Seth Rollins Opens Up On ‘Emotional’ Reaction To CM Punk WWE Survivor Series Return

WWE

Seth Rollins has opened up on his ’emotional’ reaction to CM Punk’s shocking return at the end of Survivor Series.

CM Punk made his return after almost a decade away from WWE at the end of this year’s Survivor Series event in Chicago, to the surprise of those in attendance.

Punk’s return came after his termination from AEW on September 2.

One person who was not happy to see Punk was World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, whose explicit reaction to his return was recorded by fans at the show.

Speaking to the Sports Illustrated Media podcast, Rollins discussed his reaction to Punk’s return, and whether he was annoyed about being given a heads up.

He said:

“Yes. Upon reflection, it’s easy to understand why something like that would be kept as close to the vest as possible. I understand why very few people knew what was going on that day, but in the moment I was extremely emotional. In the moment, after everything we had been through, and everything the company had been through with that particular person as well, and then the night itself, Randy’s return, all of it, it was a very emotional moment for me.

“Obviously, if you have any amount of social media, you saw how I reacted in the moment. It was a very raw, real, emotional response for me. Did I go too far? Maybe. It was what it was. I can’t take it back.”

Whether Rollins’ reaction was a work or a shoot was a hot debate online following the show, and Rollins was asked about whether his reaction was real or not.

He answered:

“Like I said, it was an extremely emotional moment for me. Everyone knows how I feel about CM Punk. I’ve not made it any more transparent over the past few years. Nothing has changed in that regard. In that moment, I was extremely emotional and you got a lot of real and raw emotion from me.

“I don’t usually get that worked up about much, but you caught me off guard and there was a lot of real emotion there. That’s probably as much as I can say on that without going too far.”

Rollins’ reaction made news primarily due to his uncharacteristic reaction of flipping off Punk, as well as being held back by Michael Cole and Corey Graves.

When discussing his reaction, Rollins said that he does regret flipping off Punk and cursing him out, saying:

“I regret that part of it because I do take my responsibility for our younger audience seriously. That part of it, to go too far, I wish I would have handled myself with a little more composure. I can’t take it back. I can apologize to our younger audience and their families if I offended anybody. It was what it was, a moment in time.”

There had been speculation about Punk returning to WWE after his AEW firing, so the return wasn’t completely out of nowhere to those in the ring.

When asked if Rollins was shocked by Punk’s return, or if it was more reality sinking in, he responded:

“The latter. In this industry, I’ve been with WWE for over ten years now, so kind of nothing surprises me anymore, fully. I heard rumblings, obviously, something they want to keep pretty close to the vest, for obvious reasons. Surprises are great in our industry and in this age of social media where everything is spoiled, it’s nice to have surprises. That wasn’t a very nice surprise for me, but it was for a lot of people out there who are fans of that guy for whatever reason.

“It was mostly just like, ‘Ah man, this is it. This is what we have to deal with now.’ This is our future moving forward, how we navigate this. It was kind of an emotional reaction to that compounded with the adrenaline of what we experienced inside the double cage at WarGames.”

Rollins then discussed what happened backstage after Punk’s return, noting that he didn’t see Punk after he returned to the back.

He added:

“My wife was there and I had a few people kind of corral me, I suppose. My wife is pretty good at understanding my temperament and making sure I’m level when I need to be. Kudos to her, she made sure I didn’t get into any more trouble. There were enough people there who knew that I would be upset in the moment and to take care of me and it didn’t get too chaotic.

“I lost him. I waited for a while, I’m sure he was somewhere doing interviews or whatever, but I didn’t see him.”

Rollins then went on to detail his real-life issues with Punk, and whether he is willing to work with him, which you can see here.

transcription via Fightful

Want to stay up to date with all the most important Wrestling and WrestleTalk News? Join our newsletter mailing list by clicking here, and selecting your preferences!

• survivor series
• Seth Rollins
• cm punk
• wwe

Share this article with friends