CM Punk walks out on WWE: More details on reason for his departure

As detailed on the site here, CM Punk walked out on WWE when he told Chairman of the Board Vince McMahon on Monday Night Raw this week (Jan. 27, 2014) that was going home. As of right now, he will not be appearing on any shows going forward.

This just one night after he was the Iron Man in the Royal Rumble match and there were apparently big plans for him at WrestleMania 30.

So what gives? Dave Meltzer provided some details on a breaking news edition of Wrestling Observer Radio (subscription required but strongly recommended):

"It's funny that it took so long to come out because he did it right before Raw started. I guess the deal is he told Vince McMahon that he was going home and he went home. And they were not expecting that to happen. People had certainly expected that he was going to leave in July. They could see that it was coming, he was getting burned out, the signs were there. I had heard about it for quite a while that he was theoretically going to leave in July, but I always take that with a grain of salt because you know how many guys say 'I'm retiring' in pro wrestling and then when the day comes they don't. It's hard to walk away because there's so much money.

"The thing with him is he's very different from a lot of the guys in the sense that he saved his money, which is a big thing, and he didn't need them, in his mind. I think that most of these guys... because a lot of these guys are frustrated, not all of them but a lot of them, but at the end of the day they don't complain and they're afraid to say anything. I don't want to say he's not afraid to say anything but he spoke his mind more than anyone else and he didn't have a fear of being fired because if he's fired, what's going to happen? He's going to have more free time and he's going to be able to rest up his injuries, and he doesn't have that financial concern.

...

"I have no idea what the straw was that broke the camel's back in the last couple of days other than it happened. But it wasn't one thing, that I can tell you. It's been building up for a year, maybe a little less than a year maybe even more than a year. What I do know obviously is he wanted to be the top guy in the company and as long as John Cena was there it was not going to happen. He went heel when he was a very strong babyface because of the idea that he could be the number one heel. ... Whatever it was, I can't tell you more, I just know that he didn't need it and the guy's that don't need it have a different mentality than the guy's who need it."

This is all very interesting because no one really knows what's going on other than Punk, but he's been vocal about his desire to get out of pro wrestling sooner rather than later. He recently told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani that his contract expires in July and he wasn't sure about coming back.

That decision may have been made on Monday.

It should be noted that he's also been very vocal about wanting to main event WrestleMania before he retires and for the second year in a row, a big star has come back and been given that slot. The Rock returned and beat Punk for the title at the Royal Rumble last year and Batista returned to win the Rumble this year, the same Rumble Punk was the workhorse for.

This could very well be a combination of burnout, creative frustration, and lack of upward mobility.

It was also noted by Meltzer that Daniel Bryan vs. Triple H is now a possible match for WrestleMania 30 with Punk apparently not working the show.

Stay tuned.