Major stars spotted backstage at WWE SmackDown - Reports

Two major stars have reportedly been spotted ahead of tonight's edition of WWE SmackDown in Birmingham, Alabama. The two superstars are namely The Rock and CM Punk.

The wrestling world is still buzzing from WWE Royal Rumble 2024 and tonight's show could be shaping up to be very newsworthy. Bayley won the Women's Royal Rumble Match and is scheduled to announce her WrestleMania opponent tonight on the blue brand.

Cody Rhodes punched his ticket to the main event of WrestleMania 40 by winning the Men's Royal Rumble Match for the 2nd year in a row. He is scheduled for a face-to-face with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns later tonight.

The Rock has been spotted in town ahead of WWE SmackDown tonight in Birmingham, and now another report has claimed that CM Punk is also backstage for tonight's show. PW Insider is reporting that Punk is backstage for tonight's show and had already undergone surgery to repair his torn tricep.

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Former WWE writer criticizes CM Punk and Cody Rhodes for getting emotional on WWE RAW

Wrestling legend Vince Russo has taken both CM Punk and Cody Rhodes to task for breaking down on this past Monday's edition of RAW.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW show, Vince Russo stated that he was tired of superstars breaking character to cry on national television. Russo stated that wrestling is make-believe, and the stars should not be crying on the show.

"I'm getting a little tired of every freaking male wrestler crying in the ring. Like seriously? When I talk about the marks that made it to the ring, this is what I'm talking about. He's crying, Cody's crying, guys get over it bro. This is make-believe BS."

He added that it was okay to see once in a while, but claimed that it was happening far too often on WWE television.

"Once in a while, you will see an athlete break down in a press conference, once in a while. Guys are crying every freaking week on RAW. Punk's crying, and then Cody comes back later on, and he's choking up. My God." [From 5:00 onwards]

You can check out Russo's comments in the video below:

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes had an epic confrontation on the final episode of WWE RAW ahead of Royal Rumble 2024. It will be interesting to see if the two former AEW stars cross paths on WWE television again down the line.

Did you enjoy Royal Rumble 2024? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.