Vince McMahon Was Reportedly Furious Over Seth Rollins' CM Punk Callout

[Bob-O]

Source: wrestlinginc

Last night on Raw, Seth Rollins took some shots at CM Punk in the opening segment of the show. When the crowd chanted Punk's name during Seth's opening address to the roster, he stated Punk just wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about change.

"I tried to get [Punk] here, I'm sorry," Rollins said, while the crowd chanted for Punk. "He didn't wanna show up. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about a change that he's too afraid to make himself."

There is no deal in place for a Punk vs. Rollins match as of now. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Vince McMahon was reportedly furious that Rollins mentioned Punk.

Meltzer pointed out it is a rule that you shouldn't push an idea of match if you can't deliver on it. In 2015, McMahon was upset at the ending of a Steve Austin Podcast episode with Paul Heyman, because they teased an Austin vs. Brock Lesnar match that was not in the works.

Rollins has called Punk out multiple times recently on social media. Punk responded to Rollins on last week's episode of WWE Backstage, stating, "Seth needs to stop tweeting and realize sometimes it's better to be viewed at as the fool and shut your mouth, or open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Later on the show while cutting a promo on Tom Arnold, Punk insinuated that Rollins was using him to stay relevant. During an interview with 101 WKQX in Chicago last week, Rollins responded to Punk and once again invited him to face him.

"The funny thing is, for me, from a guy telling me I need to look for relevancy, here's someone who has been in the doldrums for the past few years because he got his butt kicked in the Octagon, so bad that he didn't want to show his face anywhere," Rollins said. "Now he shows back up on a WWE TV show, called WWE Backstage. You can say it's a FS1 show all you want, which it is, and you might be paid by FOX, but that show doesn't exist without our company. The company you left 5 years ago. So, say whatever you want, play it however you want. That's what Punk always does.

"But at the end of the day, if he wants to come on our show and run his mouth about me and a company he's had no part of for the last 5 years, then of course I'm going to stand up for us. This is a place that has given me everything that I've ever wanted in my life. Not only me, but it's provided a living for my family, for people that I love, that I care about. Of course I'm going to have its back. I'm not going to let you push it around, and push me around, and act like you're so cool. You couldn't bust a cherry in a fruit fight, dude. I want to make some money - so, if CM Punk wants to talk all the smack in the world, I've invited him a million times now to come to my ring, to my domain, on live television. Where you can't hide behind anything, no desk in LA. Come, let's do this thing, man. Let's fight, let's fight it out like men."

While speaking to Wrestling Inc. at the NXT Takeover post-event press conference on Saturday night, Triple H admitted that despite Punk appearing on WWE Backstage, a Punk return to WWE is a "long, long way."

"I have not spoken to him," Triple H admitted. "To be honest, we have not had that conversation. I know he's working for FOX and it's a bit of an arm's length from us. All of this stuff is baby steps, when people want something so bad, it's like they're saying, 'So you're saying there's a chance.' That's the moment of time that we're in.

"Be happy that he's on WWE Backstage and doing something with the business again. The rest of it, I've said it a million times, never say never. But that's a long, long way. I know when you say that, people say, 'they're working us!' Because there's nothing that you can say that will make people think otherwise, it is what it is."

Punk is an occasional analyst on WWE Backstage on FS1 on Tuesday nights. Punk will not be on tonight's episode, which features Triple H.

[KILLdozer]

I can't even buy into this. All of the other aforementioned stuff is obviously completely scripted anyway so it just doesn't add up.

[Bob-O]

I can't even buy into this. All of the other aforementioned stuff is obviously completely scripted anyway so it just doesn't add up.

Punk - "I don't even care about wrestling any more, I don't watch it..."
*Proceeds to become wrestling analyst on Wrestling Talk Show with other wrestlers.

Vince - "Stop hinting at matches I can't deliver!"
*Plasters uncomfortable CM Punk vs Steve Austin footage meant to promote a video game all over the internet

I'm buying about 50% of it. I believe (finally) that Punk has no "current" plans to return, but absolutely believe that they want to have a ready-made high-profile angle for him to slip into should they hit his price, although I think they'd have better luck tempting him with a buddy like Joe, a dream match like Styles, or the opportunity to put over a sure-thing like Cole...

I think Seth's "heat backstage" is bullshit, but completely believe that they haven't reached out to Punk. I also have a boat to sell you if you believe both parties don't have dollar signs in their eyes when The Royal Rumble comes around...

[cero2k]

I'm still 99.99% sure that you'll get Punk vs Rollins at WM

[KILLdozer]

AJ Styles v Punk is not a dream match. I never thought Punk was THAT GREAT in-ring like so many others do....he's definitely worse than lots of others from his time/peer group.

[cero2k]

AJ Styles v Punk is not a dream match. I never thought Punk was THAT GREAT in-ring like so many others do....he's definitely worse than lots of others from his time/peer group.

he was never known to be an in-ring genius, he just had really low competition in WWE.

[Big Red Machine]

AJ Styles v Punk is not a dream match. I never thought Punk was THAT GREAT in-ring like so many others do....he's definitely worse than lots of others from his time/peer group.

he was never known to be an in-ring genius, he just had really low competition in WWE.

He was always considered a great worker. He wasn't Dragon or Low Ki or Roddy or AJ, but he was also seen as someone who could go in there with anyone and have an awesome main event.

[KILLdozer]

AJ Styles v Punk is not a dream match. I never thought Punk was THAT GREAT in-ring like so many others do....he's definitely worse than lots of others from his time/peer group.

he was never known to be an in-ring genius, he just had really low competition in WWE.

He was always considered a great worker. He wasn't Dragon or Low Ki or Roddy or AJ, but he was also seen as someone who could go in there with anyone and have an awesome main event.

Exactly and I just disagree with the above and agree with the second.

Out of all his contemporaries that rose up from the same level as him and the same time period, there's so many more I see and rank above him wrestling wise. I feel to an extent he gets all the hype because he was the first one of them to go to WWE and do it on the larger scale.

[Big Red Machine]

he was never known to be an in-ring genius, he just had really low competition in WWE.

He was always considered a great worker. He wasn't Dragon or Low Ki or Roddy or AJ, but he was also seen as someone who could go in there with anyone and have an awesome main event.

Exactly and I just disagree with the above and agree with the second.

Out of all his contemporaries that rose up from the same level as him and the same time period, there's so many more I see and rank above him wrestling wise. I feel to an extent he gets all the hype because he was the first one of them to go to WWE and do it on the larger scale.

I think I definitely see him as a higher caliber of worker than you do. Those other guys are 10/10s. Punk might not be on their level, but I still think he's at least a 9/10.

[KILLdozer]

He was always considered a great worker. He wasn't Dragon or Low Ki or Roddy or AJ, but he was also seen as someone who could go in there with anyone and have an awesome main event.

Exactly and I just disagree with the above and agree with the second.

Out of all his contemporaries that rose up from the same level as him and the same time period, there's so many more I see and rank above him wrestling wise. I feel to an extent he gets all the hype because he was the first one of them to go to WWE and do it on the larger scale.

I think I definitely see him as a higher caliber of worker than you do. Those other guys are 10/10s. Punk might not be on their level, but I still think he's at least a 9/10.

Don't get me wrong....he's better than a lot of guys that AREN'T on that above stated level...but there's people out there that act like he's the elite greatest in ring performer of the current era...which simply isn't true.

[Bob-O]

Don't get me wrong....he's better than a lot of guys that AREN'T on that above stated level...but there's people out there that act like he's the elite greatest in ring performer of the current era...which simply isn't true.

I don't feel like people give him undue credit in the ring, you don't hear him mentioned in conversations about Five Star Matches or in the same sentence as Daniel Bryan or AJ Styles, but he was absolutely in that "elite" level of popularity.

He was the saving grace for many people that were sick of #cenawinslol and the pg-era, he brought the stuff we wanted to see. Good promos in an era of scripts, good (NOT saying "great")wrestling in an era of in-house trained bodybuilders... he was something for the grown-ups to watch, and while maybe not the GOAT at any of it, he represented the "something different" everyone wanted.

A lot of things go into a "dream match"... Rock vs Cena, Rock vs Hogan... both dream matches with guys that were never top in-ring guys. Hogan vs Andre was considered a "dream match" when Andre could barely move. Everyone pines for HBK to have a "dream match" with Daniel Bryan or any number of flippy guys... when I don't think Shawn was ever that great when put under a microscope. It's all about the strength of one's brand.

CM Punk left with a very strong brand, and the way he left ("it's not you, it's me") played right into kayfabe and strengthened that brand image. I'm not saying Punk vs Styles would burn the house down, but as far as brand vs brand and a match that could be sold on just that, I think it'd be a dream match in anyone's book.