6 more interesting opponents for CM Punk than Seth Rollins

CM Punk's return to WWE, via FOX for WWE Backstage, has generated a lot of attention. However, that slightly died down after he indicated that he has no interest in returning to the ring.

While virtually every WWE Superstar would want an opportunity to face someone of the caliber of CM Punk, there's been one major name calling him out more aggressively than others - Seth Rollins.

The Architect even went as far as to appear on the show and discuss the entire matter, revealing that he doesn't believe it's going to happen. Even when the post-Survivor Series Chicago crowd chanted for "CM Punk", Rollins acknowledged it and said that he called him out already but Punk doesn't want to respond.

That got Rollins into a bit of trouble as Vince McMahon was furious that he had teased a match that they can't promise to deliver. Either way, we take a look at six opponents who are more exciting for CM Punk than Seth Rollins.

#6. "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt

After WrestleMania, it'll have been a year since Bray Wyatt's return. 2019 has certainly been the most interesting year of his career - one where he's had a major resurgence with his new character "The Fiend".

The truth is we don't know how long WWE can keep his momentum going without eventually squandering it. But before they do that, using him in a return feud for CM Punk would be an incredible welcoming party.

Feuding with Punk alone would take The Fiend to a whole new level and it would be a feud between two Superstars who are great with character work. That's the kind of rivalry that people get invested in more than the ones that rely on the actual match.

#5. Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe is an underrated talent despite being acknowledged as one of the best in the world. It's rare to find Superstars who are so intimidating and have such a unique look, while being great in-ring performers and amazing on the mic.

The man truly has it all and there's one Superstar who knows all too well about Samoa Joe -CM Punk. It's been a decade and a half since the two men last locked horns at ROH and they had a famous trilogy bout for the ROH World Championship that is a must-watch for all wrestling fans.

It gives a lot of perspective as to how good the two men were in the ring back then.

Simply put, Joe is a reliable performer and shares history with CM Punk. There's no doubt that a feud between them would have unmatched intensity, especially in the promos.

#4. Kevin Owens

Owens and CM Punk had a real-life backstage incident

When Kevin Owens was still Kevin Steen, an up-and-comer in Ring of Honor, he had an incident with CM Punk backstage. The issue was raised because Owens wasn't comfortable wrestling without his t-shirt and that's something that Punk took offense to.

In a conversation with Gabe Sapolsky, Owens revealed that he had made a snide comment about wearing a t-shirt to Punk following an "abysmal" match that he had, and things got heated.

Anyway, I came to the back and I was blown [up]. Punk was just there watching me. And I don’t know why but [I was like] “Are you happy now?”, but I was just joking around with him. He did not take it as a joke. He just stood up and I remember this, I remember he stood up and he looked around and I knew what he was going to do. We had this weird moment…I was like ‘please don’t do it’ and he’s like 'no no, I have to’. So it was like weird, like he was warning me. It was like he was telling me this is a show.

He goes, “nope I have to…WHO THE F***…” and he just starts screaming at me in the locker room and everybody turns to look at me. And I was like what do I do now?

There's some old heat which we're sure has died down, but it certainly opens the door to a potential match in the future.

#3. Daniel Bryan

The last time CM Punk and Daniel Bryan had a feud was seven years ago when Punk was in the midst of his historic WWE Championship reign. While they had great matches, they simply couldn't get the PPV main event spots because of the company's excessive focus on John Cena (even choosing Cena vs John Laurinaitis as the main event over Punk vs Bryan) which was a big shame.

That didn't stop them from having some good matches and a solid feud, however. In 2019, Daniel Bryan is nearly two full years into his in-ring return and has proved in that time that he's still among the best in the world.

He's a world-class performer, knows how to get the crowd invested and is perhaps the most reliable name WWE can choose to face Punk. It would be all but guaranteed to generate a lot of interest and there's also no doubt that if the two men get in the ring again, it would be full of fireworks.

Also read: 5 major changes we will see after Seth Rollins' heel turn and alliance with AoP

#2. Brock Lesnar

Remember SummerSlam 2013 when The Best faced The Beast? It was a storyline that mainly had to do with Paul Heyman's betrayal and he was the main connection between the two men in what would be their first and only interaction.

It led to an all-time classic at SummerSlam in what we consider to be one of the most underrated matches of the PPV in the last decade. Punk was admittedly furious that he didn't get to beat Brock Lesnar, but there's no denying that the two had incredible chemistry in the ring together.

It was one of those cases where Lesnar had a great match simply because he wanted to and could. Lesnar's a master at incredible storytelling and intensity in the ring.

The former is one of his most overlooked aspects and while fans might think that Lesnar would be a "waste" of a CM Punk return, there's no denying that it's a big-money match-up that would generate a lot of interest and attention for a grand PPV such as WrestleMania.

#1. John Cena

Again, we would understand if fans felt that John Cena and CM Punk would be a waste, but hear us out. We know that Cena has only wrestled one match in 2019 and that his appearances have become fewer by the year.

We also know that the full transition out of WWE, and retirement, is on the horizon for Cena, but he has always expressed his love and passion for the company and all that they've done for him. He's a WWE loyalist at heart and would undoubtedly return for the right match at the right time.

Name one better opponent for Punk than Cena. Spoiler alert - you can't. Punk and Cena were made for each other and that was clear in their incredible 2011 feud where Punk was the rebel and Cena the corporate golden boy. Both men possess talent at the highest level and their promos and in-ring wars never failed to deliver.

If Punk were to have one last match with Cena as the opponent, there's no doubt that the two men would go all guns blazing to have one last classic.

Also read: 5 reasons why Sami Zayn is Mojo Rawley's new manager