Seth Rollins is making ready to face CM Punk as two-thirds of a triple menace match headlining WrestleMania 41 on Saturday however their on display screen feud isn’t just constructed for tv.
Actually, Rollin’s disdain for Punk is so actual that he’s really keen to coach and be taught MMA only for the possibility to settle their beef in an precise battle. Previous to the occasion the place they’re joined by Roman Reigns within the match, Rollins pitched the thought about preventing Punk within the UFC after his longtime rival really tried his hand at MMA just a few years in the past.
Punk finally went 0-1 with one no contest within the UFC, though he technically misplaced each fights however his second bout in opposition to Mike Jackson was overturned after Jackson examined constructive for marijuana.
“Certain, yeah, I’d [fight him],” Rollins stated about Punk on Robert Griffin III’s podcast. “I’m not going to only bust into his locker room backstage and simply begin lighting him up but when Dana White wished to ebook CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, like first non-UFC fighter [versus] non-UFC fighter battle on one among his playing cards, I’d placed on the gloves and provides it a go.
“That could be the one one I do however you place me in there with any of the opposite guys in my weight class, I’m out. However Dana, you wish to make some cash, ebook it, brother.”
Whereas Punk really supplemented his skilled wrestling exercises with cross-training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for years earlier than really signing with the UFC, Rollins has no precise martial arts background after he began wrestling when he was nonetheless a teen.
That doesn’t appear to matter a lot to Rollins, who brazenly expressed his animosity in the direction of Punk when addressing their rivalry after the now 46-year-old athlete returned to WWE in a surprising transfer again in 2023.
“After I use the phrase most cancers it’s very robust however most cancers is a parasite,” Rollins stated when addressing Punk. “It takes. It don’t give nothing. It solely cares about itself. It replicates and it solely cares about itself. I really feel he’s that manner as a result of he infiltrates and he tries to duplicate by making it look like he’s serving to out all of those individuals and getting all these youthful guys and ladies to be like ‘oh yeah, CM Punk is nice, CM Punk he helps me out’ however he’s simply making an attempt to duplicate. He’s simply making an attempt to place his concepts into different individuals’s minds to principally create a bit military beneath him of those who purchase into his bullcrap.
“On the finish of the day, it’s not for the betterment of the trade like he says it’s. It’s for the betterment of him. As a result of he stated it himself, he’s not right here to make pals, he’s right here to generate profits.”
Whereas it appears unlikely that the UFC CEO would bounce on the likelihood to truly ebook the battle after Punk’s two appearances within the promotion didn’t precisely showcase excessive stage talent, Rollins is aware of it might create a variety of buzz and possibly earn an enormous sum of money on the field workplace.
As ludicrous as it would sound, Rollins is aware of that the UFC and WWE are actually owned by the identical firm so that you by no means know what’s attainable.
“Give me just a few months [to get ready],” Rollins stated. “Give me a coaching camp however I really feel like I might deal with myself. TKO, we’re all below one umbrella now so. Could possibly be the primary.”
