CM Punk and Seth Rollins: A brief timeline of their WWE encounters

CM Punk and Seth Rollins continue to take shots at one another, adding new angles to their rivalry, which is set to intensify going forward. This time, they referred to their relationship and what went wrong over the years and led to their feud.

The Best in the World revealed that he trained The Visionary when the latter was 16 years old, a few years before he joined WWE. Punk said that he was the one behind the idea of The Shield's creation, and had suggested Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins as the faction's members, along with Chris Hero, but WWE wanted to push Roman Reigns.

The Shield then debuted in WWE when all three moved to the main roster in November 2012 and eventually had a feud with CM Punk, which led to a three-on-one handicap match at TLC on December 5, 2013, which CM Punk won.

A month later, he left WWE and spent nearly a decade away. During that time, he was taking shots at WWE because of what happened during his first stint, and this was the start of his rivalry with Seth Rollins.

CM Punk took shots at Seth Rollins repeatedly, and vice versa, while the latter took to social media and challenged him to a match when Punk joined FS1's WWE Backstage show in November 2019.

Fast forward to September 2023, following Punk's AEW departure, a quote from Seth Rollins surfaced, when The Visionary had said, during an interview earlier in the year, that CM Punk should stay away from WWE and not return, going as far as calling him a 'cancer.'

Two months later, CM Punk returned in the final moments of Survivor Series, and the former World Heavyweight Champion was very frustrated, calling him out on multiple occasions. Their rivalry was put on hold due to Punk's torn tricep and his feud with Drew McIntyre, but now things have become personal again.

---

What is next for CM Punk and Seth Rollins on RAW?

The rivalry between the two megastars has intensified, and their feud has become personal lately. WWE plans to proceed with this storyline through WrestleMania 41, and it remains to be seen if the title will be on the line.

Heading to the Netflix era, WWE could bring all the major stars on RAW, meaning Punk or Rollins may need to dethrone the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, not the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther.

Still, The Best in the World has already targeted The Ring General, and the question is if he will step up next week and challenge Gunther should the latter retain his title in a Triple Threat Match against Finn Balor and Damian Priest at Saturday Night's Main Event on December 14.

As for Seth Rollins, with Bronson Reed out, it is likely that he will continue his feud with Punk and get involved in the title picture as well.