The idea that CM Punk indisputably deserved to main event WrestleMania is ingrained in everyone’s mind, from fans to rivals alike. CM Punk referenced it many times during the last years of his first WWE run, most notably during his infamous shoot promo:
It’s not sour grapes. But the fact that Dwayyyne is main eventing WrestleMania and I’m not makes me sick.
Cm Punk 2011
It’s an integral part of the kayfabe reasoning for his WWE return. He came back to finish his story, as one would say, and finally get his rightful chance to headline the showcase of the immortals.
After the WrestleMania 40 launch, Punk used himself as an example of the Rock inserting himself into a WrestleMania main event, just like he did with Cody Rhodes after the latter won the Royal Rumble. Even Seth Rollins, of all people, agreed.
It can be argued that Punk should have been in the main event of WrestleMania 29. After all, he was coming off a historical title reign and was beaten by a part-timer in Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who went on to face John Cena for the second time in a row in a match nobody wanted to see. Cena and Rock were booed after the match, the fans rejecting this match and the post-match reconciliation, which seems forced given the nature of their exchanges.
In fairness to the Rock, he gained the title in the Royal Rumble and defended it two PPVs in a row, unlike part-timers who won the title and barely defended it for years.
But still, one could argue that keeping Punk in the title picture could have made things fresher.
This might make Punk sound fairly reasonable, but rest assured. Punk started taking offence much before this, as shown in the above quote. Punk felt deserving of a WrestleMania even before he was the hottest star in wrestling in the summer of 2011. This has been the cause of friction with The Miz when filming the Best in the World documentary.
While Miz used his screen time to put over Punk’s work ethic and such, Punk buried the Miz, not understanding how on earth the Miz could headline WrestleMania before he did.
The case for headlining WrestleMania 29 might feel solid on paper, but there’s no reason he had to be given the spot at WrestleMania 27 and 28. Punk was already an established main event presence, but he wasn’t so above the rest that he had to headline the show. If anything, Sheamus should be the one complaining, having won the 2012 Royal Rumble only to squash Daniel Bryan in the opening match. Not that I’m upset.
The feeling of injustice prevailed and was the talk of the town after CM Punk left WWE in 2014. CM Punk can pretend he never cared about headlining WrestleMania all he wants, but the fact remains he was the one who constantly brought it up during his hiatus from wrestling. He mentioned it during his podcast with his good old buddy Colt Cabana. He argued that WrestleMania was the draw, rather than any particular show, and that WWE chose the narratives that fit their agenda to justify the Rock being put in the main event.
There’s an argument that the two WrestleManias headlined by The Rock did great numbers.
WrestleMania XXIX garnered 1,048,000 PPV buys, 205,000 fewer than the previous year’s event. The event set a new record for the highest grossing live event in WWE history, grossing $72 million.
WrestleMania 29 set a new claimed world record of 80,676 fans at MetLife Stadium and was the then second-highest attended wrestling event in history after WrestleMania III.
After years of badmouthing WWE, Punk had a chance to finish the story. This time, it was different. The changes that happened during his time away favoured him, namely, WrestleMania now had two nights, thus two matches one could call main events (Punk used to consider there was only one main event, but a man grows*).
CM Punk could now be the part-timer who would steal the spotlight from the up-and-coming talents. He was reportedly meant to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 before he was out due to an injury sustained in the Royal Rumble match of that year.
He came back for a match at SummerSlam, the story being that he had to win his way to that dream of his. Sadly, he was eliminated by Logan Paul during the Royal Rumble.
This meant the Elimination Chamber match was his last chance. Punk was one of the only two remaining participants, with John Cena. He was knocked out cold by Seth Rollins, which allowed Cena to steal the win.
CM Punk, 46, would have to wait to finally accomplish his destiny, given he stayed clear of injuries and remained at the top of the mountain. This was until, during the contract signing of his match against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns, it was revealed that the match would be at the main event. And CM Punk started crying.
I’m sure you couldn’t come up with a lamer payoff if you tried. Shoot your shot in the comments.
WrestleMania 41 night one wasn’t going to be main evented by a world title match, but by the match where three of the company’s biggest stars would compete for Paul Heyman’s love. It is often said that wrestling is a man’s soap opera, but that’s pushing it.
There’s no way it will happen, but it’s surprising how Jey Uso hasn’t used it against CM Punk on their way to the fatal-four way in Clash in Paris. Punk openly buried the choice of making Jey win the Rumble and took his spot.
After being handed the main event of WrestleMania, Punk said it wasn’t a big deal to him, and that he would have granted him to the women if it were up to him. If only he had said so earlier.
*Punk actually commented on this: https://www.facebook.com/WWEHeelYARD/posts/cm-punk-says-hes-got-to-main-event-night-2-of-wrestlemania-for-all-those-people-/1245002837412740/
