CM Punk Reveals Creative Process Behind ‘Doctor Of Punkanomics’ Promo

CM Punk has pulled back the curtain on the creative process behind his memorable “Doctor of Punkanomics” freestyle rap promo, which targeted John Cena on the June 27 episode of WWE SmackDown. In a new interview, Punk explained why he chose to “zag” instead of delivering another “Pipe Bomb.”

Speaking with ComicBook.com, Punk revealed that the motivation behind the rap was to deliberately avoid recreating his legendary Pipe Bomb promo, as he felt it was what everyone was expecting.

“The genesis of the idea was everybody’s expecting this Pipe Bomb 2 from me. And I’m not into delivering sequels to stuff that don’t need sequels,” Punk said. “For 14 years, people have been chasing this moment and trying to replicate it… I couldn’t even have followed myself… everyone’s expecting me to zig, so I zag. That was kind of the idea with it.”

To ensure the freestyle rap landed perfectly, Punk enlisted the help of some friends who specialize in that area, including battle rap expert Jensen Karp.

“I have a good friend of mine by the name of Jensen Karp who is to me like battle rap master—master’s kind of what he does. So it was his lane,” Punk explained. “So I definitely leaned on him… He helped me greatly, along with another friend of ours, Ron.”

“People are going to remember that. Whether it’s because of the delivery, the content, the way I was dressed, the atmosphere… I think it was a hell of a moment.”

The memorable promo on SmackDown served as a special confrontation between the two legendary rivals. Since then, both men have returned to their respective brand’s main event scenes. CM Punk is now the number one contender for GUNTHER’s World Heavyweight Championship on Raw. Meanwhile, Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena is scheduled for a contract signing on tonight’s episode of SmackDown with his SummerSlam challenger, Cody Rhodes.