CM Punk in War Games: A Perfect Storm

Here are three reasons why why WWE made the right choice with Punk as the fifth member.

He’s Not Seth Rollins

The first reason is more of a ‘lesser of two evils’ scenario. However,couldn’t it is important to note that Seth Rollins not being the fifth man is a sign of relief that long-term storytelling is still prevalent in wrestling, even though it may be the bare minimum.

Reigns and Rollins have had a complicated relationship since debuting as members of The Shield. As the only remaining members following Dean Ambrose’s 2019 departure, their on-again, off-again dynamic culminated in the main event of WrestleMania 40.

There, Reigns drove a steel chair into Rollins’ back, mirroring Rollins’ betrayal nearly a decade earlier when The Shield disbanded. Rollins accepted the blow, feeling responsible for creating the Tribal Chief and allowing power and greed to corrupt Reigns.

Despite their conflicts, Rollins and Reigns never truly hated each other. More so, Rollins despised what Reigns had become—a manipulative egomaniac abusing his power over his family for personal gain.

At the 2022 Royal Rumble, Rollins attempted to confront Reigns by embodying everything Reigns loathed, even wrestling in his Shield attire. Due to being unable to come to terms with his past, Reigns was disqualified for refusing to release his Guillotine Choke, repeating, “He won’t allow me to let go,” referencing Rollins’ betrayal and its lingering wounds.

That being said, it would not make much sense for Rollins to turn around and team back up with Reigns, who has not even been removed from WrestleMania for eight months, given that Reigns has mostly stayed the same as a person.

Despite returning at SummerSlam as more of a tweener than a full-on heel, Reigns has not given up much of his past self-centered traits, especially towards his family, as evidenced by his refusal to apologize to The Usos or Sami Zayn and his dismissive attitude towards them.

If Roman seemingly has yet to learn a lesson, why would Rollins team back up with him? That would effectively render the chair shot at WrestleMania 40 useless. Perhaps Reigns and Rollins could reunite down the line, but it would take months of storytelling and a bigger reason than a Bronson Reed feud to tip the scales.

CM Punk, the Bloodline, and Paul Heyman

Paul Heyman has been an off-screen advocate for CM Punk since Punk’s time in WWE’s developmental brand, Ohio Valley Wrestling, in 2005. Heyman even pushed for Punk to win the ECW Championship, leading to clashes with Vince McMahon over their differing views of Punk.

This tension contributed to Heyman’s departure from WWE after the 2006 December to Dismember pay-per-view, where Punk fell short of capturing the championship.

On-screen, CM Punk and Heyman partnered from September 3, 2012, to Money in the Bank 2013. Punk became the first to hold the title of “Paul Heyman Guy,” with Heyman playing a key role during the latter half of Punk’s 434-day WWE Championship reign. While Brock Lesnar may come to mind first as Heyman’s most notable client, Punk is unquestionably next in line.

In December 2023, Punk, fresh off his return at that year’s Survivor Series and cutting his first promo on SmackDown in almost a decade, took time to acknowledge Roman Reigns as his Tribal Chief, as Reigns was the Universal Champion at the time, giving a nod of respect to his former on-screen associate and rival.

Fast-forward to June 2024, and CM Punk and Heyman are back on TV together, sharing a hug on SmackDown while a flustered Heyman warned Punk to leave the arena before the New Bloodline attacked him. In response, Punk called Solo Sikoa and company a bunch of “fake-ass Usos and a phoney cosplay Tribal Chief.”

CM Punk never took Solo as a serious threat and went out of his way to insult him and his henchmen, despite Heyman’s advice to think otherwise. Punk’s brutal honesty towards Solo combined with his seemingly respectful acquaintance with Reigns made him a viable candidate as the fifth man.

The Wrath of The Final Boss

Since his one-off return at Bad Blood in October, The Rock has generally been forgotten about on WWE screens, not being mentioned by anyone on TV.

Despite closing the show and staring down Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes, neither man has mentioned The Final Boss, and he has only been mentioned due to his recent GQ Cover Story and promotion of movies such as Moana 2 and Red One. To some, this may seem like WWE honoring one of their own on TV, but to others, this seems like a sign of bad things to come for Reigns and company.

When Rocky returned at Bad Blood, he put up three fingers. To this day, nobody knows what this meant. Was he pointing to the three men in the ring? Was he counting down the months to his full-time return? Was he just looking to do something cool before his music played? May I propose; none of the above?

In fact, what I believe is that the three fingers Rock held up indicated three strikes against Reigns, and I believe those strikes ran out. Already on thin ice after losing his Championship to Rhodes, Rocky certainly must not have been happy at Reigns teaming up with the man who took his championship.

Additionally, how would Rocky feel about Reigns losing to the New Bloodline at Crown Jewel? Finally, The Final Boss can’t be happy with Roman teaming up with one of his old rivals, and another family outsider, to fight Solo’s Bloodline.

If my math is correct, that indicates three strikes against the OTC. In the end, all Bloodline members must bow down to The Final Boss, and he will not be happy come Saturday.

My initial prediction involved The Rock entering War Games as either team’s fifth man and turning on Reigns, revealing himself as the true leader of the New Bloodline. While that is not possible anymore,

I still believe he will show up at Survivor Series, however it will be after the match, where he will turn on Reigns and take the New Bloodline under his wing, setting up a potential showdown with Reigns at WrestleMania 41, or, my preferred choice of Rocky getting mad with power and using his kayfabe backstage powers to book himself in the main event of WrestleMania 41 against Cody Rhodes for the Universal Championship.

Additionally, who’s to say Rocky stops at Rhodes or Reigns? With the addition of Punk, there is a chance the two reignite their past rivalry and have their third match together sometime prior to WrestleMania in April. The possibilities are endless here.

With the stretch of WWE TV from December until the Royal Rumble usually being a down period as wrestlers gear up for the Road to WrestleMania, CM Punk as the fifth man for Team OTC and the potential consequences for himself, Reigns, and WWE as a whole are a fantastic way to lead up to the new era of WWE Raw on Netflix, coming January 6.