[Evil Vito]

SI interview with CM Punk:

Despite the fact that Punk has not wrestled in nearly three years—and is a mere two days away from making his debut in the Octagon—the disciplines of pro wrestling and pro fighting continue to intertwine in his life. While Punk is finished with WWE, he is open to the idea of wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling. “A long time ago I stopped saying ‘never,’ but that’s a loaded question,” Punk explained. “I don’t know the answer. No matter what I say, it’s going to take on a life of its own.” Punk turns 38 in October. Although both Punk and UFC president Dana White have publicly stated that he has a multi-fight UFC contract, there is no defeating Father Time in the cage. Punk’s age, however, would not hinder him in pro wrestling, and the chance to compete in Japan would fulfill his boyhood dream. “When I started wrestling, I never wanted to go to WWE,” said Punk, who wrestled in Japan in 2003 for Pro Wrestling Zero1. “It was the Japanese life for me. I romanticized guys, like [Eddie] Guerrero, [Chris] Benoit, [Chris] Jericho, who went over there, and it just sounded like such an awesome life. You’d go over there for two, three, four weeks, and you come back and nobody knows who the f--- you are. I could go get ice cream with my sisters without being harassed, and that was always my style." “One of the biggest moments for me was when I wrestled in Japan, and I was told I was too small to be a heavyweight and too big to be a cruiserweight,” said Punk. “I remember thinking, ‘What the f--- do I do now? This was my dream.’ So I re-evaluated and got new goals, and I could have quit then but I didn’t. “It’s just like fighting. It’s something I want to do, people laugh and say ‘you can’t do it,’ and then I think, ‘Why should I believe you?’ and I go out and do it. Things that you learn along the way and things that you gain, it’s all positive. I could think of awful stories when I didn’t think I’d survive the night, and now I’ve learned from it and grown from it.”

So, Punk in NJPW could eventually be a thing. That'd be cool.