5 WWE Superstars who defied Vince McMahon (and what the consequences were)

#3 Seth Rollins defied Vince McMahon

CM Punk clarified when he began working as an analyst on WWE Backstage in November 2019 that he was employed by FOX, as opposed to Vince McMahon and WWE.

Various WWE Superstars, particularly Seth Rollins, spoke about a possible match against Punk if he ever decided to make an in-ring return, but that prospect was not brought up on WWE programming due to Vince McMahon’s belief that the company should not tease rivalries that they cannot deliver.

Rollins went against that unwritten rule on an episode of RAW when he addressed chants of “CM Punk! CM Punk!” from the Chicago fans.

“I tried to get him here, I'm sorry, he didn't want to show up. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles and talk about a change he's too afraid to make himself.”

How did Vince McMahon react?

It was reported by the Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer that Vince McMahon was “furious and really upset” when Seth Rollins went off-script and teased a match with CM Punk, but the details of a conversation between the two men after the segment have never been revealed.