15 Things We Learned From WWE Unreal

The 2024 Royal Rumble wasn't a banner night for CM Punk. He suffered a nasty tricep injury in the 30-man match that ruled him out of the running for WrestleMania 40, and that was painful both physically and emotionally. 'Mania 40 was Punk's first 'Showcase Of The Immortals' back after rejoining the company in 2023, and here he was on the injured list. Great.

Netflix captured a pensive Punk speaking about how he planned to put things right before the same match in 2025. That's when he said something super-thoughtful and actually quite upsetting. Punk admitted that there's long been a part of him which feared main eventing WrestleMania. Why? "Maybe there’s some part of me that’s terrified about that, because it’s gonna extinguish some kind of flame that I have”. Wow.

Just wow.

Punk was driven for so long by that goal, and he didn’t know what would come next if he achieved it. Of course, he eventually headlined the opening night of 'Mania 41 alongside Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, and that turned out to be a cathartic experience for him, but the pressure was building for decades inside CM's mind beforehand. He wasn't sure if headlining would live up to the hype.

One of many compelling moments on Unreal comes when Hunter is giving Punk a rallying speech before he goes through the curtain at 'Mania 41. "I know", CM replies when Trips says he's always been capable of this. To Punk, it was more important that the boss thought that too.

Excellent drama from 'Pepsi Phil' here.