Reigns to Punk: “I hate you and I’ve always hated you”
For two guys who have only wrestled one singles match in their careers, it seems hard to believe the amount of history that exists between them. But as fans know, Punk and Reigns’ story goes back nearly 15 years.
In 2012, three young and up-and-coming NXT stars barreled through the main roster, making a mark in short order. It was later revealed that these three were hired guns, mercenaries whose job was to ‘shield’ the world champion, CM Punk. At Punk’s behest, the Shield ran roughshod in their first year and beyond, further altering the course of pro wrestling’s last decade. And normally, one would say the rest is history, but history has a way of repeating itself. And at WrestleMania 42, it seems like history will do just that as Roman Reigns has made his choice, eying a rematch with Punk, 12 years in the making.
Punk Didn’t Want Reigns in the Shield
It’s well-known at this point that Punk didn’t want Reigns in the Shield. It wasn’t necessarily that he disliked Reigns, but he wanted his guy, Chris Hero, and not WWE’s guy, which is what Reigns was seen as. A member of the famed Anoai’i family tree, WWE had a vested interest in seeing Reigns, then known as Leakee, become a star. And there wouldn’t have been a better way to ensure that than by pairing Reigns with Punk, the fan-favorite world champion. Punk had other ideas, though, and he said as much after the fact in his infamous revealing tell-all on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast.
“They wanted Roman Reigns. They came to me, and they were like, ‘What about Leakee?'” Punk recalled. “I didn’t… it wasn’t my hill to die on. I said ‘sure’ because it made sense to me. Oh, they want their guy in; he’s the pretty guy, but that’s good because this guy can learn from working under me.”
Punk knew his role was to be a mentor to the three Shield members, but soon, the group grew tired of their leader, and he outgrew his need for them as well. By 2013, Punk sought to destroy his own creation, and that’s what brought him and Reigns into each other’s direct orbit. The two faced off in January 2014 on a special old-school episode of Raw. Reigns was victorious thanks to a little assist from Dean Ambrose, after which the Shield proceeded to beat down their former leader until Jake Roberts and the New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) showed up to even the odds, because old-school Raw.
“Make Roman look strong”
The two would share a ring a few more times, mostly in tag action and house show three-on-one handicap matches, before CM Punk left WWE later that year. When he did so, he bared all, eviscerating the company and people in it. One such individual was Roman Reigns. Punk recounted how he was told over and over again for their three-on-one handicap match at TLC that he needed to “make Roman look strong.” Those four words spawned memes and came to epitomize the early singles run for Reigns, who was not the Shield member fans wanted to see on top.
Reigns was mocked as “Make Roman look strong” became a calling card, one that Reigns has since said, made his job a lot harder. Needless to say, Reigns has made it abundantly clear he does not like Punk but he’s a business man and he was more than willing to make towns and draw dimes with the man knowing the high-profile nature of such a match.
And it appeared at times shortly after Punk’s return, that match would come. In a way, it did, just not in the way anybody expected.
