Seth Rollins is making ready to face CM Punk as two-thirds of a triple risk match headlining WrestleMania 41 on Saturday however their on display screen feud isn’t just constructed for tv.
The truth is, Rollin’s disdain for Punk is so actual that he’s truly keen to coach and be taught MMA only for the possibility 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 truly tried his hand at MMA a number 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 constructive for marijuana.
“Positive, yeah, I might [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 guide CM Punk vs. Seth Rollins, like first non-UFC fighter [versus] non-UFC fighter combat on certainly one of his playing cards, I’d placed on the gloves and provides it a go.
“That is perhaps 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, guide it, brother.”
Whereas Punk truly supplemented his skilled wrestling exercises with cross-training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu for years earlier than truly 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 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 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 method 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 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 copy. He’s simply making an attempt to place his concepts into different individuals’s minds to principally create a bit military beneath him of people who purchase into his bullcrap.
“On the finish of the day, it’s not for the betterment of the business 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 buddies, he’s right here to make cash.”
Whereas it appears unlikely that the UFC CEO would bounce on the probability to really guide the combat after Punk’s two appearances within the promotion didn’t precisely showcase excessive degree ability, Rollins is aware of it could 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 at the moment are owned by the identical firm so that you by no means know what’s doable.
“Give me a number of months [to get ready],” Rollins stated. “Give me a coaching camp however I really feel like I may deal with myself. TKO, we’re all beneath one umbrella now so. May very well be the primary.”
