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

#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.