CM Punk’s major rival claims he was once a big fan until something changed
CM Punk has had heated feuds with several wrestlers over the years. However, one of The Second City Saint's major rivals recently claimed to have been a huge fan of his back in the day.
The 46-year-old has a deep history with former WWE Champion Seth Rollins. The two used to be allies before Punk left the Stamford-based company in 2014. The Visionary lost his cool when the former AEW star made his return after nearly a decade at Survivor Series: WarGames 2023.
In a recent interview with Jackie Redmond, Seth Rollins opened up on his relationship with CM Punk. The 38-year-old stated he used to be a massive fan of The Best In The World and even wanted to be like him. The former Shield member added he saw a lot of himself in Punk.
"This relationship between myself and [CM] Punk goes back a long way, 20 years. He's referenced it many times [that] I did come to him for training. I was a huge fan of CM Punk. No doubt about it. I looked at him, and I saw someone that I wanted to be like. He had a ton of conviction. He was honest. He was kind of a disruptor. He didn't fit the mold. And I saw a lot of myself in that and that type of personality, that cult of personality, if you will, that's someone that you can become attracted to. And so I looked at him as a hero, as someone that I could follow in his footsteps," said Rollins. [From 0:47 to 1:37]
Seth Rollins reveals how things between him and CM Punk changed for the worse
Later in the interview, Seth Rollins pointed out that his mentor-teacher relationship with CM Punk had grown into a friendship. However, it all went south after the latter decided to leave WWE.
Rollins claimed it felt like a betrayal he could not get over with as he was not the only friend CM Punk stabbed in the back. He added Punk left the wrestling promotion and wrote everyone off.
"Everything was as I dreamed it, and we were becoming friends. It was more than just like a student and a teacher. More than an apprentice and a mentor. There was a friendship there, camaraderie because we were kind of cut from the same cloth. And then everything went south, and that's kind of where the root of it is. You trust someone, you believe in them, you become close to them, and then they betray you with no remorse, no explanation, nothing. And if it was just me, I kind of feel I could have gotten over it, but it wasn't just me that he stabbed in the back, right? It was every single friend that he had that worked for WWE. After he left in 2014, he wrote everybody off," he said. [From 2:30 to 3:33]
You can check out Seth Rollins' comments in the video below:
Seth Rollins and CM Punk will lock horns in a singles grudge match at RAW's premiere on the global streaming platform. Both stars will be looking to begin the Netflix Era with a win against their name.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit WWE and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
