Ranking CM Punk's Greatest WWE Feuds Ahead of WrestleMania 42 Match vs. Roman Reigns
CM Punk and Roman Reigns' real-life animosity has made for tremendous television in the build to their bout at WWE WrestleMania 42.
Over the course of his incredibly decorated career, Punk has made many an enemy, both inside and outside of the squared circle. He's consistently at his best when he's incorporating elements of reality into his promos and on-screen storylines.
Even during his rather brief stint with All Elite Wrestling, The Second City Saint had many memorable run-ins with the likes of MJF, Eddie Kingston and Samoa Joe. His backstage drama with Adam Page and the rest of The Elite was also well documented despite never turning into an angle on the air.
Punk's intense mic work combined with his ability to always deliver when it matters most in the ring makes a majority of his feuds compelling, but it especially works when he shares a certain connection with his foe.
Where will Punk's rivalry with Reigns rank among his greatest ever in WWE when all is said and done?
Honorable Mentions
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Rey Mysterio
The start of Straight Edge Society, Punk's fabled heel faction from 2010, saw CM Punk cross paths with The Master of the 619 during WrestleMania season.
Punk's heel work was an another level at that point as he tormented the Mysterio family every chance he had, leading to a stellar series of matches between the two that spring and culminating in Punk having his head shaved.
John Morrison
It's unknown what would have become of Punk in WWE had it not been for his wars with Morrison over the ECW Championship in the summer of 2007. Their feud successfully elevated both men to upper-midcard status and got Punk over as the ultimate underdog.
Their chemistry improved with every outing that had with their best being the big blow-off where Punk finally clinched the ECW title.
Randy Orton
An Orton vs. Punk program had the potential to be great in late 2008, but there was hardly any follow-up to Orton costing Punk his World Heavyweight Championship at Unforgiven that year. That was, however, until Punk rekindled their rivalry in early 2011 and used that as his reasoning for why he and the rest of The New Nexus were targeting The Viper.
Punk came up short in all of their encounters, but they were responsible for one of the better bouts on the WrestleMania 27 card as well as an excellent Last Man Standing match at Extreme Rules a month later.
7. The Rock
2 of 8CM Punk's rivalry with The Rock was relatively brief compared to other feuds he's had throughout the years, but it was far and away the highlight of WWE programming at a time when there wasn't much else to get excited about.
Punk's white-hot 2011 and 2012 as WWE champion was occasionally overshadowed by the ongoing beef between Rock and John Cena, who made their match official for WrestleMania 28 one year out. The Straight Edge Superstar's frustrations finally boiled over in July 2012 when he laid out Rock unprovoked to cement his heel turn.
That was designed to set them up for a massive matchup at Royal Rumble 2013, and in the weeks preceding the pay-per-view, they traded vicious verbal jabs and brought the best out of each other. All of the trash talking made for an electric atmosphere at the event, where Rock conquered Punk to end his historic 434-day reign.
In a forgotten gem, they ran it back the very next month at Elimination Chamber and an even better bout together. Rock was largely limited by what he could do in the ring even then, but Punk was the perfect dance partner for him and ensured they both emerged looking fantastic.
6. The Undertaker
3 of 8Punk was fresh off a phenomenal feud with Jeff Hardy (more on that momentarily) in the summer of 2009 when he was immediately met with his next big challenge in The Undertaker. It kept Punk in a prominent position on SmackDown, but none of their matches at that point benefited Punk in the slightest.
Infamously, Undertaker squashed Punk in 10 minutes to win the World Heavyweight Championship in the opener at the inaugural Hell in a Cell event. It was a career low for Punk, who spent the next two years toiling in the upper-midcard on Raw and SmackDown.
When their rivalry was revisited in time for WrestleMania 29 four years later, Punk had come a long way as a performer and had proven himself as a main-event attraction. This match was seen as a battle between two icons, despite nothing tangible being at stake.
They only had about a month to build up their bout, but they made it memorable. The focus quickly shifted from Punk solely wanting to end Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania to disrespecting the honor of 'Taker's fallen friend Paul Bearer, who had just passed away weeks earlier.
Punk was at his most evil during this feud, going so far as to pour the "ashes" of Bearer on top of himself days ahead of the event. Punk failing to snap the streak was predictable, but it didn't take away from the magic of their match and what they accomplished.
It was the last truly great wrestling match Undertaker ever had on The Grandest Stage of Them All, with Punk once again reinforcing his reputation as a miracle worker.
5. Seth Rollins
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You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that the CM Punk character has hated more in his WWE career than Seth Rollins.
The two's issues date back to when Punk was responsible for recruiting The Shield to do his dirty work in 2012 and 2013, but their bad blood mostly stemmed from Rollins taking great offense to comments Punk made during his extended absence from the business.
Rollins continuously called out Punk in interviews and on social media for years, so it was only fitting that one of Punk's first feuds back in WWE would be with him. After playing off their real-life animosity in all of their promos, Punk eventually bested Rollins in clean fashion on Raw's grand Netflix premiere at the onset of 2025.
They went on to wage war for the entirety of 2025, and at almost every turn, Rollins had Punk's number, including at SummerSlam when Rollins stole the World Heavyweight Championship from him via a Money in the Bank cash-in.
Their rivalry appeared to be building toward an exciting conclusion before Rollins suffered an untimely injury in October. Their issues remain unresolved, but it's possible this program would be slotted higher on the list if they properly paid it off.
4. Chris Jericho
5 of 8During his ascent to super stardom in the summer of 2011, CM Punk repeatedly boasted about being the best wrestler in the world, which caught the attention of one Chris Jericho.
Jericho's shtick prior to taking time off from WWE was calling himself the best in the world as well, so it was an easy choice for them to be paired together for a feud upon Jericho's return to the company.
Their storyline ended up delving deeper than that and getting much more personal with Jericho targeting Punk's past family trauma and his straight edge lifestyle. They had the tall task of measuring up to what John Cena and The Rock were doing en route to WrestleMania 28 and even outshined them on multiple occasions.
The 'Mania match itself was solid albeit unspectacular, but they made up for it with a highly entertaining Street Fight in Punk's native Chicago at Extreme Rules. They went on to have a handful of other matches against each other in the year that followed and Punk prevailed every time.
Punk was a made man by this point, but it was during the Jericho feud that he did some of his strongest work that elevated his lengthy run as WWE champion.
3. Drew McIntyre
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Perhaps the most impressive part of CM Punk and Drew McIntyre's exceptional storyline in 2024 was that it was never planned in the first place.
When Punk shockingly returned to WWE at Survivor Series 2023, it was all but confirmed that he'd be fighting Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40. McIntyre accidentally (but legitimately) injuring Rollins in the Royal Rumble caused plans to pivot pretty significantly.
McIntyre and Rollins went on to collide at WrestleMania while Punk embarked on the road to recovery, not without making a number of appearances on WWE TV along the way where he furthered his feud with McIntyre without getting too physical with him.
Punk costing McIntyre the prestigious prize on a whopping three occasions only added more fuel to the fire and made their match at SummerSlam that much more anticipated. Although McIntyre emerged victorious in their initial encounter, Punk won their Strap match at Bash in Berlin and their classic Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood.
It was an outstanding eight-month story that progressed steadily, peaked at the right times and served as a nice throwback to wrestling rivalries that felt as real as could be.
2. Jeff Hardy
7 of 8CM Punk's first few years in WWE as a babyface were fine but didn't allow him to show off his range as a character. That wouldn't come until his slow-burn heel turn in 2009 and subsequent storyline with Jeff Hardy.
After opportunistically cashing in Money in the Bank on Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship, Punk gradually embraced being a heel as crowds started to turn against him. Hardy was also at the peak of his popularity at that point and fans were anxious to rally behind him.
Punk took shortcuts in their early encounters to retain the title, including feigning an eye injury. He leaned into his heel persona by condescendingly talking down to Hardy and mocking the mistakes he had made in his past, emphasizing that his straight edge lifestyle solidified his superiority over The Charismatic Enigma.
Each match of theirs was better than the last, with their TLC main event at SummerSlam that year acting as a masterclass in storytelling. Punk had gone so far off the deep end that he was willing to do whatever was necessary to regain the gold, while Hardy endeared himself to the audience even more with every risk he took and every setback he suffered.
In storyline, Punk was responsible for sending Hardy packing to cover for his real-life departure from WWE. The stark contrast of their characters made for a riveting dynamic and completely changed the perception of Punk in the eyes of the audience.
1. John Cena
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John Cena being CM Punk's best WWE rival is undisputed, but an argument can also be made for Punk being Cena's best rival as well.
The many television matches they had between late 2009 and early 2011 established that they worked wonderfully together whenever the bell rang, but their full-fledged feud over the WWE Championship in the summer of 2011 was greater than anyone could have ever anticipated.
Punk's WWE contract coming due in real life on the same weekend as their title match at Money in the Bank made matters more interesting and played into the idea that Punk was never the company's chosen champ in the same way Cena was.
Electricity was in the air that night in Chicago when Punk pinned Cena to capture the WWE title and escape the arena with it in his possession. Cena played a pivotal role in the remainder of the "Summer of Punk" and in helping Punk carve out his spot at the top of the card.
Many of their matches between then and early 2013 were instant classics, and their February 2013 Raw main-event in particular is widely regarded by fans to be among the best bouts in Raw history.
It was imperative for them to mix it up one more time when Punk made his way back to WWE and Cena announced his retirement tour in 2025. It was almost as if no time had passed whenever they shared the ring for a promo or for their final in-ring encounter.
For 15 years, their bond as rivals was simply that spectacular.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
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