"Then also he got whopped in the UFC" - When Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns buried CM Punk and AEW in a heated rant

CM Punk and Roman Reigns last clashed during The Tribal Chief's tenure with The Shield. The WWE Universal Champion then took a shot at Punk shortly after he returned to wrestling.

The Tribal Chief and CM Punk share a brief history, as Reigns, Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley), and Seth Rollins broke into WWE as Punk's enforcers. However, the trio eventually broke free from the veteran and ended up feuding with him instead.

During an interview with Complex late last year, Roman Reigns shared how he was not impressed with what he had seen of CM Punk until that point:

"On a personal level, it doesn’t do anything for me. That’s not going to elevate me at all. He’s older now, and to me, a step or two has been lost," Reigns said.

Additionally, Reigns even took a shot at Punk's unfortunate UFC record as well, pointing out the physical advantage he has over the veteran:

"Then also he got whooped in the UFC. I don’t think anybody really believes someone 200 pounds soaking wet with no explosive bone in their body could ever really do anything to me. I’m 6’3”, 265 pounds, a legitimate athlete who can throw some weight around. When it comes down to it, I’ll throw him and pretty much the rest of that roster out the club no problem. They’re just little brothers, you know?" (H/T: Complex)

Roman Reigns is on a historic WWE Universal Championship reign. Meanwhile, CM Punk has had two AEW World Championship reigns that in total have not lasted longer than 90 days.

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CM Punk praised Roman Reigns just a few months before the latter's interview with Complex

Reigns and Punk clashing during The Shield's feud with the star.

The WWE Universal Champion saw fit to take a shot at the then-returning Punk, months before he threw his lot in with AEW. However, CM Punk had nothing but praise for Roman Reigns.

During an appearance on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast, Punk praised Reigns's character development but claimed that WWE should have enacted this change sooner:

“His character work, his in-ring stuff. It’s all great but I feel like they [WWE] are always five years-10 years late. This is something that they should’ve done originally, because they tried so hard to get this guy over as a babyface and they gave him X amount of ‘Mania main events. He never really had his moments until now,” Punk said.

Despite the irony of the timing, nobody could have imagined that CM Punk would return to wrestling after a seven-year absence. Unfortunately, with his current suspension and the internal investigation after his post-AEW All Out backstage brawl, Punk's future is unknown. Roman Reigns might just be the last one standing after the dust settles.