Huge WWE star could return after long absence to cost CM Punk the Royal Rumble, says analyst

CM Punk might compete in his second WWE Royal Rumble in February next year, since his return to the promotion last November. A World Wrestling Entertainment analyst now suggests a top superstar could return after months of absence to cost The Best in the World the 'Rumble Match.

Seth Rollins and Punk were supposed to go head-to-head at WrestleMania 40 before the 45-year-old legend sustained an injury during the Men's Royal Rumble Match at the hands of Drew McIntyre. Although the two crossed paths again when The Visionary served as special guest referee for The Best in the World's match against McIntyre at SummerSlam, Rollins was written off TV following a vicious attack from Bronson Reed last week on RAW. WWE analyst, Sam Roberts now believes the former World Heavyweight Champion should remain absent until the end of this year.

Speaking on his Notsam Wrestling podcast, Roberts claimed Rollins could return at the Royal Rumble next year to eliminate Punk, with The Second City Saint returning the favor from outside the ring. This would perfectly set up their feud which would culminate in a match at WrestleMania 41.

"He'll be totally done with Drew at that point, CM Punk is cutting a promo in February and Seth Rollins makes a surprise return. And then we start building to Seth Rollins versus CM Punk at WrestleMania. Either way, you know, I think if you're having him return at the Rumble, have him eliminate CM Punk and then have CM Punk hit him with the Sid Justice, eliminate him from the outside and cost him the Rumble and we're off to the races. Like however you wanna do it, I'm hoping that we get to Seth Rollins and CM Punk at WrestleMania 41," he said. [52:41 - 53:16]

You can check out his comments in the video below:

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A WWE Hall of Famer also believes CM Punk will face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 41

While discussing CM Punk's match against Drew McIntyre at SummerSlam, which Seth Rollins refereed, WWE Hall of Famer, Bully Ray predicted that The Best in the World and The Visionary's rivalry would continue.

The wrestling legend disclosed that the rivalry between the two was far from being over and that he believed the two superstars would ultimately square off at WWE WrestleMania 41.

"I thought it was excellent. Okay, if somebody would have bled, yeah, but I think there's legs to this. I think there's more to go on and I'm looking forward to it. Eventually, we're going to get to Seth and Punk, which will most likely be a WrestleMania match," he said.

With Rollins currently out of action, it would be interesting to see whether he would target Punk upon his return to WWE or go after Bronson Reed, who put him on the shelf.

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If you use the above quotes, please credit Notsam Wrestling and embed the YouTube video, with an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.