After CM Punk eliminated Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns in the 37th annual Royal Rumble, the largest gate in WWE history of 70,342 fans erupted.
That chorus of excitement from those in attendance quickly transitioned into an angry mob as Logan Paul quickly took advantage of the situation by throwing Punk over the top rope and out to the floor to join Rollins and Reigns.
It was then, a three-way standoff between arguably the top stars in the business today. As many, including myself, attempted to process what just happened, Rollins took business into his own hands by stomping his former shield brethren into the floor and going after Punk immediately.
This left many fans wondering and clamoring for answers as to what the plans were for these three as the grandest stage of them all looms closer. Reports from PWInsider state that the current plan for this year’s Wrestlemania is a triple threat involving Punk, Rollins and Reigns. With three of the best wrestlers in the world anticipated to square off for a gigantic match in Las Vegas, Nevada, you would think everyone in the wrestling community is on board and pumped up for this story. You would be very mistaken, however.
To much dismay of the fans, this news struck an already sensitive heart for most. Many expected Punk or Reigns (or even Rollins for that matter) to win this year’s Royal Rumble and head into the main event of Wrestlemania.
After much reflection on this potential main event caliber matchup, the story is there to make this one of the most intriguing storylines heading into Sin City.
First and foremost, the history between Rollins and Reigns is well-documented at this point. From being members of one of the most iconic factions of all time to having some incredible bouts against each other for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, Rollins and Reigns have been down this road of deep hatred for years.
The whole idea behind these interactions between the former Shield members is that Reigns still despises Rollins deeply for breaking up the faction originally. The steel chair to the back representing stabbing the knife deep into the back of your brothers is what led to Rollins taking a huge swing of momentum directly into the world title picture.
Now, years down the road in the same city where the Shield debuted on the main roster for the first time (Indianapolis, Indiana), Rollins and Reigns are still fixated on the hate for each other that they allowed an opportunity to main event Wrestlemania slip through their fingers.
So, how does Punk fit into this story? For months now, the assumption has been that Reigns was being set up to take on The Rock, since the timing of the “Cody crybabies” threw a wrench into Rocky’s plans to face his Samoan family member in the main event of Wrestlemania 40. While reports continue to file in and speculation of The Rock’s availability is at an all-time high, Punk vs Reigns vs Rollins makes sense for a plethora of reasons.
Months ago at Survivor Series: War Games, Punk teamed with Reigns and the O.G. Bloodline to take on Solo Sikoa and the “new” Bloodline. In return, ‘The Wiseman’ Paul Heyman granted Punk a certain favor that has yet to be revealed. That makes you wonder… what could this favor be if these three are planned for a triple-threat showdown at Mania?
As for Rollins and Punk, that is a story that goes back to the early days of NXT, when Rollins and Punk teamed together, both holding gold at the time. Now, it is obvious the pair’s pure hatred for each other has come to a head. Each one has cost the other numerous opportunities and topped it off with an incredible match on Monday Night RAW’s first episode on Netflix.
So now, you have three pissed-off superstars ready to do whatever it takes to find another way into the main event of Wrestlemania 41 after failing to win this year’s Rumble. An ideal situation would be to have Punk, Reigns and Rollins all qualify for the Elimination Chamber coming up in the next month… and all lose. This makes each of them even more desperate to find a way to Wrestlemania, while still being more focused on breaking each other rather than chasing gold.
However, it was announced on RAW that Reigns would be out indefinitely. So… here’s how I think this should go down.
I would have Reigns make zero appearances until the Elimination Chamber in Toronto, Canada. Punk qualified for the chamber match against Sami Zayn on RAW and Rollins will likely qualify soon. There should be a moment in the chamber where these two come to blows before eventually being taken out by Reigns to cost them their last opportunity to make it to the main event of Wrestlemania. Now, you have just set the stage for an awesome triple threat that will likely have more implications past Vegas.
📺 FOLLOW & SUBSCRIBE:
🔗 Twitch: Twitch.tv/BodyslamNet
🔗YouTube: YouTube.com/@BodySlamNet
🔗 Twitter: Twitter.com/BodyslamNet
🔗 Facebook: Facebook.com/BodyslamNet
🔗 Website: Bodyslam.net
🔗 Discord: https://discord.gg/NraZNUjW
🔗 Donate: SlamChats.com
Want to discuss wrestling further? Join our Discord community by clicking here!
If you enjoy Bodyslam’s content, you can help donate to the site here. You can also visit our PWTees store and buy Bodyslam official merchandise here.
You can listen to all of Bodyslam’s podcasts by following us on Spotify and subscribing to our YouTube Channel, Twitch, Apple, Google, or any of your favorite podcast platforms.
Follow me on X: @dylanmflippo
Follow us on X: @BodyslamNet