45-year-old's injury will translate to former WWE Champion challenging Seth Rollins at WrestleMania XL, claims top star
World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins' WrestleMania opponent will be determined this weekend at WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth.
Seth Rollins' knee injury has put the status of his much-anticipated World Heavyweight Championship clash with CM Punk up in the air. Unfortunately for the latter, he was forced to sit on the bench owing to a triceps tear sustained during the Men's Royal Rumble Match.
Now that dream match has gone out the window for certain, the winner of the titular contest at Elimination Chamber: Perth this Saturday night will go on to face The Visionary in April. Out of the superstars who qualified, only Drew McIntyre is a member of the RAW roster.
Speaking on The West Sport, The Scotsman assured WWE Universe that Punk being out of action will translate to him getting the World Heavyweight Title shot at WrestleMania XL:
"When it comes to the injury and how I felt him [CM Punk] coming into the company and leap-frogging superstars, trying to take spots at WrestleMania, particularly my spot at WrestleMania, I wasn't going to let it happen. I took him out and I wanted to let him know, 'I prayed for this to happen.'" [H/T: Fightful]
WWE used the angle to write off CM Punk from television. Drew McIntyre not only took credit for injuring The Second City Saint at Royal Rumble but also assaulted him on RAW post-Rumble when he announced that he needs to heal up and won't be around for The Showcase of Immortals in April.
"The way people reacted was like a delayed reaction. 'Did he just say that?' I could feel it in the arena. The next line was, 'After the Rumble, when I got eliminated by you, I couldn't sleep. I let myself down, I let the world down not winning the Rumble, but more specifcally getting eliminated by Punk. The next day I found out he torn his tricep off the bone, and that night I slept like a baby and headed into RAW with a big smile on my face.' Then attacked him, stomped his tricep, and chucked him out the door. Where were we? Me main eventing WrestleMania, that's it."
It's an interesting booking decision on WWE's part to have Drew McIntyre as the sole RAW Superstar going into the Elimination Chamber.
While other names have a history with Seth Rollins, it is The Scottish Warrior who contended for his gold most recently (at Crown Jewel 2023 and RAW: Day 1), albeit both times in losing efforts.
CM Punk claims his WWE return will be "bigger and better"
While Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk was the feud most people were looking forward to, WWE managed to make things interesting by teasing a future showdown between the Voice of the Voiceless and Drew McIntyre.
Meanwhile, Punk revealed to TNT Sports that the plans were for him to face The Visionary. However, it does not matter now, and he is looking forward to a strong comeback:
"I was gonna headline WrestleMania. Obviously, now I'm not. But, you know, it's sports. It's what happens to athletes, you know. Like, mentally, I think it's harder. The physical pain is whatever, but I look at it just like a bump in the road, you know. This is an occupational hazard, it happens, and I'll be back bigger and better," he said.
The prodigal son's WWE return was well-received by fans, and he remains a babyface. Be that as it may, at Royal Rumble, Punk did tease a heel turn when he hit the Pedigree on eventual winner Cody Rhodes.
Do you think Drew McIntyre was booked as the sole RAW Superstar in the Elimination Chamber match designed for his victory? Sound off in the comments section below!