"Let's fight it out like men" - When Seth Rollins explained his legit heat with CM Punk after returning on a 'WWE show'

CM Punk initially joined WWE in 2005. He spent nearly nine years in the Stamford-based company, where he became one of the top superstars. However, he was released from his contract, and left on rather bad terms in 2014, after walking out ahead of an episode of Monday Night RAW.

Despite being brutally critical of WWE, Punk joined the team of Fox's WWE Backstage show in 2019 as a pundit. Following his first surprise appearance on the program, Rollins took to Twitter to challenge him to a fight. In the following episode, The Best in the World claimed The Visionary was trying to pick a fight with him because he was looking for relevancy.

After calling him a coward on Twitter, Rollins sent a bold message to Punk in an interview with Kevin Kellam in 2019.

"You know, it's a good bit of banter back and forth. The bottom line is, the funny thing is, for me, for a guy telling me that I need to look for relevancy. Here's someone who's been in the doldrums for the last few years because he got his bu** kicked in the octagon so bad he didn't want to show his face anywhere. And now he shows back up on a WWE show. It's called WWE Backstage. You can say it's an FS1 show all want, which it is, and you might be paid by FOX, but that show doesn't exist without our company. The company that you left five years ago. So, say whatever you want. Play it however you want. That's what Punk always does," he said.

The 37-year-old added:

"But at the end of the day, if he wants to come on a show and run his mouth about me and about a company that he hasn't, has no part of, for the last five years, then of course I'm gonna stand up for us. This is a place that has given me everything that I've ever wanted in my life. And not only for me. It's provided me a living for my family, for people that I love, that I care about, and of course I'm gonna have its back. I'm not gonna sit here and let you push it around, and push me around and act like you're so cool. You couldn't bust a cherry in a fruit fight, dude. So, I wanna make some money. So, if CM Punk wants to talk all the smack in the world, I've invited him a million times to now come to my ring, come to my domain on live television, where you can't hide behind anything, no desk in LA. Come, let's do this thing, man. Let's fight. Let's fight it out like men." [0:00 - 1:16]

Rollins pointed out that he was ready to fight Punk whenever and wherever he wanted. However, he claimed the only reason he was picking a fight with the former World Heavyweight Champion was to square off against him in the main event of WrestleMania.

Check out CM Punk's reaction to WWE fans swarming his car outside the arena here.

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CM Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series

After nearly nine years of absence, CM Punk returned to WWE last night at Survivor Series: WarGames. He made his surprise comeback after Seth Rollins, Cody Rhodes, Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, and Randy Orton defeated The Judgment Day and Drew McIntyre in the Men's WarGames Match.

The Visionary seemed completely unhappy with The Best in the World's return. He was seen angry and swearing at Punk in un-aired footage. Corey Graves and Michael Cole interfered, and held him back from going after the returning superstar.

CM Punk's return seemingly caused WWE legend to throw a pen in frustration. Check out the details here.