going. Still going strong.



CW: Not only do you have a match after a drive from another show, but it's a pretty intense match. How did each show go?

Punk: I worked Dominion (at MCW). We were on first. It's been exactly a year since I worked him in St. Paul.



CW: I think Danny Dominion vs. CM Punk is an interesting matchup. So why not promote it? Did you have any part of that? (MCW billed Punk vs. Acid instead, a match that did not take place).

Punk: I've got nothing to do with that. I'm a gunslinger and I show up and do whatever.



CW: People have talked about Punk vs. Acid. I talked about it. We've talked about it. He's talked about it. Why promote that? How did you handle that?

Punk: I wasn't told anything. I just figured I wasn't going to wrestle him, because he said he didn't want to face me because he said it was a match that should take place in the LWF. I could really give a crap. I'll wrestle whoever, wherever, whenever.



CW: Did they handle it at the show? Did they bring it up?

Prazak: Acid came out and said, "A lot of people might be here to see CM Punk vs. Acid. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen because we have issues stemming from a couple of years ago. And the appropriate place was not (MCW), but in another setting." He didn't mention LWF.



CW: He wrestled Chetti?

Prazak: Yes, Chetti then hit the ring.



CW: And you wrestled Dominion after that?

Punk: I guess it was after that. I didn't see the beginning promo.



CW: Any problems getting here from there?

Punk: Nope, it took me 40 minutes. I drive like a maniac.

Prazak: Nothing like driving 95 miles per hour.

Punk: Prazak was afraid.



CW: You're not healthy to start with, are you all right (after working two shows)?

Punk: I'm all right. I'll live. How'd the finish look?



CW: Pretty damn cool. (Punk won with a Tombstone piledriver from the second rope). I counted about seven big spots.

Punk: I landed on my head twice.



CW: You've wrestled Vic Capri twice.

Punk: I love working with him. It's a blast. Hopefully, we do it again.



CW: Are you teaming with him I hear (next weekend in Indiana)?

Punk: That got changed. He's working Quackenbush in Indianapolis and working Ace. I'm excited about it. Nothing gets me excited anymore.



CW: So what does it take to get you excited?

Punk: Interesting situations like working for two different companies who are feuding in Chicagoland. Stuff like that.



CW: People are talking about it.

Punk: It's nice to be the topic of conversation.



CW: OK, so Acid is coming (to LWF) and you two are expected to have a showdown. Does that matter to you?

Punk: You've got me. I'd imagine it'll probably wind up happening.



CW: Is everything cool with you working both companies? Is Brian (Zenner) cool with it? Is Jayson (Reign) cool with it?

Punk: Probably not. I'm sure Billy Whack would rather have me just work here, and I'm sure Brian Zenner would rather have me work for him. But a single promoter can't tie me down.



CW: So you're not the kind of guy who can be tied down?

Punk: Like I said, I'm a gunslinger.



CW: You're a regular here all the sudden, after not being around for a while and the crowd is pretty into you. Is the crowd in MCW into you?

Punk: If the crowd doesn't know me, I go out and grab them. That's what guys don't understand. They walk out, raise their hand and whatever. ... You've got to grab them by the neck, put them in your hand and lead them exactly to where you want to go. At MCW, I don't think there were a lot of people today who were at the Grayslake show. So it's a whole new crowd. Dominion did his job, got the heel heat.



CW: How was the draw?

Prazak: Guestimate - 125.



CW: Do you like it better when you don't have to drive so far?

Punk: It doesn't matter.

Prazak: Even when it's only a 20-minute drive, we still drove 5 hours last night.

Punk: Last night we were in Kentucky. I wrestled Mean Mitch Page and Rollin' Hard.



CW: By Kentucky, you mean Charlestown (Ind.)?

Punk: Yeah, you step over here, you're in Kentucky. It's cooler than saying Indiana.



CW: What do you have going on this month and next month?

Punk: It's huge. Huge, huge, huge. I'm excited about March 1 and 2 and 3. I've got a triple shot, working for Ian (Rotten, in IWA MidSouth) Friday and Saturday and working for Rockin' Randy in the NAWF on Sunday. This Friday, I have a gauntlet match in Indianapolis. I have to defend the title against Colt Cabana, Ace Steel and Chris Hero. The following night, I'm in a tables and ladders match against Chris Hero. The following day, I will be at the chiropractor and I will get a one-hour Swedish massage and sleeping. The weekend after that, we're in Philly at the ECW Arena. Me and Cabana, with the manager of champions, Dave Prazak against...

Prazak: My good buddies Joey Matthews and Christian York.

Punk: We make the 15-hour drive hopefully in time to make a 4 o'clock show in Wisconsin. I would have it no other way.



CW: Does anybody else do this?

Punk: No. Nope. I really don't think so.

Prazak: We are fanatics.



CW: You never think twice about it?

Punk: No. Cabana wanted to bring somebody with to do the driving, but f*ck it.



CW: So you're driving?

Punk: I like driving. You get a nice fat rental deal, a big Durango, something you can sleep in. It's paying dues. It's about paying dues.



CW: March 1-2-3 what's happening?

Punk: March 1 and 2 is insanely huge, but I can't say what it is yet.



CW: When will you be able to say?

Punk: After next weekend.

Prazak: He did say who was going to be on the show. Eddy Guerrero and Rey Mysterio Jr. will be on the shows.



Punk: That's all I'll say.

Prazak: And they're on both of the shows. March 1 in Indianapolis and March 2 in Morris, Illinois.



CW: So the Morris thing is a done deal?

Prazak: Yes. No point trying to schedule shows in Charlestown when you don't know - past next weekend - if they're going to be allowed to run there (IWA MidSouth is in danger of losing its Charlestown venue because of a zoning issue).



CW: How are your knees?

Punk: They're all right. I'll live.



CW: Any weekends off any time soon?

Punk: No, I'm booked solid through April. I think I've done every Friday and Saturday since the beginning of the year. And if there's a Friday open, I'm gonna beg somebody to put me on a show. I don't know what I'd do if I wasn't working. I really don't know what I'd do.

[Wyle E. Coyote]

Some pre-WWF career info on CM Punk:

Following a stint in a backyard wrestling federation
called the Lunatic Wrestling Federation in the
mid-late 90's, Brooks trained as a wrestler at the
Steel Domain. He was mostly trained by Ace Steel.
It was in the Steel Domain that he met Scott Colton,
who later adopted the stage name Colt Cabana.
Brooks befriended Colton, and spent most of the
time working mostly in the same independent
promotions as opponents or allies. Punk's home
promotion for his early career could be considered
IWA Mid-South. He, along with Colt Cabana,
Paul/Chuck E. Smoothe, and manager Dave Prazak
formed the Gold Bond Mafia. Punk, Cabana, and
Smoothe (along with Chris Hero, among others)
became some of IWA Mid-South's hottest young
wrestlers. CM Punk also feuded with both Cabana
and Hero. Punk's matches with Cabana led him to
getting a job in Ring of Honor. Punk's matches in
IWA Mid-South are not only considered to have given
Punk recognition, but also are credited for putting
IWA Mid-South on the map. In his last match for the
company punk faced delirous in a 60 minute draw half
way through the match punk exposed his butt in memory
of chris candino

Cracked skull - Punk cracked his skull when he attempted
one of his signature moves at that time, a twisting
springboard moonsault to flying neckbreaker.
Punk refused pain medication due to his Straight Edge
lifestyle. Doctors told him not to strain himself for
a year. However Punk returned to wrestling only a few
months later.

TNA and Ring of Honor - Punk joined Ring of Honor and
started climbing in the ranks. Punk also joined
NWA:Total Nonstop Action, where he was soon paired as
a tag team with Julio Dinero as sidekicks for Raven.
Punk's feud with Raven in RoH was a big success,
and soon they were put against each other also in TNA.
Raven and Punk were originally slated to face off in a
hair versus hair match in RoH. TNA objected and insisted
the match to be had in their promotion with Raven facing
Shane Douglas instead of Punk. ROH ended up arranging a
Steel Cage Match between them instead. Punk's time in
TNA ended when he had a scuffle with Teddy Hart outside
of a restaurant shortly after a TNA show. Punk was still
under contract, but was not used, though according to
Punk TNA was intending to use him again but when they
wanted him to stop working RoH shows he refused and thus
he never returned. The contract ran out almost
a year later.

Samoa Joe - For an unpublished reason TNA forbid their
main stars from working in ROH in the beginning of 2004.
Around the same time the Rob Feinstein controversy hit,
causing some workers to leave, and ROH found itself
without most of its top stars. Punk decided to stay.
Some months later Punk and Samoa Joe faced off in a
three match series for the ROH World Championship.

The first match on June 12 2004 in Dayton, Ohio
resulted in a 60 minute time-limit draw.
The show was named World Title Classic.
The second encounter was scheduled for Punk's
hometown of Chicago, Illinois. At Joe vs. Punk II
on October 16, they wrestled to a second 60
minute draw. In addition to becoming Ring of Honor's
best selling DVD up until that point, the match
received the first 5-star rating for a match in
North America since 1997, given by Dave Meltzer's
Wrestling Observer newsletter. Joe finally won the
series in the third match that December.
Those matches were very highly rated, and resulted
in much stir and raise in ROH's publicity.
It is generally thought that the company would
not have survived its slump without Punk.

Punk had been laid off from his previous full time
job as a laboratory technician for Underwriters
Laboratories, soon after the lay off he became the
head trainer for ROH's wrestling school. Punk has
stated that he never had the credentials for the
laboratory work, and only worked there so he could
afford wrestling.


WWE deal and ROH Championship - In June of 2005,
CM Punk accepted a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment,
after wrestling try out matches on its Sunday Night Heat
show. Even though he had accepted the deal CM Punk went
on to beat Austin Aries to win the ROH World Championship
at Death Before Dishonor III.

On August 12, 2005 CM Punk lost his ROH World Title in a
match against James Gibson in Dayton, Ohio, while Austin
Aries replaced Punk as head trainer at the ROH Wrestling
School leaving him no commitments and able to leave ROH.
His final match in Ring of Honor took place on
August 13, 2005 against his good friend Colt Cabana at
Punk:The Final Chapter. He reappeared on
February 11, 2006, teaming with Bryan Danielson as a
replacement for Low-Ki.

Ohio Valley Wrestling - Punk was assigned to
Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory.
On September 26, 2005 in his OVW television debut,
Punk suffered a ruptured eardrum and broken nose at
the hands of Danny Inferno, after he was hit by a
overly stiff right hand. Despite the injury, Punk
finished the match and quickly recovered.

On November 9, 2005, Punk became the OVW Television
Champion after defeating Ken Doane. On January 4, 2006,
Punk lost the TV Title in a rematch of a three way
dance between him, Brent Albright and Doane.
Doane was injured halfway through the match and
could not continue. Aaron Stevens then came in the
match to replace Doane. Punk then submitted to
Albright's Crowbar, and after interference by Punk,
Stevens was able to get the pin on Albright to become
the new OVW Television Champion.

He is currently dating WWE diva Maria, which she
confirmed in an interview with The Sun after pictures
of the two kissing surfaced on the Internet.

'Pepsi Plunge' (Top rope double underhook facebuster)
'Anaconda Vice' (Anaconda vice or arm triangle side headlock)
'Pepsi Twist' (Jumping hammerlock short-arm lariat)
Shining Wizard.45 Special (Modified bow and arrow hold)
Devil Lock (Modified sharpshooter)
Devil Lock DDT (Hammerlock legsweep DDT)
Welcome to Chicago, Motherfucker (Double underhook backbreaker)

Managers - Tracy Brooks Lucy Furr Bobby Heenan Dave Prazak


Stables - The Gold Bond Mafia The Goon Squad
The Gathering (NWA:TNA) The New Dawn (FIP)
Second City Saints (ROH) The Superheroes

Championships and accomplishments

IWA Mid-South:
5-time IWA Mid-South Champion
2-time IWA Mid-South Light Heavyweight Champion

NWA Cyberspace:
1-time NWA Cyberspace Tag Team Champion with Julio Dinero

NWA Revolution:
1-time NWA Revolution Champion

Ohio Valley Wrestling:
1-time OVW Television Champion

Ring Of Honor:
1-time ROH World Heavyweight Champion
2-time ROH Tag Team Champion with Colt Cabana

Others:
1-time HPW Tag Team Champion
1-time IWC Champion
1-time MAW Champion
3-time SDW Television Champion
1-time SPCW Northern States Light Heavyweight Champion
1-time RCW Champion