Seth Rollins is poised for a high-stakes triple threat match against CM Punk and Roman Reigns in the main event of WWE WrestleMania 41 on Saturday. The history connecting these three men stretches back over a decade, commencing with The Shield’s (Rollins, Reigns, and then-Dean Ambrose, now Jon Moxley) debut at WWE Survivor Series 2012, where they acted as hired muscle for CM Punk.
Punk controversially departed WWE in 2014 and made critical remarks about the company for nearly ten years before his surprising return at WWE Survivor Series 2023. During an appearance on Not Just Football with Cam Heyward, Rollins was directly asked to weigh his animosity towards Punk versus Reigns. His response favored one over the other. “Easily CM Punk. Easily,” Rollins stated.
He then elaborated on his differing issues with each man. Regarding Reigns, Rollins acknowledged, “I have a problem with Roman’s ego and his vision of what a good WWE looks like. I don’t have a problem with him as much as a person. He’s gone through a lot to be part of our organization. Say what you will, but he has sacrificed a lot to help this place grow.”
However, Rollins also expressed concern about Reigns’ influence, stating, “At some point, whether it was Heyman in his ear or his own illusions of grandeur about how big of a star he was or wanted to be, he kind of lost the plot a little bit.
Trying to get him to understand a little bit of what we came in here to do 12 years ago is still part of the mission as we begin to pass this company onto the next generation. If everybody wants to be Roman Reigns and nobody shows up for work but four times a year, then we’re not going to have a show to run. You have to have people who want to be here and put in the work. Getting him to understand that he is maybe not the best influence on the future of the business is difficult.”
However, Rollins’ feelings towards CM Punk were far more harsh. “That pales in comparison to how I feel about CM Punk,” Rollins declared with palpable disdain. He continued his scathing assessment, labeling Punk as “a thief. He’s a scavenger, he’s a fake martyr, he’s a snakeoil salesman, he’s a con artist. He will sell you a false bill of goods at every turn with no apologies, with zero responsibility.
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He’s a guy who left this place, ghosted all of his friends. If you have your own personal crap to deal with, that’s life, I get it. To then ask people to leave their jobs, leave their security, leave their dreams behind out of loyalty to you, and when they don’t, you start to tear these people down in the media anyway you can.”
“Then you take money from some billionaire’s kid to come back to the business that you’ve forsaken and continue to try to tear down our company until that billionaire’s kid doesn’t want to pay you anymore, and now you want to come back and take our money and wave the flag. I cannot tell you the absolute disgust in my veins that I have for CM Punk. There is no comparison.”
Hardcore fans know that Rollins’ reference to the “billionaire’s kid” alludes to CM Punk’s stint in AEW, which began with his return in August 2021 and ended after a backstage altercation at AEW All In 2023, leading to his termination.
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