CM Punk spent years looking back at his WWE feud with The Rock through an angry lens, but time has changed the way he sees it. Punk now admits he didn’t fully appreciate the size of the opportunity while it was happening—and says The Rock gave him far more inside the ring than a star of his level ever had to.
Punk revisited footage of his battles with The Rock and immediately pointed out that Dwayne Johnson didn’t need to return to WWE. The Rock was already one of the biggest stars on the planet, but he still came back, stepped into Punk’s world and worked a full program with him.
Punk admitted that his attitude was much different at the time. He was protective of his position, angry about part-time stars walking back into WWE and convinced the company belonged to the wrestlers who were there every week.
“I think what stands out is this is a guy who is a gigantic superstar and doesn’t have to come back to wrestling. We do it all the time. We talk about part-timers and people stealing spots and all this and all that.”
Years later, Punk sees the situation differently. He revealed that he and The Rock have spoken since their feud, and those conversations helped him recognize just how big the opportunity actually was.
“But really—and I’ve had conversations with him since then—what an opportunity. At the time, I was probably a little more abrasive and angry, like, ‘This is my house.’ But looking back on it, just the opportunity to get to share a ring with him—and he’s pretty giving for the stature of superstar that he is.”
Punk then recalled one specific WWE RAW confrontation where The Rock made his offense look devastating. Rather than protecting himself or refusing to give Punk anything, Rock threw himself into the moment and made Punk look like he belonged across the ring from one of wrestling’s biggest names.
“I remember—I think it was the St. Louis RAW, was it RAW 1,000? He sold for me like he got shot by a cannon. That, to me, is what the business is about.”
For Punk, the footage is also proof of how far he had climbed. He wasn’t just sharing television time with The Rock. He was trusted to stand across from him, attack him and carry himself like an equal during one of WWE’s biggest programs.
“This was business, and this is perfect. Look at this. You’re in there with one of the greatest of all time, and you’re not really stepping up to the plate or rising to the occasion like you belong there. To me, this is a testament to my hard work to get to this level—to be the guy who wrestled Rock at that time.”
Punk went on to name The Rock as one of the opponents he enjoyed working with, even though they didn’t wrestle each other as often as Punk did with John Cena, Rey Mysterio or The Undertaker.
“Rock was fun for the experience. I didn’t wrestle him as often as I wrestled some of the guys on this list.”
Punk and The Rock’s feud ended with Rock taking the WWE Championship from him at the 2013 Royal Rumble before defeating him again at Elimination Chamber. Punk clearly hated how everything went down at the time, but more than a decade later, he can finally separate that frustration from the opportunity he was given.
Punk now sees the feud for what it was: a chance to work with one of the biggest stars wrestling has ever produced—and proof that WWE trusted him to stand toe-to-toe with The Rock on the biggest stage.
Do you think CM Punk should have appreciated working with The Rock more at the time, or was his frustration over losing the WWE Championship justified? Leave your feedback in the comments.
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