By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE champion C.M. Punk was interviewed by Peter Rosenberg of "Hot 97" in New York City on Wednesday discussing the State of WWE for 20 minutes. The following are highlights of Punk's interview.

-- Punk acknowledged early criticism of his feud with Chris Jericho leading to WrestleMania, but he urged patience to see where they're going. "We haven't done anything yet," Punk said with a laugh. He added, "I think it could be very, very special - if we handle it the right way."

-- Now that Punk has gone from a new type of rebellious character in 2011 to a regular part of the WWE product, Punk said he's constantly fighting WWE management to retain some edginess to his character. He said he doesn't want to do anything to anger sponsors, but he feels he has to be different than everyone else.

Punk added that in regards to his promos he does what he feels is best during a live situation. He said no one on the roster has to do what's written for him or her, but the wrestlers are "petrified" to rock the boat or they're not skilled enough to make a promo or match their own.

-- Punk said he has a good relationship with Triple H and tries to pick his brain on behind-the-scenes, management decisions. One example Punk cited was asking why Brodus Clay was put on TV, given a push, and then taken off TV. Punk said he heard Hunter's explanation and understood where Hunter was coming from. (Punk did not give Hunter's explanation, though.)

-- Regarding Mark Henry being up-and-down the past month, Punk cited roster depth issues with Henry having to come back to TV before he was fully healthy and now he doesn't have anything to do on TV because he's not the top heel on Smackdown. Punk added that wrestlers work hard to get to a top spot, but it's hard to stay there, and there are behind-the-scenes aspects that go into, especially if a wrestler has detractors.

-- At the beginning of the interview, Punk stressed WWE's current issue of a lack of roster depth. He noted he wanted to stay off TV after winning the WWE Title at the Money in the Bank PPV in July, but said he couldn't stay off TV.

"There's situation that, yeah, it could always be done better, but we run 52 live Monday Night Raws a year and we need content," he said. "Right now, the roster is so thin and that promo catapulted me into an area that I had never been before. Overnight, I became the guy - they needed me."

-- Punk downplayed TV ratings, claiming WWE is only concerned about the ratings to ensure they are satisfying sponsors who care about the ratings. The comment comes at a time when Raw TV ratings have trended downward over the past year during Punk's run, especially in key demographics.

-- At the end of the interview, Punk promoted his feud with John Cena last year, saying he believes they have great chemistry in the ring and simply working together in programs. He teased a resumption of the feud down the line. "Probably certain we'll revisit that eventually," he said.

Video: Punk's interview with Peter Rosenberg is below.



Video URL: http://youtu.be/3ik6VvbXND8

[Torch art credit Grant Gould (c) PWTorch.com]

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