During Friday's SmackDown, it was confirmed that CM Punk will finally main event WrestleMania in a Triple Threat match with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.
There may not be a title on the line, but it marks a full circle moment for the Best in the World and the former Shield brothers. In storyline (and with some backstage input), Punk brought them to the main roster at Survivor Series in 2012 when they took out Ryback at his behest alongside Dean Ambrose.
During a recent interview with Rich Eisen, Punk reflected on helping bring Reigns and Rollins into WWE and ended by making it clear that, after playing a pivotal role in the debut, he may very well be the one who takes them out on the Grandest Stage of Them All.
"I’ll give a bit of an uncharacteristic answer. I think everybody’s always trying to navigate, like, 'How do you deal with media different from what we present on our television show?' In 2012, I was the WWE Champion. I was on this what, at the time, was a historic run with the belt. Four hundred thirty-four days, obviously shattered by Roman Reigns since I’ve been gone, and what I needed was guys to work with."
"I was always looking towards the future. Yeah, there’s the now, there’s me, and there’s Cena. But outside of that, I would look at the landscape and be like, ‘What do we need to do to get money-talent in the position that I’m in now? How do I bring guys up? How do we elevate Superstars?’ So the idea with The Shield was that simple. I need guys to work with, for good or for bad, whether I like them, whether I hate them, whether I’m going to wind up having personal problems with them. I need talented individuals to work with, or I have nobody to work with in the future."
"Lo and behold, who am I working with at WrestleMania? So, life’s pretty funny the way things kind of work out. I just don’t want those two guys to forget that they were picked for a reason. I brought them into this and at WrestleMania. I get the chance to take them out."
Given his position on the TKO board, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson may have played a backstage role in Punk getting his WrestleMania main event.
There have been rumblings that past issues between The Rock and Punk may have resulted in the Final Boss keeping him out of that top spot at this year's Show of Shows. Friday's SmackDown already debunked that, but The Rock himself has since chimed in.
"First of all, Punk and I have become good buddies over the years. We’re solid," he said in response to a video shared on social media by a fan. "Secondly, whatever match making scenario is best for true long term (not short term) business success- that will be our Mania main event. Lastly, you’re [a] clown."
To bring you up to speed, The Rock beat CM Punk to win the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble in 2013 before defeating him a second time at Elimination Chamber to retain the title. As a result, the Brahma Bull main evented WrestleMania alongside John Cena, robbing Punk of his spot.
You can hear more from the Second City Saint in the player below.