The top WWE star would be dead or in prison without wrestling

For a WWE star, it was all or nothing.

It says a lot about his impressive career that CM Punk remained incredibly popular with fans during his seven-year hiatus from wrestling.

Although his later chapter in AEW didn't go as planned, Punk is now back in WWE —and about to main event his first-ever WrestleMania . He'll face Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in the big event, while Paul Heyman finds himself caught between two loyalties.

Whether in Ring of Honor , AEW , or WWE , Punk has made a name for himself over the years that is inextricably linked to wrestling. But what would have happened if he had never stepped into the ring?

In a new interview with The Metro , Punk was asked what he would have become if he had n't become a wrestler . The answer was brutally honest: He would either be dead or in prison .

"I'd be dead or in jail right now, 100%. I've narrowly avoided jail several times."

"I really don't know. It's hard for me to say, 'I was interested in this or that. Maybe I would have done that.'"

Punk further explained that he never wanted to be famous —he simply wanted to be a wrestler . Fame, for him, was just a byproduct of success.

"If you ask kids these days, 'What do you want to be when you grow up?', unfortunately, many say, 'I want to be famous.' That's terrible. Fame sucks. Fame is a side effect of being successful at what you do."

"I wanted to be a wrestler. I never said I wanted to be a millionaire. I never said I wanted to be a WWE Superstar. I just wanted to be a wrestler. I got a pair of boots and went."

CM Punk names WWE classic as his best match

In the same interview, Punk cited a match against John Cena as the best of his career . The two faced each other on an episode of Monday Night Raw on February 25, 2013 , with the winner set to face The Rock at WrestleMania 29 .

The match is most notable for Punk performing a piledriver on Cena —a prohibited move at the time. According to Punk, his performance was fueled by anger, as he knew he would n't be in the main event of WrestleMania , even though he believed he deserved it.