WWE likes its crowd to be involved with the shows and play their part in the product, but sometimes things get just a little bit too close for comfort.

The October 8 episode of Monday Night Raw in 2012 saw WWE Champion CM Punk take to the ring for a match with WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.

After the match, Punk retreated into the crowd at the Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento, and things went downhill from there.

Fans in the arena started getting a bit too hands-on with Punk. While some just touched his WWE title, others started to push the Straight Edge Superstar, and he started getting visibly annoyed.

CM Punk WWE Raw

At one point while Vince McMahon was cutting a promo, CM Punk was struck in the back of the head by a fan, and the WWE Champion retaliated.

CM Punk ended up lashing out at the person he thought had hit him, Charles Schmidt, but it turns out that the WWE Superstar ended up striking the wrong guy.

A fan in attendance at the show ended up recording the incident and uploading it to YouTube, which you can check out below.

WWE and CM Punk were quick to try and remedy the situation, with Punk releasing the following statement onto WWE.com a few days later.

I think the whole situation sucks. It’s an unfortunate and isolated incident. I was up in the stands, surrounded. Somebody said, ‘let’s push him down the stairs,’” Punk explained. “I got hit in the ribs three times. I was getting shoved and I was getting punched…Then I started getting tagged in the back of the head. Unfortunately, I lashed out in the heat of the moment and I apologize. I’m really just glad nobody was hurt.

WWE also commented on what went down in Sacramento, providing the following statement a few days after the incident:

During Monday night’s Raw televised event, WWE Superstar CM Punk exited the ring and into the stands as part of the show. Unfortunately, WWE security was not in the appropriate place at the time. Given CM Punk’s persona as a ‘bad guy,’ fans were naturally heckling him, but unfortunately a few fans began shoving him, and one struck him in the kidney and on the back. WWE regrets that proper security measures were not in place, and CM Punk apologizes for reacting in the heat of the moment. Other than this isolated incident, WWE always provides proper security to ensure the safety of our fans and our performers.”

The situation went away quite quickly, but serves as a quick reminder for both WWE fans and WWE Superstars to not let things get too real at shows.