CM Punk is set to headline his first WrestleMania, a significant milestone in his career, as he faces Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas in a few weeks.
The WrestleMania 41 match also marks a full-circle moment in the relationship between Punk, Rollins, and Reigns. Punk was part of bringing Reigns and Rollins onto the WWE main roster as part of The Shield alongside Jon Moxley.
The Shield was supposed to be a group for him, but they split away from him. While making a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen show, Punk discussed his role in bringing The Shield together.
“I’ll give a bit of an uncharacteristic answer. I think everybody’s always trying to navigate, like, ‘How do you deal with media different from what we present on our television show?’ In 2012, I was the WWE Champion. I was on this what, at the time, was a historic run with the belt. Four hundred thirty-four days, obviously shattered by Roman Reigns since I’ve been gone, and what I needed was guys to work with.
“I was always looking towards the future. Yeah, there’s the now, there’s me, and there’s Cena. But outside of that, I would look at the landscape and be like, ‘What do we need to do to get money-talent in the position that I’m in now? How do I bring guys up? How do we elevate Superstars?’ So the idea with The Shield was that simple. I need guys to work with, for good or for bad, whether I like them, whether I hate them, whether I’m going to wind up having personal problems with them. I need talented individuals to work with, or I have nobody to work with in the future. Lo and behold, who am I working with at WrestleMania? So, life’s pretty funny the way things kind of work out. I just don’t want those two guys to forget that they were picked for a reason. I brought them into this and at WrestleMania. I get the chance to take them out.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit the Rich Eisen Show with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
