Chris Bey Recalls Inspiring Conversation With WWE’s CM Punk

TNA Wrestling/WWE

TNA Wrestling’s Chris Bey has opened up about the conversation he’s had with WWE’s CM Punk after undergoing neck surgery.

Bey suffered a neck injury in October 2024 at TNA iMPACT and would later be rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.

In a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Bey spoke about his mindset coming out of that surgery, saying:

“The day I woke up from surgery, the first thing I thought was that I’m alive. I was grateful to be alive, because if I wasn’t supposed to be here anymore, I wouldn’t have been.

“So once I woke up, one of the first things I kept saying was day one. People use that phrase before. It’s not a new (thing), I didn’t create the phrase “day one”. For me it just meant this is day one as far as my new life, my new obstacle, my new journey.

“I break everything up into seasons in life, the season that I chased this, the season that I pursued this, and this was a new season for me.

“So what made me not quit was I was alive, and when I got that diagnosis for maybe 24 to 48 hours, I was a little messed up about it. I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it, and I was telling myself it’s better than a 0% chance, but I still was doubting a little bit.”

Bey would then open up about a conversation he had with CM Punk, who referenced the TNA Wrestling star on WWE Raw in January 2025, saying:

“But then I had a conversation with Punk, and it was very simple conversation where he said something along the lines of “I think that diagnosis and that percentage applies to humans and you’re not human”.

“I had to put my whole life into perspective. I’ve had a less percent chance of becoming a professional wrestler and landing on TV. I’ve had a lot less odds with everything that I’ve done in my life up until this point. So who’s to say I can’t beat this one?

“And once I realized that 24 to 48 hours were over, it was go time.”

Reflecting on CM Punk referencing Bey on the January 6 Netflix premiere of WWE Raw, the TNA Wrestling star would say he was “humbled (and) grateful”, stating:

“How do you even put that into words? I was surprised. First things first, I was surprised. I was humbled, grateful.

“I just can’t believe that through doing what I wanted to do all my life and actually being able to be successful at it, I’ve made this much of a mark on people, because all I ever wanted to do was wrestle.”

He would go on to state that wrestling was all he ever wanted to do since being a child and that he couldn’t believe that Punk, and others, care about him as much as they do.

TJ Wilson (formerly WWE’s Tyson Kidd) has recently opened up about a conversation that he had with Bey, having suffered a career-ending injury of his own.

Bey recently provided an update on his recovery, sharing a video showing that he’s able to get out of his wheelchair and is learning to walk again.

Transcription via Fightful. 

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• Chris Bey
• tna wrestling
• cm punk
• wwe

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