CM Punk used to observe WrestleMania like everybody else, trying up on the larger-than-life superstars within the marquee. Now, he is chasing them.
Punk headlines WrestleMania 42 on Sunday, defending the world heavyweight title in opposition to Roman Reigns in Las Vegas. It is his second straight Mania predominant occasion, one thing that felt out of attain for a very long time.
“WrestleMania is and at all times would be the pinnacle, top-shelf present in professional wrestling,” Punk instructed CBS Sports activities on the WWE 2K26 hands-on occasion in Stamford. “Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, these are the fellows who have been at all times speaking about and hovering round the principle occasion after I was watching. I developed that very same angle.”
Shawn Michaels headlined WrestleMania 5 instances. Bret Hart did it thrice. Punk, 47, is older than each legends have been after they retired. He is losing no time protecting floor.
“The most effective guys predominant occasion the largest present,” Punk mentioned. “So to do it as soon as is good. To do it twice in back-to-back years, like being on the quilt of the online game for the second time, it is nonetheless an enormous deal to me.”
It is the type of perception that is formed his profession, even when the outcomes did not match it. For years, Punk was absent from these conversations regardless of having the accolades and fanfare to headline Mania. Being snubbed was a catalyst for his nine-year WWE exit. Final yr was the breakthrough.
Practically three many years into his profession, Punk lastly headlined WrestleMania, sharing the ring with Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple risk match. It was an emotional, full-circle second that did not appear doable when he walked away from WWE in 2014, annoyed and neglected.
“I feel the juice is well worth the squeeze,” Punk mentioned. “It is most likely sweeter as a result of it is one thing I had acquiesced in my head that may by no means occur.
“So coming again and climbing that mountain, and planting my flag on it, made it a lot sweeter. Recency bias, although, final yr,” Punk mentioned. “I am nonetheless using that prime and wave.”
Punk won’t be right here right now had a unique story performed out a decade in the past. WrestleMania had quite a bit to do with Punk’s comeback, a reconciliation with WWE that nobody thought doable.
“If it had occurred 10 or 15 years in the past, there’s most likely a part of me that may’ve by no means have come again as a result of there was nothing on the horizon for me to overcome.”
Punk has had many alternatives to replicate these days. His second WrestleMania predominant occasion comes one month after his second time as a WWE recreation cowl star. It has been 14 years because the final time he was the poster boy for a online game.
“It encompasses my complete profession,” Punk mentioned of WWE 2K26’s showcase mode. “The start, the center, and we’re creeping in the direction of the top — not anytime quickly, everybody, cease asking me. Cease freaking out. To me, it solidifies the consistency I’ve had over my profession as a high expertise and large draw.”
The gap between one predominant occasion and two is not only a quantity. It is how legacies take form. Whether or not Punk has reached the not possible normal set by Michaels and Hart is as much as interpretation, however he is nearer than he is ever been.