On Monday’s episode of WWE Raw, Punk called Rollins “entitled.” Rollins clapped back by telling fans the truth about why his friendship with Punk ended back in 2014. To Rollins’s surprise, his story increased fans’ support for Punk.
Tensions between CM Punk and Seth Rollins have been high for months. They were scheduled to fight at WrestleMania 40, but the brawl was called off due to Punk’s injury. In the months since the would-be battle, they have verbally ripped each other apart with fiery promo exchanges.
On the December 2nd episode of WWE Raw, the attacks went from verbal to physical as Rollins shoved Punk down.
Punk’s retaliation on December 9th’s episode “further stoked the flames” of their rivalry. Punk told the wrestling world that when Rollins was 16 years old, he approached Punk and asked Punk to train him for free. Punk claimed that Rollins never grew out of this entitlement. He also claimed that his “shielding” Rollins was the only reason that Rollins wasn’t fired for his entitled behavior.
Rollins clapped back by revealing the real reason that his friendship with Punk ended 10 years ago. He admitted that he did ask Punk to train him at the beginning of his career. Rollins explained that he used to idolize Punk and viewed him as both a role model and a friend. Rollins still considered Punk a friend when Punk left WWE in 2014.
Rollins reached out to Punk after he left, but the Best in the World never responded. Not only did Punk ignore Rollins, but he ignored all of his WWE friends who reached out to him. According to Rollins, this is the moment that Punk turned from a friend to an enemy.
“I respected him and what he stood for. And what did I get back from Punk? Nothing.” Rollins said. “I got ghosted by CM Punk.”
Rollins went on to reveal that he wasn’t the only one Punk ghosted. He explained that Punk ghosted all of his WWE friends “who didn’t bow his head by leaving the company.”
“If you didn’t quit your dream job, and your priorities didn’t align with Team CM Punk, then you were evil, man,” said Rollins.
The fact that Punk spent his time away “tarnishing WWE’s name at any given opportunity” made Rollins deeply uncomfortable. He explained that Punk spent years “lambasting WWE” but returned “‘after he failed at everything else. He burned every single bridge… and the money was right.’”
Objectively, Rollins did an excellent job with this speech.
Though his wording was harsh at times- he called Punk a con man and a fraud– every single claim he made about Punk was factually correct.
Rollins’ story about Punk ghosting all of his WWE friends for not leaving with him perfectly aligns with a series of Tweets Corey Graves made back in 2018.
In June 2018, CM Punk went up against Mike Jackson in his first fight at UFC 225. Punk lost to Jackson. Shortly after Punk’s defeat, Graves took to Twitter (now known as X) and made a few “interesting Tweets” about CM Punk’s betrayal.
Rollins’ claim that Punk only returned to WWE for the money lines can also be backed up. In 2020, Renee Paquette brought Punk onto her Oral Sessions podcast. She asked him, “What’s it gonna take to get you back in a wrestling ring?”
Punk replied, “It would take all an interesting scenario…Also, just the stupidest amount of money.”
Before Rollins started speaking, he “encouraged fans to chant for Punk.” After he finished speaking, fans dismissed Roman’s statements and continued chanting Punk’s name. Rollins won back some fans by pointing out that he “achieved what Punk never did: headlining WrestleMania.” Overall, the crowd was still Team Punk.
Some X fans are on Rollins’ side, but they are few and far between.
CageSideSeats speculates that fans’ response is the result of CM Punk’s “cult of personality.” Fans are so enamored by Punk’s charismatic stage presence that they will root for him no matter what. In fans’ eyes, CM Punk can do no wrong.
This stand-off brought up a lot of interesting questions about the future of Rollins and Punk’s storyline. Will fans eventually look past Punk’s charisma and see the validity of Rollins’ claims? Will Rollins find other ways to expose Punk after his speech backfired?
Whether they’re Team Punk or Team Rollins, all wrestling fans can agree that Punk and Rollins finally face off in the ring, it will be a fight to remember.
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