In a recent podcast appearance, Paul Heyman revealed some fascinating insights into CM Punk’s run in the WWE, particularly his match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania. According to Heyman, Punk was indeed ready to end The Undertaker’s undefeated streak at the time, but the company, spearheaded by Vince McMahon, had other plans. Heyman believes that if Punk had been given the victory, he would have become a top-tier star, on par with John Cena, The Rock, and Steve Austin.
Heyman explained that the storyline leading up to the match was deliberately done to portray The Undertaker as the underdog, with Punk’s win being a major upset. However, behind the scenes, WWE felt that Punk was not the right person to break The Undertaker’s streak. Instead, they opted for Brock Lesnar to do the honors at WrestleMania 30, ending the streak in a shocking turn of events.
Heyman went on to describe how he was convinced that Lesnar was the right choice to break the streak, citing Vince McMahon’s enthusiasm for the idea and the match’s potential impact on the storyline. By contrast, Punk, despite being more than capable of pulling off the upset, was deemed the “wrong” person to give the victory to.
Paul Heyman (Via WWE/Twitter)
It’s clear that Heyman still regrets the decision not to give Punk the win, stating that he thought Punk could have become a star for the next 20 years had he succeeded. The Undertaker himself has denied any real-life beef with CM Punk, but fans have widely accepted that Punk never got his moment to shine at WrestleMania.
The prospect of what could have been is an intriguing one, and it’s hard not to wonder how things might have turned out if Punk had been given the chance to end The Undertaker’s streak. As it stands, wrestling fans will have to continue speculating about the what-ifs, but one thing is certain – the debate will continue to rage on.
