CM Punk Shoots on Seth Rollins; WWE Royal Rumble Entrants; Mercedes Moné Fuels Rumors
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Punk Says He Paved Way for Rollins
As WWE seemingly continues to build toward an eventual match between CM Punk and world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins, Punk gave his take on the influence he has had on Rollins' career Thursday.
In an interview for a 2024 WWE preview special on Peacock (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Punk expressed his belief that his success in WWE opened the door for Rollins to do something similar:
"I'm in a position where I feel strange vocalizing it, but Seth is a guy—at least I felt 10 years ago—that he's a dude that I don't think he would have gotten the opportunities he's gotten if it wasn't for me, you know. That might hurt some people's feelings, but facts are facts, they don't care about your feelings."
Like Punk, Rollins was a top star in Ring of Honor before eventually signing a developmental contract with WWE.
Punk was the ROH world champion and established himself as the hottest commodity on the independent scene by the time he signed with WWE in 2005, and he went on to become a two-time WWE champion and three-time world heavyweight champion.
When Rollins signed with WWE in 2010 after an ROH world title reign of his own, Punk was on the verge of becoming one of the faces of the company in 2011.
Rollins debuted on the main roster in 2012 as one-third of The Shield along with Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose, and their first order of business was to help Punk retain the WWE Championship at Survivor Series.
From then until Punk's WWE departure in January 2014, he worked with and against The Shield multiple times.
Rollins' ascent to world champion and main event status came shortly after Punk left WWE, and he has been one of the biggest stars in WWE ever since.
Both Punk and Rollins have had less-than-flattering things to say about each other publicly, and they had a confrontation on Raw a few weeks ago with Rollins telling Punk he hates him and everything he stands for.
Punk subsequently entered the men's Royal Rumble match, and he noted Thursday that if he wins it, he and Rollins may be able to settle their differences in the ring at WrestleMania 40.
Lynch, Nakamura Announced for Royal Rumble Matches
WWE announced two major names as entrants in the women's and men's Royal Rumble matches this week.
During the 2024 WWE preview special on Peacock, it was revealed that Becky Lynch will participate in the women's Royal Rumble match and Shinsuke Nakamura will be in the men's Rumble at the Royal Rumble premium live event in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Jan. 27.
Neither wrestler is a surprising choice for the Rumble, but they will add considerable star power due to their status as former Royal Rumble winners.
Lynch won the women's Royal Rumble match in 2019 and she is among the most decorated female Superstars in WWE history as a four-time SmackDown women's champion and two-time Raw women's champion.
The Man has not held a singles title on the main roster since WrestleMania 38 in 2022, though, and she feels long overdue to win some gold.
Lynch is a strong candidate to face Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship at WrestleMania 40, and if that is in the cards, Becky has to be viewed as one of the top contenders to win the Rumble.
Nakamura, who won the 2018 men's Royal Rumble, is in the midst of arguably his best run since early in his WWE career.
The King of Strong Style has been presented as a credible heel and fell just short in hard-fought matches against Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship.
More recently, Nakamura has been feuding with Cody Rhodes and has vowed to finish his story for him.
Given that Rhodes is essentially the co-favorite to win the men's Rumble along with Punk, he and Nakamura figure to have some interactions in the Rumble match, and Shinsuke will serve as a difficult obstacle standing between Cody and a second consecutive WrestleMania main event.
Mercedes Teases Big Things in 2024
As rumors and speculation continue to swirl regarding her immediate future in pro wrestling, Mercedes Moné teased big happenings during the coming year.
Per Upton, Mercedes made an intriguing post on her Instagram Stories on Thursday, as she dropped a photo of herself smiling and with a tear seemingly running down her cheek, accompanied by the caption, "This year gonna be fun."
Fightful Select (h/t Upton) recently reported that while Moné and WWE were in contract talks in December, they eventually broke down, and the expectation within WWE was that Mercedes would appear elsewhere "imminently."
Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News) echoed the report regarding Mercedes and WWE ending talks, noting that they were far apart on money.
On Friday, PWInsider.com's Mike Johnson reported that WWE and Mercedes did indeed have talks, and a WWE source said they were "confident" she would sign with WWE, although they cautioned that nothing is final until a deal is officially inked.
An AEW source told Johnson that AEW had engaged in contract talks with Mercedes as well, saying, "If you don't think we are in the hunt, you are crazy."
Since the initial report regarding WWE and Moné breaking off talks first surfaced, the overarching belief has been that she would end up in AEW.
On Friday, Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp noted that Mercedes is "expected" to join AEW, although he could not confirm if anything had been officially signed.
During her run in WWE as Sasha Banks from 2012 through 2022, Mercedes established herself as one of the best women's wrestlers in the world, winning the Raw Women's Championship five times, the SmackDown Women's Championship once, the NXT Women's Championship once and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships three times.
WWE bringing back Mercedes would be a case of the rich getting richer, but if AEW can secure her, it would go a long way toward the company taking its women's division to a level it has never achieved.
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