Undisputed WWE universal champion Roman Reigns had plenty to say about Cody Rhodes, The Rock and CM Punk during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
In anticipation of next month’s WrestleMania 40, which will see him team with The Rock against Rhodes and Seth Rollins on Night 1 before facing Rhodes in a WrestleMania 39 rematch on Night 2, Reigns gave his thoughts on some of the other biggest stars WWE has to offer.
In the main event of last year’s WrestleMania, Reigns beat Rhodes thanks to interference from Solo Sikoa to continue his historic run as world champion.
After Rhodes won his second consecutive men’s Royal Rumble match this year, it seemed as though Reigns vs. Rhodes II was locked in, but Cody initially stepped aside and seemed as though he was going to let The Rock face The Head of the Table instead.
However, at the WrestleMania Kickoff press conference in Las Vegas, Rhodes reversed course and announced his decision to face Reigns on the Grandest Stage of Them All, thus pushing the Reigns vs. The Rock dream match to the back burner.
Reigns addressed the situation on the Pat McAfee Show (beginning at the 17:20 mark), criticizing Rhodes and the WWE fanbase for the way things went down:
“If that small minority of our WWE wrestling fanbase weren’t a bunch of bitches crying the whole time, he would’ve never got that buzz and ya’ll would’ve been just smitten with The Rock vs. The Tribal Chief. Let’s be honest. That’s what it was. But that’s the beauty of this business is things can happen on the drop of a dime and you have to be able to either call an audible or ride that wave that’s coming at you. For me, that was the endgame. Let me go ahead and just make the final statement, put the stamp of approval, seal the deal. I beat The Rock, ain’t nobody ever questioning what I’ve done here, and Cody took that from me.”
Roman went on to rip the idea of Rhodes “finishing his story,” and suggested that Cody has put on a fake persona for the fans as well (beginning at the 18:18 mark):
“He took that from me. He took that storybook ending. Imagine someone just pops up out of nowhere and they’re talking about, ‘This is my story.’ You ain’t even been here half the time. You just got here. You literally just got here two years ago. … This is the thing, our society’s a bunch of sheep, right? You tell them and you can Jedi them and they’re like, ‘Oh, Cody’s the good guy. Look, he signs autographs.’ That guy’s a politician.”
After WWE was seemingly positioning Reigns to face The Rock, a vocal portion of the WWE Universe spoke out on social media and got #WeWantCody trending. While it is unclear if it was the plan from the start or if WWE reversed course, teasing Reigns vs. The Rock successfully made Rhodes even more popular.
Now, WWE fans are ravenous in their desire to see Rhodes beat Reigns and end his nearly four-year run as world champ, plus it has allowed The Rock to turn heel and align himself with Reigns rather than going up against him.
WrestleMania 40 will be a star-studded affair with many of the top performers WWE has to offer in action, but one person who won’t be able to compete is Punk.
After nearly a decade away, Punk made his WWE return in November at Survivor Series in his hometown of Chicago.
Punk made it to the final two of the Royal Rumble before getting eliminated by Cody, and while it seemed like he was in line to face Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania regardless, a torn triceps suffered during the Rumble landed Punk on the injured list.
During Reigns interview on Friday, some fans started chanting for Punk, and Reigns jokingly held his arm to mock Punk’s injury.
Then, when Reigns was asked about his drive and desire to remain at the top of WWE, he took another shot at Punk (beginning at the 9:38 mark):
“I’m living my dream, man. This is what I wanted my whole life, so I’m not one of them people that once I got there it just wasn’t what I expected. I’m not like CM Punk where I got to the top of the mountain and it’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not like I expect, so I’m a bitch about it.’ No, once you reach goals, enjoy the dream.”
Reigns seemed to be referencing Punk’s WWE Championship run from 2011 to 2013, which lasted for 434 days and was one of the longest reigns of the modern era.
About one year after dropping the title, Punk left WWE due to his unhappiness with the company, and it took nearly a decade for him to return.
Punk is injured right now and has unfinished business with Rollins and Drew McIntyre once he returns, but there is a lot of meat on the bone for a rivalry with Reigns, especially due to the involvement of Paul Heyman, who managed Punk before becoming Reigns’ “Wise Man.”
Reigns vs. Punk seems almost certain to happen at some point, and it could be one of the most highly anticipated matches in pro wrestling history once the program starts.
