10 Incredible Links Between Wrestlers You'd Never Expect
2. The Strange Relationship Between CM Punk And The Shield
As the story goes, the Shield was CM Punk's idea.
While he originally envisioned the trio as Kassius Ohno, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, the core idea was Punk's, and WWE listened - but positioned the unit as a vehicle to launch the push of Roman Reigns. They wanted Reigns to be the face of the company.
Punk had no choice but to accept the compromise, but nonetheless, something he campaigned for ended up happening. He had wanted to use his influence to get Dean Ambrose for a while; he wrestled him in FCW on his day off, on October 21, 2011, and referred to Ambrose as WWE's "secret weapon" on Twitter.
Fast-forward to 2023, and not one member of the Shield can stand him.
Roman Reigns told the Load Management podcast that he "doesn't like" Punk, who had made his job "a lot harder". He also buried Punk's in-ring ability in an interview with Complex, saying that Punk doesn't have an "explosive bone" in his body.
While Seth Rollins did state in an interview with Covino and Rich that it "pains" him to "have to say bad things" about a wrestler who did a lot for him in his early WWE days, he did say bad things about Punk. Seth called Punk a "cancer" in an interview with Nick Hausman ahead of the 2023 Royal Rumble.
Jon Moxley didn't say anything quite so forthright in connection with Punk, but did refer to him passive-aggressively as "What's his d*ck" on the Sessions with Renee Paquette, and it has been reported by Wade Keller and Dave Meltzer that the former AEW World champions are not on good terms.
Are the Shield ungrateful, or does Punk truly alienate that many people?