If CM Punk manages to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at Elimination Chamber against Finn Balor, he’ll have to again put his title on the line against Roman Reigns during this year’s WrestleMania. However, Punk is excited to step up against the ‘Original Tribal Chief,’ and doesn’t care whose side the audience ends up taking.
“At this level, it’s not ‘good guy versus bad guy,’ it’s ‘superstar vs. superstar,'” Punk expressed during an interview with Nick Kostos. “You’re getting these two top guys – arguably the best guys in the business – and you put them in the ring, and it’s gonna be magic!”
Punk has also admitted that he constantly thinks about their feud, has been cutting promos in his head about it for weeks, and is happy Reigns seems to hate him. “That’s what CM Punk does, and that’s how I win!” he laughingly added.
“It’s not often that, in any industry, you get two giants, two – dare I say – cultural icons, two of the best,” Punk also noted, before praising both himself and Reigns as being two of the best at what they do and claiming he’s in the business of elevating his opponents.
“A leveled-up Roman Reigns is a scary proposition to anybody if your name isn’t CM Punk,” he said. “I need that, I need the best, that’s what makes me the best in the world: when I beat these guys.”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Nick Kostos and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Opinion: CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns has a big match feel, but could the two have explored wildly different stories instead?
Right now, there aren’t two names bigger than CM Punk or Roman Reigns in WWE, and their clash is a no-brainer. The two also laid the foundations for their WrestleMania clash at Survivor Series: WarGames 2024, but their feud seems almost ‘corporate safe.’ Make no mistake, both Reigns and Punk should main event one night of WrestleMania each, but there are more interesting stories that could have been told.
Firstly, Punk vs. The Rock. It’s been 16 years since these two men got into a ring against each other, and sure, fans quickly got sick of the corporate avatar The Rock became, but that’s the point. Punk used to be the anti-establishment guy, and this could be the way to repaint him as this character and create a feud based around authenticity and philosophical warfare, while also making good on Punk’s shots at The Rock that went nowhere when he stepped away from WWE television following John Cena’s heel turn.
Secondly, Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre. The two men have unfinished business from Clash at the Castle 2022, and the ‘Original Tribal Chief’ is the most physically imposing threat McIntyre could face outside of Brock Lesnar. If the ‘Scottish Psychopath’ managed to get a win over Reigns in this scenario, he’d finally be undeniable as a main eventer and allow WWE to put the weight of the promotion on one more wrestler.
Reigns vs. Punk is a WrestleMania main event without a doubt, but WWE sacrificed more compelling storylines to get their two biggest names into the same match.