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The reigning WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns has been making the rounds on social media lately, especially since last night's SmackDown episode, where he returned with a new 'Needle Mover' t-shirt.
Wrestling fans immediately caught the motive behind WWE introducing brand new merchandise for the Tribal Chief. In all likelihood, Reigns and WWE have taken a massive dig at AEW star CM Punk.
That said, we'll now take a trip down memory lane to learn about the connection between Roman Reigns' needle mover t-shirt and CM Punk. For those unaware, the former Shield member sat down with Ariel Helwani for BT Sport in August to discuss numerous topics.
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One of which was Punk's critical remarks about part-timers returning to claim the main event spot in WWE. In response, Roman Reigns called Punk 'bitter'. He even quipped that The Straight Edge Superstar was neither as over as John Cena nor moved the needle like The Rock did back in the day:
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"Those statements are coming from bitter people, you know, who possibly thought they were better than they really were," said Reigns. "When it comes down to it, CM Punk was not as good or as over as a John Cena. [He] wasn't as good or as over and moved the needle like The Rock. It just wasn't what it was."
It's worth noting that the 36-year old star made the statement when CM Punk was rumored to be making a return to professional wrestling at AEW. Reigns also wrote: 'Legitimate needle moving' after news broke that this year's SummerSlam pay-per-view was the most viewed and highest-grossing in history.
This jab from Reign's came on the heels of when AEW claimed that The Straight Edge Superstar's arrival on Rampage was a needle-moving event. There's a clear pattern behind all the digs taken at CM Punk.
Veterans have questioned Punk's ability to draw eyeballs onto the product, as we've witnessed an inconsistency in AEW's ratings. It will be interesting to see whether or not The Second City Saint, who's been known as the best talker, will give a fitting response to Roman Reigns.
Roman Reigns fired Paul Heyman during SmackDown episode this week
In a surprising turn of events last night, Roman Reigns fired Paul Heyman after becoming suspicious about the latter's association with Brock Lesnar. The Tribal Chief even went as far as delivering a superman punch to him.
As Roman Reigns was about to take his former manager out with a chair, Brock Lesnar showed up and destroyed The Usos and the Universal Champion. The Beast Incarnate ended the segment by delivering not one but two earth-shaking F5 on Reigns. The is tremendous hype surrounding their impending clash next month, and one would wonder if Brock Lesnar will finally dethrone Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship.
What do you make of Roman Reigns' new t-shirt? Sound off in the comments section below.
