CM Punk Recalls First Impression Of Roman Reigns, Explains His Animosity Toward Reigns

CM Punk recently looked back at his initial impression of Roman Reigns years ago and discussed where his animosity toward his WrestleMania opponent comes from. Punk and Reigns have been involved in a feud leading into this weekend’s WrestleMania 42 of deeply personal promos playing off longstanding issues between them. Reigns has explained why he hates Punk, who has said the feeling is mutual.

Punk said down with Corey Graves for an interview and spoke about his early experiences with Reigns during the latter’s debut as part of the Shield and more. You can see the highlights below:

On Where the Rivalry Comes From:

I’ve had more personal rivalries, I feel. This one, I think is rooted in the business. And it’s become personal because of both sides’ strong feelings about the business. He was with The Shield, and I remember sitting all three of those guys down and saying like, ‘Okay, everything you’ve done up until this point? Doesn’t mean anything. Forget about it. People don’t know who you guys are. I need you to go out there and make them never forget who you are.’

“And I went down the line and I asked each single one of them like, ‘What is your goal? What do you want to accomplish here?’ And the first thing he said is, ‘I want to provide a life for my daughter.’ And I said, ‘Okay, bingo, you get it.’ But in order to do that, you gotta leave your mark on this business if you want to be one of the greats, if you want to make sure you can provide for your daughter and your family.'”

On His First Impression Of Reigns:

“My initial impression of Roman was he’s a second generation Superstar who, upon face value, maybe has what it takes. His spirit is gonna get tested, he’s gonna have to do things that I never had to. And that’s both good and bad. When your dad is a famous pro wrestler, you will be afforded opportunities. You will also not have to, regardless of what anybody tells you, you will not have to grind to prove yourself.”

On His Animosity Toward Reigns:

“You know, I think myself and guys like me — don’t want to speak for you, but you came from the same place as I came from. This business has evolved and it’s changed so much, but there’s still always going to be resentment towards people that are born on third base. I have been friends with and seen dozens of people that I thought had talent that were never afforded a single opportunity Roman got. And I have watched him get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity, and frankly fail. And failure is your best teacher. But I don’t think he really learned anything from that. He had management and an entire system that was gonna shove him down everybody’s throat, and by some miracle, like he finally figured it out.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.