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#1 Roman Reigns: A man that is who he is because of CM Punk
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Yes, CM Punk and Roman Reigns. If you don't see dollar signs when you see this possible match-up, you weren't around in 2014. After Daniel Bryan was forced to relinquish the WWE Championship, the Shield broke up. WWE decided to push all three members at once, with Seth Rollins winning the Money in the Bank and feuding with Dean Ambrose.
As for Roman, he was sent right to the top of the card, feuding for the world title. However, in September of that year, he suffered an incarcerated hernia that kept him off of TV for three months. Up to this point, the fans were fine with Reigns. Things went south when he came back in December. As we moved closer to the Royal Rumble, fans began to despise Roman Reigns.
He was booed out of buildings. He was shut down on promos repeatedly by the raucous WWE Universe. Crowds chose to cheer heels over him any chance they got. The reason was pretty simple. Fans could see the writing on the wall. See, Daniel Bryan had also stated he'd be returning around January, and they wanted to see him win the Royal Rumble.
It didn't happen. Roman went on to win the whole thing while Bryan was eliminated in the first half of the match. What caused the fanbase to turn on Reigns, though? Was it just their love for Bryan, or was there another moment that egged them on?
In November of 2014, two months before Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble, CM Punk appeared on the Art of Wrestling Podcast. He'd left WWE the year before and, notoriously, received his pink slip on his wedding day. While speaking with Colt Cabana, Punk vented his frustrations with WWE.
He talked about several issues, including his problems with management, doctors, and certain wrestlers. However, one point that has repeatedly been brought up for years involved Roman Reigns. On The Art of Wrestling Podcast, CM Punk said:
"It's me versus The Shield. Three on one. These are the most pushed three guys since like Bobby Lashley. They're like, 'You're going over.' And I was like, 'uh...okay.' And then they grabbed me and they stressed, 'but you gotta make Roman look really, really strong.' No, I was just gonna f***ing s*** on him and beat em. I was just gonna tear through em, and f***ing Superman the s*** out of em, and just GTS all three of them at the same time. You know, whatever."
"So while we're putting the match together, every two minutes somebody new is coming up to me. 'Hey, you gotta make him look really strong.' 'Hey, you're making him look really strong right?'"
Fans heard this and went with it, "they're pushing him down our throat," narrative and chanted CM Punk's name anytime Reigns came to the ring. It negatively affected Reigns' growth for years, something that he stated back in 2020.
"If you'd watched wrestling for the past 10 or 15 years, and you love it, and it's within your blood, then you probably have some kind of feelings of [Punk]. I know I do; just by doing one of these things, he made my job a lot harder."
Fans took CM Punk's words and turned them into a weapon they thought they were aiming at WWE. However, it ended up being pointed at Roman Reigns. Understandably, Reigns felt anger toward those comments, but it's important to remember that Punk said nothing negative about Reigns.
Not once on that podcast did CM Punk insult Reigns, claim he couldn't wrestle, or any of that rhetoric "hardcore" fans had been claiming for years. CM Punk has said on multiple occasions that he has no issues with Reigns.
He recently said if WWE was doing one thing right, it was The Tribal Chief's run. Still, there's a real story here. Roman Reigns and CM Punk would bring about a story with real-life elements that have been building for over five years. It would be the greatest story wrestling could tell, but that's only if CM Punk returns to WWE.
