If anyone wants to know the full details of how WWE operates, they need to check out this podcast. The second one isn't as detailed, but there are definitely some memorable moments in there ("Make Roman look strong," the company trying to keep Punk from attending his friend's wedding when he gave them a heads up months in advance).
What's crazy is this all could have been avoided with no effort. If WWE just did two or three things differently, Punk would have never left them the way he did. He could have retired on his own terms or at least transitioned to a part-time schedule after a few years. I know Punk can come off as an a$$hole sometimes, and he's a self-admitted mark, but he had a mind for the business that they should have valued more. Why would he not be given the WrestleMania main event in 2013? Why would they not just allow him some time off to get healthy again so he doesn't look sick as a dog every time he's on TV? Why are their doctors so incompetent, they almost killed him? Punk did everything you could ask for from a top guy, but the company never looked at him that way. He was stuck in the friend zone until they fired him on his wedding day.
What's even crazier is that Punk ended up predicting certain things that would take place in the WWE after he left. It had the same effect as his promo in Vegas. He told Rusev that nobody cared about him or his push, and WWE spent a good five years treating him like shyt until he left. He said that guys like The Shield don't look at the bigger picture when it comes to the business, and Ambrose ended up leaving for similar reasons that Punk did. He called them out for how they approach their WrestleMania main events, and for a good three years, we got stuck with some shytty main events that nobody will look back on fondly.
I still have this strange feeling that Punk will come back for at least one more match in the future, but then I remember this podcast and I think, "Would anyone be mad if he never comes back?"