The November 2011 issue of Maxim features an article on CM Punk (who dubs him wrestling's "next megastar") and it is publicly confirmed for the first time that Beth Phoenix is his real-life girlfriend. "The Glamazon" is quoted in the piece as she recalls the reaction backstage to his scathing on-air speech on the June 27 RAW concerning the way in which WWE is run and its owner, Vince McMahon.

"I was in the dressing room," recalls Phoenix, "and everyone sprinted over to see what would happen when he came backstage. Would he get fired on the spot? Would there be some sort of fight?"

Punk entered a side door backstage, coming up behind the mob of wrestlers and personnel. They formed a circle around him. "Then, legit, everyone began to hug me," Punk recalls. "I'm talking cameramen, guys who work the boom backstage, everyone."