What if Seth Rollins' decade-old rival costs him at Fastlane 2023? Analyzing the clues so far

Seth Rollins has a huge match coming up at Fastlane 2023. The Visionary will put his World Heavyweight Championship on the line against Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match at the October 7th premium live event. The question on everyone’s mind is if Rollins will drop the title and, if he does, what will be the circumstances surrounding a potential loss.

WWE has built the feud around Seth Rollins’ back injury. The champion would most probably go over the challenger because of the whole “overcoming the odds” shtick. If he does drop the championship, however, at Fastlane 2023, it may not be due to a clean win, but a distraction by his decade-old rival; who goes by the name of CM Punk.

Of late, WWE seems to have been referencing CM Punk a lot during Seth Rollins’ promos and video packages in the build to his World Heavyweight Championship match. The latest tease was dropped on SmackDown, where Corey Graves referenced Punk’s iconic “the greatest trick the devil pulled” line from his ROH promo while promoting the Last Man Standing Match.

Even if CM Punk doesn’t show up at Fastlane, he could possibly show up to confront Rollins at Survivor Series 2023. The latest reports suggest that Punk is looking to make a WWE return, with Survivor Series being his potential destination due to it happening in his hometown of Chicago on November 25.

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When was the last time Seth Rollins and CM Punk faced each other in WWE?

Seth Rollins and CM Punk first crossed paths in WWE on NXT more than a decade ago. Then-WWE Champion Punk showed up as then-NXT Champion Rollins’ ally against Antonio Cesaro and Kassius Ohno on the August 23, 2012, episode of NXT.

CM Punk was also apparently the one to pitch Rollins and Dean Ambrose (Jon Moxley) alongside Ohno as The Shield, before Vince McMahon and Triple H replaced Ohno with Roman Reigns. The Shield debuted as Punk’s hired muscles at Survivor Series 2012.

The four superstars would cross paths on multiple occasions, as allies first, and then as enemies. Punk would grab a noteworthy win in his 3-on-1 handicap match against The Shield at WWE Tables, Ladders, and Chairs in 2013.

His last match against Seth Rollins would also result in a win over The Architect on the December 30, 2013, episode of Monday Night RAW.