CM Punk says Seth Rollins is one of the greatest superstars of the last decade
WWE World Champion CM Punk recently broke kayfabe to heap praise on one of his arch rivals, Seth Rollins, calling him one of the greatest superstars of the last decade.
Recently appearing on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike with his wife, AJ Lee, Punk opened up on the emergence and rise of indie wrestlers in WWE before citing his name as an example.
“Gosh, I’m conflicted when I talk about this stuff because then people will point and say, ‘oh, you’re egotistical, you’re this, you’re that.’ The truth of the matter is, the first guy through the wall gets bloodied. I was the first guy through the wall. Independent wrestling was looked down upon. It was the land of the giants. I have to the casual observer some pretty ridiculous tattoos, but like everything else, tattoos are subjective. I wasn’t supposed to make it as far as I did, but I would not be denied,” Punk said.
“There are many more men and women that are just like that, that they bet on themselves, they believe in themselves, but they don’t have a look that fits a certain person’s idea of what a pro wrestler is. And that was definitely me. So being able to try to always reach down and pull up the next generation, or you know, I’m not pulling the ladder up. I’m trying to help other people get here,” he added.
Punk continued and added Rollins’ name as another example, who, despite the odds, made it big in WWE.
“I think Seth Rollins is a great example of that. You know, he’s a guy that fit the same mold as I did. He didn’t have the size. You wouldn’t look at him and be like, oh yeah, he’s a world champion. And now he’s multiple time, you know, heavyweight champion. And one of the, it pains me to say it, but he’s one of the greatest superstars over the last 10, 12 years.”
Before joining WWE in 2010, Rollins wrestled on the independent circuit and Ring of Honor (ROH) from 2004 to 2010, where he won multiple titles, including the ROH World Championship.
Shounak Chakrabarti is an experienced sports journalist with a lifelong passion for athletics and storytelling. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Journalism from the University of Leeds and joined F4WOnline in 2025.
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