Seth Rollins is getting ready to face CM Punk as two-thirds of a triple risk match headlining WrestleMania 41 on Saturday however their on display feud isn’t just constructed for tv.
The truth is, Rollin’s disdain for Punk is so actual that he’s really prepared to coach and study MMA only for the prospect to settle their beef in an precise combat. Previous to the occasion the place they’re joined by Roman Reigns within the match, Rollins pitched the concept about preventing Punk within the UFC after his longtime rival really tried his hand at MMA a couple of 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 towards Mike Jackson was overturned after Jackson examined optimistic for marijuana.
“Certain, yeah, I’d [fight him],” Rollins mentioned 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 e book CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, like first non-UFC fighter [versus] non-UFC fighter combat on one in all his playing cards, I’d placed on the gloves and provides it a go.
“That could be the one one I do however you set me in there with any of the opposite guys in my weight class, I’m out. However Dana, you need to make some cash, e book 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 youngster.
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 stunning transfer again in 2023.
“After I use the phrase most cancers it’s very sturdy however most cancers is a parasite,” Rollins mentioned 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 means as a result of he infiltrates and he tries to copy by making it seem to be he’s serving to out all of those folks 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 copy. He’s simply making an attempt to place his concepts into different folks’s minds to mainly create a bit of military beneath him of people 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 mentioned it himself, he’s not right here to make pals, he’s right here to become profitable.”
Whereas it appears unlikely that the UFC CEO would soar on the likelihood to really e book the combat after Punk’s two appearances within the promotion didn’t precisely showcase excessive stage ability, Rollins is aware of it will create quite a lot of buzz and doubtless earn an enormous amount of cash on the field workplace.
As ludicrous as it would sound, Rollins is aware of that the UFC and WWE at the moment are owned by the identical firm so that you by no means know what’s doable.
“Give me a couple of months [to get ready],” Rollins mentioned. “Give me a coaching camp however I really feel like I may deal with myself. TKO, we’re all underneath one umbrella now so. Could possibly be the primary.”
