"He always had a problem with that" - WWE legend on CM Punk never main-eventing WrestleMania
CM Punk might be one of the biggest names in pro wrestling, but the Straight Edge star never managed to main-event WrestleMania. During a recent podcast, a WWE legend briefly discussed this as well as an interaction from Punk on missing out on this feat.
CM Punk's run on top began when he captured the WWE Championship from John Cena at Money in the Bank 2011. This run would eventually end in January 2013, when Punk lost to The Rock. Despite his popularity and accolades in WWE, Punk was passed over several times for the main event spot at The Showcase of the Immortals.
While speaking on the most recent Talk is Jericho, Chris Jericho discussed CM Punk's failed ambition to main-event WrestleMania:
“He always had a problem with that, and I even said to him, ‘Dude, like once again, I was in the main event but you had a match with Undertaker. I mean, that’s a main event on any WrestleMania!' And he goes, ‘You’re on last, you can't tell me any differently, you don’t know how I feel, you were in the main event.’ I was like okay.” (00:35)
This was the closest that CM Punk got to ever main eventing a Wrestlemania https://t.co/QeYKlOzfhs
Chris Jericho continued, recalling how he approached Punk with the "Best in the World" feud:
“The reason why I thought of Punk was we had worked quite a bit over the years, we got along really well, we always had great matches. And I was the best in the world, and I left for a year or so, and he was the best in the world, so I said, 'Well this is great. We can do a best in the world versus best in the world match, right?'” (00:52)
The two stars went on to wrestle a grueling match that fans still fondly look back on. Unfortunately, CM Punk never managed to have his WrestleMania main event, and even with Triple H at the helm of WWE, that dream will likely go unachieved.
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Chris Jericho's feud with CM Punk was initially going to include the then-WWE Champion being tattooed
CM Punk faces off against Chris Jericho at #Wrestlemania 28, for the #WWE Championship https://t.co/Okh3v6Pgwk
The Best in the World feud was unfortunately heavily overshadowed by the WrestleMania 28 clash between John Cena and The Rock, despite CM Punk being the reigning WWE World Champion at the time.
Continuing in the same Talk is Jericho episode, The Wizard revealed that the feud initially would have had a much different start:
"The original plan for the opening angle to get that rolling was I was gonna tattoo CM Punk. What do you mean? I was gonna do an angle where I knocked him out and handcuffed him to the ring ropes, take out a tattoo needle and tattoo my initials onto his body. I would get a tattoo artist to show me how to do it, and do like a CJ," Jericho said. (01:17)
In hindsight, many fans have praised the clash and especially the WrestleMania match itself.
Although Punk never got the chance to main-event WrestleMania, his return to wrestling has given him another shot at being the face of a company. Now as the AEW World Champion, he's certain to main-event major pay-per-views in the future.