Seth Rollins Criticizes CM Punk for Abandoning WWE During Tough Times

CM Punk famously walked out on WWE back in 2014 and the period that followed in the company was viewed as one of the worst in company history. While Punk came back during the 2023 Survivor Series Premium Live Event, it appears Rollins has pointed out how he remained with WWE during bad times, unlike Punk.

While speaking to Jackie Redmond, Seth Rollins talked about how he stayed with WWE during tough times, while CM Punk left the company. Rollins explained that he really loved WWE and felt connected to it, even when things weren’t going well. He believed in the company and its people and wanted to protect it. Although there were things he wanted to change, he stayed loyal to WWE despite criticism from others.

“I’m not gonna sit here and say I love this more than anybody else. That’s not the case. We all love WWE. We love this job, this business. But I was so ingrained in it for the time that he was gone. I was so ingrained in it, and I took it so personally when people outside… this is my home, man. This was my home, I loved this place. I loved it. And you can say, like, warts and all, right, I loved it. There are certainly things we would have loved to have fixed during that period of time. There are certainly pieces we would have loved to have cut out or done different things. But this is what we’ve got, man. This is our house.”

Rollins criticized Punk for leaving WWE and then trying to tear it down from the outside. He described that behavior as selfish and narcissistic. While Rollins faced a lot of adversity, he stuck with WWE, even when things were difficult. He personally took the attacks from Punk and others very seriously, feeling like he was the only one standing up for the company he believed in.

“You don’t just abandon your house and your family and your people and then go somewhere else and try to tear that place down. That’s crap behavior. That’s narcissistic behavior. That’s garbage, dude. And so when I was here, I wanted to protect this place unlike Punk who just left. I believed in it. I believe in the locker room. And I wasn’t shy about standing up when there was pushback on the outside. This is the best place in this business. We have the best roster. We have the best people. We are gonna make this thing great. You just gotta stick with me, have some patience. And tough times don’t last, tough guys do—Punk’s not tough, he dipped. He’s not tough. I stuck it out when it was garbage. When I was getting dumped on over and over by everyone inside the company and outside the company, I stayed here.”

For Rollins, it was hard to see Punk return to WWE because of their different relationships with the company. Rollins’ unique connection to WWE made it harder for him to let go of the issues surrounding Punk’s departure and return.

“And so I took all of those attacks from everybody outside of here and from him, very personally. Because sometimes it felt like I was the only one who would stand up and say anything. I was the only one that would stand up and have pride in my house that I built and that I fostered. And so, I took all that very personally. And it was hard for me to just see him walk back in here. Not everybody had that relationship with the company. Not everybody had that relationship with CM Punk. I think it’s very unique to me, and that’s why it’s harder for me to let this thing go.”

The Visionary and the Second City Saint are set to face off against each other on the January 6 debut of Monday Night RAW on Netflix, in what will be a culmination of their longstanding feud. Rollins believes Punk will be exposed during the match, so we’ll have to see if that will happen in the end.

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