In a new interview, WWE legend CM Punk offered up a surprising response to WWE deciding not to have him win the 2025 Royal Rumble.
While CM Punk has only been back in WWE for a little over a year, there is no doubt his surprising return has been a resounding success. Despite very hard feelings that made him leave the company a decade ago and stay away from wrestling for eight years, WWE and Punk are reunited and it feels so good.
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He has been a ratings and social media views draw. He has been a monster in merchandise and was part of the best feud of 2024. Punk has done so much during his WWE career that there is not much left to achieve. Except for two things. Win the Royal Rumble, and main event WrestleMania. Both are now in question after Saturday night.
Despite a lot of hype behind winning the Rumble and going on to headline WrestleMania 41, Punk did not win the 30-man battle royale. The future Hall-of-Famer has always been very passionate about achieving his goals and how the company should use a superstar of his caliber.
Based on his history, it seems logical that he would be annoyed by losing the Rumble and a chance at a ‘Mania main event with so little time left in the company. Well, it seems Punk wasn’t bothered at all.
CM Punk actually hoped to be eliminated by John Cena in the 2025 Royal Rumble

“Early in my career, yes. Now, I’m more inclined to pitch me losing things,” Punk said on a new edition of the “Good Guy/Bad Guy” podcast [h/t NoDQ]. “I think there is a broader story to tell. 100%. It’s all about the chase. The most recent example I can give is Cody [Rhodes] losing to Roman at WrestleMania 39.
“That was Cody’s time. He loses in the main event and it’s [mind-blowing]. He spends the entire year as a redemption arc and he’s chasing the title and he wins it at 40.”
The “Cult of Personality” has changed, big time. CM Punk was also asked if he was booking the Royal Rumble finish, how would he have done things. And while he still would not have picked himself to win, he had an interesting response.
“The Rumble didn’t go the way I would’ve booked it, so to speak,” he said. “I would have had me and Cena as the last two guys and I would’ve had Cena throw my a** over the top rope. At this stage, losing is so much more valuable than winning. I’m almost afraid of winning everything I ever dreamed of because what do I do then?”
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