WWE News: Seth Rollins praises CM Punk and Colt Cabana ahead of Chicago Live Event 

What's the story?

Seth Rollins was touring Chicago, Illinois before his match at a WWE live event and reflected on the early days of his career and two superstars who inspired him.

Rollins thanked former WWE Superstars Colt Cabana and CM Punk for their influence on him and professional wrestling in Chicago.

In case you didn't know...

WWE returned to Chicago for their annual Holiday live event tour which will emanate from the United Center.

The company usually uses the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois for their events, but a hockey game already had the venue booked.

The heart of the matter

Rollins sent several tweets reflecting on his early days in professional wrestling, but the tweets that really caught the attention of the fans were the ones in which the former Intercontinental Champion thanked Punk and Cabana for their influence on professional wrestling in Chicago.

I remember so much so fondly of this city...and I would be remiss if I didn’t mention @CMPunk and @ColtCabana. Two guys who changed the game for Chicago wrestling. They made Chicago feel special. Made me feel like this place could lead to the rest of the world...

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 29, 2018

...I’m eternally grateful for the inspiration and motivation Punk and Cabana provided me at a very formative age. Helped shape my work ethic in wrestling for years to come.

— Seth Rollins (@WWERollins) December 29, 2018

Cabana, Punk and Rollins all rose to fame wrestling for local promotions, but all three men would wrestle in ROH and WWE at various points.

Punk left ROH for WWE in 2005 - two years before Rollins began working for the promotion as "Tyler Black".

Rollins signed with WWE in 2010 and eventually became the inaugural NXT Champion while Punk was in the midst of his 434-day reign as WWE Champion.

Punk and Rollins would reunite on the main roster in 2012 when The Shield debuted at Survivor Series to help Punk retain the WWE Championship. Punk and Rollins would later become opponents and had their first singles match on the December 30, 2013 edition of Monday Night Raw.

Rollins and Cabana had a few interactions in Ring of Honor as a tag team and wrestled each other during ROH's Survival of the Fittest tournament in 2009.

What's next?

Cabana filed a lawsuit against Punk regarding the unpaid legal fees from their lawsuit against Dr. Chris Amann of WWE.

His initial lawsuit was dismissed earlier in December, but a second lawsuit was filed.