3 WWE Superstars CM Punk requested to work with and 2 he did not

The longest-reigning WWE Champion of the last three decades, CM Punk was one of the most popular and controversial WWE Superstars of his era.

According to wrestling stats database Cagematch.net, “The Best in the World” competed in 1,176 matches in WWE between April 2005 and January 2014, meaning he averaged over 100 matches per year during his nine years with the company.

CM Punk has spoken in media interviews about how he enjoyed working with Superstars including Daniel Bryan and John Cena. However, with so many matches in a nine-year spell, it is only natural that he did not always want to face certain opponents that he was booked against.

In this article, let’s take a look at three WWE Superstars that CM Punk requested to work with, as well as two that he did not request to work with.

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#5 CM Punk requested to work with Big E

In October 2013, Big E became a babyface singles Superstar for the first time on WWE’s main roster when he aligned with CM Punk to attack Curtis Axel and Ryback on an episode of SmackDown.

Big E said on Talk Is Jericho in 2015 that he thought he might get sent back to NXT after his storyline with Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee came to an end, but he ended up having a career resurgence after CM Punk asked to work with him.

“I talked to AJ, and she told me that Punk asked to work with me, and I got the opportunity later to thank him. He said some really positive things. For a guy who had no real allegiance to me and was in a much better spot than me, to stick his neck out and asked Vince [McMahon] to work with me, it meant a lot.” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]

Before working with CM Punk, Big E had mostly been competing in meaningless matches on Main Event and Superstars. Then, following his brief association with CM Punk, the future New Day member won the Intercontinental Championship from Axel and he went on to hold the title for 167 days.

#4 CM Punk did not request to work with The Undertaker

CM Punk vs. The Undertaker is widely viewed as the best match from WrestleMania 29, but “The Best in the World” was not overly keen on the idea of facing his legendary opponent.

Speaking at a Comic-Con event (26:50 mark) in Ohio in September 2012, CM Punk was asked to reveal something that he still wants to accomplish in WWE.

When one fan said he should end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak, CM Punk made it clear that he did not want to face “The Deadman” seven months later at WrestleMania 29.

“That doesn’t interest me. The Undertaker thing? I like being in situations where you don't know who's going to win, where there's drama. I think the Undertaker thing... whoever wrestles him, I feel it's a foregone conclusion, you know what I mean? There needs to be some drama and stuff.”

CM Punk added that his only goal in WWE at the time was to main-event WrestleMania one day – something he was never able to do.

#3 CM Punk requested to work with Steve Austin

After becoming part of the WWE system in 2005, CM Punk just failed to cross paths with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who retired in 2003.

In 2011-2012, it looked as though Austin could make an in-ring return after he followed up a confrontation with CM Punk on RAW by having a heated sit-down interview with “The Best in the World” to promote the WWE ‘13 video game.

Austin’s RAW appearance even led to a dark segment after the show, which saw the WWE Hall of Famer hit Stone Cold Stunners on CM Punk, The Miz, R-Truth and Sheamus.

CM Punk revealed during his Starrcast III panel in August 2019 that the segment took place around the same time that he requested a match with Austin.

"That's when I started prying and being like, 'Let's work this match, motherf****r, let's go!' I think there was a sliver of time where it was going to happen, and then the next minute it didn't."

As CM Punk said, Austin stayed retired and the match never came to fruition.

#2 CM Punk did not request to work with Chris Jericho

CM Punk took time off after his WrestleMania 29 match against The Undertaker to recover from a knee injury that had been troubling him for several months.

As he said on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast, CM Punk wanted to take four months off following ‘Mania, meaning he would return to in-ring action at SummerSlam 2013, but Vince McMahon wanted him back just two months later because the Payback pay-per-view was held in his hometown of Chicago.

“I went, 'No, I don't want to come back until SummerSlam.' He said 'Well, I need you back. This is Chicago, so I need you. It's not sold out yet, so we put you on, it will sell out and we want you to work [Chris] Jericho.' I worked Jericho enough so I was like, 'Eh, eh, I think I'll come back at SummerSlam.'” [H/T Cageside Seats]

CM Punk went on to say that he also refused to work the Money in the Bank event, which is where Paul Heyman turned against him to set up the SummerSlam 2013 match with Brock Lesnar.

In the end, CM Punk reluctantly agreed with Vince McMahon’s storyline plans and he returned at Payback to defeat Chris Jericho before competing at Money in the Bank.

#1 CM Punk requested to work with Kassius Ohno

After years of speculation about who came up with the plan to form The Shield, CM Punk claimed on Colt Cabana’s podcast that he thought of the idea during a conversation with former WWE head writer Eric Pankowski.

Initially, WWE’s creative team wanted CM Punk to turn heel and align with The Big Show, Daniel Bryan and an up-and-coming Superstar from the Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory, Seth Rollins.

CM Punk did not like the idea of forming a villainous faction with The Big Show and Bryan, and he suggested that he join forces with Rollins and two other Superstars from FCW instead.

“So I took the idea to Hunter [Triple H], I took it to Vince [McMahon]. They agreed. Vince was immediately like, 'Who do you have in mind?' and I said '[Dean] Ambrose, Rollins, Chris Hero, or Kassius Ohno.' Hunter shot down Hero. They wanted Roman Reigns.”

Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns received their WWE main-roster call-ups in November 2012. But, as CM Punk recalled, “things f***ing change” in WWE and The Shield only worked with him for a short period of time.

In contrast, Kassius Ohno – one of CM Punk’s greatest opponents before joining WWE – left the company in November 2013. He later returned in December 2016 as a member of the NXT roster before receiving his release in April 2020.