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CM Punk and Drew McIntyre brought a level of intensity and storytelling that WWE hadn't seen in years. In this video, we explore the reasons why their feud stood out among the rest, from their in-ring chemistry to the personal stakes that elevated each match. Watch as we break down the pivotal moments that made this rivalry unforgettable, and how it left a lasting impact on WWE fans worldwide
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #drewmcintyre #badblood #hellinacell #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
CM Punk and Drew McIntyre brought a level of intensity and storytelling that WWE hadn't seen in years. In this video, we explore the reasons why their feud stood out among the rest, from their in-ring chemistry to the personal stakes that elevated each match. Watch as we break down the pivotal moments that made this rivalry unforgettable, and how it left a lasting impact on WWE fans worldwide
You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe
#cmpunk #drewmcintyre #badblood #hellinacell #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling
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SportsTranscript
00:00As of this video, we're about 80% done with 2024, and there's quite a clear number one
00:06for the biggest grudge, the biggest rivalry of this year in televised professional wrestling.
00:13And maybe you disagree, but it feels like it's CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre.
00:19This is Sportskeeda Wrestling, I'm Kevin Kellum, and we're going to break down the
00:24bitter war between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre.
00:28Let us know what you think is your storyline, your feud of 2024, and what do you think of
00:33Punk vs Drew in the comments below.
00:36You think you know all the wrestling stories?
00:38There's more you haven't heard yet.
00:41Join us on Backstage Pass.
00:43With this rivalry having come to what we believe is its conclusion at Bad Blood 2024 in Atlanta,
00:50how the hell did the so-called injury-prone CM Punk and a villainous, very hubris, believing
00:57he's doing the right thing while doing very bad things, Drew McIntyre, have the best story
01:02of the year?
01:04Join us as we take a deep dive into the incredible feud of CM Punk and Drew McIntyre.
01:09The funny part about all of this is that it was never intended maybe to play out this
01:15way.
01:16Circumstances influenced it, and it kind of snowballed from there.
01:20WWE's Chief Content Officer Triple H himself confirmed on the WrestleMania 40 behind-the-scenes
01:26documentary on YouTube, go give it a watch, that the original intended plan for the main
01:32event of night one at this year's WrestleMania was Punk vs Rollins for the world title, two
01:39men who very much do not like each other a whole lot and have said some very nasty, very
01:46real things about each other over the years.
01:49But at Royal Rumble and Punk's very first televised match back in WWE in nearly 10 years,
01:55he suffered an injury, an untimely injury, to his right tricep as a result of Drew McIntyre's
02:02Future Shock DDT, or at least that's the belief, and Punk went on to eliminate the
02:08Scotsman from pursuing a big WrestleMania opportunity from the Rumble.
02:12Punk would eventually be the runner-up in the match to the men who would win it, Cody
02:16Rhodes.
02:17It was heartbreaking, yes, if you were a fan of CM Punk, you were excited to see the road
02:22to WrestleMania for him, for him to pursue that dream of headlining the show he's never
02:27got to headline, the big reason, the big motivator to come back to WWE after all the, lack of
02:33a better phrase, bad blood between him and the company in the years prior.
02:37Yeah, you were trying to turn chicken salad into not chicken shiz, but it was instantly
02:44realized there was a big money store to be told in these unfortunate circumstances.
02:50When you think back to November 2023, when Punk returned to that massive reaction at
02:55Survivor Series, I was there, it was huge, you probably had a list of opponents just
03:00running through your mind to see him face in this new WWE that he was coming back to,
03:06and Drew McIntyre would have probably been on that list, but nobody was really raving
03:10about how they wanted to see Punk vs. Drew in particular, it was all Punk and Rollins
03:16at the front of that fan conversation.
03:18Drew would use this to become bigger than he was before, not someone who was out of
03:23the conversation, but THE conversation heading into WrestleMania season and maybe even putting
03:28himself into a world title scenario.
03:31Drew sunk his teeth into the opportunity of claiming that he shelved a major name in Punk
03:36during a critical time of the year on the night after Royal Rumble, interrupting Punk's
03:40speech to the WWE fandom where Punk sadly had to declare he would miss Mania season.
03:46Drew would mock the Second City Saint in his vulnerable position with his arm in a sling,
03:51Drew would assault Punk right there after Punk declared he would rehab the injury, return
03:57to main event the show of shows, but that McIntyre would be first on his checklist.
04:03Well the ground was set right there, the attack seemingly aggravating Punk's arm injury
04:08even further just 24 hours after it happened, with Punk getting it in a seriously bad position
04:16and Drew stomped on it, yeah he did that.
04:20This prompted Michael Cole to voice the feelings of the fans there in Tampa Florida when he
04:25laid into Drew calling him a vile, disgusting, pathetic excuse for a man.
04:31The roles were set and it made a lot of sense to pick things up in a new rivalry standing
04:38right there for Punk to come back to when he was ready.
04:42And McIntyre wouldn't shut up, as much as he had plans for Wrestlemania season, he
04:47was still talking about CM Punk, and CM Punk's name never seemed to be out of the conversation
04:54that McIntyre was having with everyone.
04:56And throughout those early stages, CM Punk was silent, waiting in the wings, rebuilding
05:01his body to come back and fight, and like we said, CM Punk was originally going to headline
05:06Wrestlemania 40 and that's a fact, but it was Drew McIntyre who stepped up and won
05:13the Elimination Chamber match in Perth Australia to secure a world title shot against then
05:18World Heavyweight Champion Seth Freakin' Rollins despite having lost to him at two
05:24previous occasions in late 2023 and early 2024.
05:28This time the advantage was on Drew's side because Rollins had put himself in an incredibly
05:34doubtful position as the champion heading into the biggest show of the year.
05:39Not only was Rollins just cleared to return from an untimely MCL knee injury just before
05:45Wrestlemania 40, his schedule was him going to be wrestling on both nights of the show,
05:50he was involved in an entire bloodline situation tagging with Cody vs The Rock and Roman Reigns
05:56on night one, so he was never going to be 100% going into night two to face Drew McIntyre.
06:02This made it easy for Drew McIntyre who repeatedly let Seth Rollins know how dumb his decision
06:08was to volunteer to wrestle both nights of Mania.
06:13Punk would make his presence known before Wrestlemania in a significant way, announcing
06:18that he would be the special guest commentator for the World Heavyweight title clash between
06:23Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins, and an all-timer three-way promo in his hometown of Chicago.
06:30It was quite the interesting performance for CM Punk, Rollins, and Drew.
06:35Punk may not have been actively in the competition, his arm in a bionic sling, but he dominated
06:41the scene on the microphone.
06:43He added a massive what-if element to the world title match as a non-competitor.
06:48It was an effective way to include him in Wrestlemania if he couldn't compete.
06:53And this, as we know, would take things in the storyline to a whole new level.
06:59Rollins vs. McIntyre would open Wrestlemania Night 2, and as expected, it was easy pickings
07:06for the Scotsman, who could finally call himself a world champion after over three years and
07:12have his crowning Wrestlemania moment that eluded him during the pandemic in front of
07:17live fans with his family in attendance.
07:20But yeah, here comes a dose of good old-fashioned karma.
07:24He could have simply celebrated with his wife and brother and walked away, but he chose
07:29to mock CM Punk with the world title and rub it in his face while standing on the
07:35announce table in front of a dapperly dressed CM Punk with his arm still in that bionic
07:40sling.
07:41Yeah, the second he looked away, Punk snatched his leg from underneath him and began attacking
07:47him with that bionic iron sling cast, allowing Damian Priest, senior money in the bank, to
07:55cash in his anywhere, anytime world title contract and do it at Wrestlemania.
08:03Drew McIntyre was the world heavyweight champion in front of a live crowd in Philadelphia at
08:07Wrestlemania, but only for a few minutes, and CM Punk is the man who set up the ball
08:13to be dunked by Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre was the hoop.
08:18Yeah, it all led to an incredible moment to open Night 2 of Wrestlemania and really throw
08:25a bunch of gasoline on the issues between Drew McIntyre, who had his Wrestlemania moment
08:30ruined, and CM Punk, who was still chasing his Wrestlemania moment but had to get revenge
08:36first.
08:37And it was something quite special.
08:39What's the famous saying, don't get mad, get even?
08:43CM Punk got mad, and he got even, heck, he even got some with interest, but he wasn't
08:49done making Drew McIntyre's life a living hell.
08:53The next night on Raw, there was a fatal four way match to determine Damian Priest's first
08:57challenger for the world title, and obviously Drew McIntyre wanted to be in the mix.
09:02In the match was Drew McIntyre and his rival around this time, someone he had issues with,
09:07the yeeting Jey Uso.
09:09CM Punk once again came out and held McIntyre's leg, literally holding him back from a world
09:15title opportunity, allowing Jey Uso to get the advantage and earn that number one contender's
09:21spot at McIntyre's expense.
09:24Not only did Punk directly cost him the world heavyweight title at Wrestlemania, but he
09:29was beginning to take even more and more away from Drew McIntyre.
09:33And the fact that Jey Uso, the man McIntyre hated more than everyone else, was the one
09:37to pin him only added salt on a fresh Wrestlemania wound.
09:43Things quieted down for a couple of months after Drew McIntyre would simply ask for a
09:47title shot, and Damian Priest, being the amazing champion he was, accepted it.
09:53Yeah, a fighting champion, what a new concept.
09:56That was something we're getting used to again in 2024 after Roman Reigns.
10:01And Priest accepted the challenge for Clash at the Castle in Scotland, yeah, Drew McIntyre's
10:06home territory.
10:08He would have all of the momentum, right?
10:09He would have all the home field advantage.
10:12This was supposed to be McIntyre's true, unfiltered, pristine, crowning moment, not
10:17only because of what happened to him at Wrestlemania 40, but because he got screwed in a previous
10:22Clash at the Castle card in the UK.
10:24If you remember, he was in the driver's seat to dethrone Roman Reigns, and he got
10:28screwed in the UK in Wales.
10:31Now in his home country of Scotland, he was gonna get it, right?
10:34A large reason why the bitterness remained within him for a year before he turned into
10:39the hubris-driven villain he was in 2024.
10:43As he was getting ready to have his moment, a man in a referee's clothing appeared out
10:49of nowhere, sliding perfectly into the shot for fans watching around the world on streaming
10:55WWE Network and Peacock.
10:57This man was CM Punk.
11:00He wasn't playing around.
11:01Costing McIntyre the World Heavyweight Championship once wasn't enough.
11:05He made it known, as long as he was around, Drew McIntyre would not become World Champion.
11:12It was another ultimate F you to Drew, who was ready to kill anybody on sight after he
11:18was denied another dream wrestling moment.
11:23This was fuel to a fire that needed to keep burning while CM Punk was still rehabbing
11:28from injury, but Drew McIntyre kept marching ahead and aimed for the Money in the Bank
11:34briefcase in order to get back into the title picture.
11:38McIntyre would be successful in acquiring the Money in the Bank briefcase as a way to
11:43fuel the story even further with McIntyre and Punk.
11:47You had to know this was coming, it may be predictable, but don't claim that predictable
11:51is bad when people were so invested in this story.
11:55This is before they ever even had a match and months and months of buildup was coming
12:00with it and were throwing in another Money in the Bank briefcase.
12:04The same night when he attempted to cash in, CM Punk once again hijacked it, putting Drew
12:10in an unfortunate list of superstars who failed their Money in the Bank cash-in attempts.
12:16And as timing would work out after WrestleMania, CM Punk became medically cleared to compete,
12:23so it made sense that they would finally meet at one of the biggest shows of the year, Summerslam
12:28in Cleveland, Ohio.
12:30It took half a year to get these two men into a highly anticipated match, both of them keeping
12:36the fire burning bright.
12:38McIntyre dropped a lot of doozies on social media making fun of Punk along the way, but
12:45now it was finally there.
12:47Before they ever actually had a match, they made an incredible story.
12:52Between WrestleMania and Summerslam, it was a pretty one-sided thing in the sense that
12:56CM Punk was going to repeatedly make Drew McIntyre's life, as he said, a living hell.
13:02But this isn't to say that Drew wouldn't fire back himself and take this standing,
13:06as he would obliterate CM Punk in his All-State Arena return to Chicago on Smackdown, bloodying
13:13him and taking something from him very special, a friendship bracelet made for him by a fan
13:20With the names of CM Punk's beloved wife, AJ Lee, yes, former WWE superstar, and his
13:27beloved dog Larry, McIntyre really leaned into his evil side using the blood-stained
13:33memento to mock Punk prior to their collision in Ohio.
13:38But that wasn't all.
13:39Considering how much hatred there was between these two, it made sense to have a special
13:44guest referee, and that was someone that neither of them liked, and a man who didn't like
13:49neither of them either, Seth Freaking Rollins, yeah, he would officiate the match.
13:55At Summerslam, with Rollins in a bedazzled referee outfit, McIntyre would literally use
14:01the precious friendship bracelet to distract Punk, the Second City Saint constricting his
14:07body in the agonizing anaconda vice, would be distracted by all of this, yes, with all
14:14the hoopla and shenanigans of a friendship bracelet, Drew McIntyre would capitalize winning
14:20the match.
14:22Punk's first singles match back in WWE since 2014 was a big L for him and a huge W for
14:29McIntyre.
14:31It was the perfect double move because it helped further the situation with Punk and
14:36McIntyre, which we knew was going to be more than one match, and renew the seeds of discontent
14:42with Punk and Rollins for a rivalry down the line, yeah, Rollins was involved in that messy
14:49scenario, a dusty finish if you will.
14:51The reactions to the match from fans were somewhat polarizing, some people saying it
14:55was a little bit overcooked, other people saying it was pretty solid, and Wrestling
15:00Observer's Dave Meltzer giving it a 3 out of 5 stars.
15:03Yeah, this feud wasn't going to end with just one match, so Punk started going after
15:08McIntyre again, setting up part 2 at Bash in Berlin.
15:14This time, it would be a strap match stipulation, yes, where the first person to touch all four
15:20corners consecutively would become the winner.
15:23CM Punk only had wrestled one televised singles match in 10 and a half years before Summerslam,
15:29and he was quickly beating the allegations of an old, washed out guy or even injury prone.
15:35He may not wrestle that often, but he looked fantastic, and could deliver the notes on
15:40the microphone to make it matter once the bell rang.
15:43Bash in Berlin was another interesting storytelling masterclass, a match that was certainly more
15:49well received than their Summerslam bout, with CM Punk making sure that he completely
15:54took McIntyre out before touching the last corner, yeah, that second GTS really mattered.
16:01In his mind, it was enough to move on, pursue the gold, becoming world heavyweight champion,
16:06even bringing up Gunther's name.
16:08But Drew, in his mind, he still had a bone to pick, he wasn't done with Punk.
16:14It made sense that since they were both 1 and 1, that a rubber match was called for.
16:19McIntyre officially had a pin over Punk, Punk only touched the four corners, but had a victory
16:25over Drew.
16:26He never pinned him though.
16:28This doesn't invalidate his win, but a pinfall or a submission objectively is a little bit
16:32more decisive in the record books and in the eyes of those hardcore fans tiki tapping on
16:38the internet.
16:39Although CM Punk completely dismissed the fan's idea about facing Drew McIntyre in
16:43a Hell in a Cell match back in June after Clash at the Castle, yeah, a fan brought it
16:49up to him, but it seemed like that fan made it a destiny.
16:53Considering that Bad Blood was the host of the first ever Hell in a Cell match between
16:58Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker many years ago, it only made sense that Bad Blood would
17:04flow once again in the most satanic structure in the WWE, Hell in a Cell.
17:11Yes, a big cage match, a big feud, a big way to blow it off, CM Punk and McIntyre would
17:18go to hell.
17:20This was the way to end it, and by this point, WWE was wary of how quickly things could break
17:26down between these two, so every effort was made to ensure they wouldn't lay a finger
17:31on each other before the door would close on the cell.
17:35By the time they got to Atlanta, Georgia, yeah, they were both chewing at a Georgia
17:40peach to get their hands on each other.
17:42And ideally, a story that had been built up this long should have been the main event,
17:46the final match of the night on the premium live event of Bad Blood, but they saved that
17:51for The Rock's return.
17:52We have other videos about that, by the way.
17:54There was nothing much that could be done, but that didn't mean that Punk and McIntyre
17:59wouldn't get all of the meaty time they needed on this presentation to devour one
18:05another in front of fans watching around the world.
18:08This didn't stop them from having the best match of their trilogy, and undoubtedly one
18:13of the best Hell in a Cell matches people have seen in quite some time.
18:17It certainly helped that WWE decided to abandon that god-awful red Hell in a Cell in favor
18:23of the traditional silver-steel structure.
18:26But after having two really solid matches, the anticipation needed to be delivered upon.
18:32The two had their best match yet.
18:35Yes, this is how you close a trilogy.
18:38This was a violent, hardcore, bloody, personal, just absolutely massacre-driven match.
18:46There are big-budget action movies with less action than this incredible match.
18:52One of the best of 2024 so far in terms of a hardcore stipulation, and this was hardcore.
18:59It was Atlanta, but you may as well have thought it was ECW Philadelphia back in the day because
19:03they literally used everything they could to beat the hell out of each other inside
19:08the cell, including the cell.
19:11Blood was shed, body parts were damaged and bruised.
19:15Yes, the match was everything Hell in a Cell was meant to be.
19:20A violent spectacle.
19:22Still, this wasn't violence for the sake of nothing.
19:25It was violence initiated by months and months of building anticipation and such a long,
19:33personal issue between two men.
19:36Even the vicious Drew McIntyre admitted before the match that if he could go back and change
19:41the way he approached Punk, he would have, but it was too late.
19:45They did everything, even dropping a toolbox on each other's head.
19:49Drew McIntyre missing a Claymore kick and landing on the end of his back on the steel
19:55steps.
19:56It was brutal.
19:57Yeah, it may not have been a technical masterpiece, but that's not the point.
20:01This was a bloody, hardcore fight to the end.
20:05CM Punk would stand tall, barely standing at the end of it, as the victor in a battle
20:10that wrecked the ring, stained it with blood, steel chairs, steel ring steps and beads of
20:16a friendship bracelet never built, but certainly a feud that had come to an end.
20:23That's how you end a grudge match.
20:26It had an edge to it.
20:28We can't think of a better way to end it at all.
20:31Maybe you could have thought of a better way to end it at all.
20:33Let us know in the comments below.
20:35On one hand, it's sort of sad to see this rivalry, the best of the year in the eyes
20:39of many, come to a close, but on the other hand, it's probably best to leave it where
20:44it is instead of dragging it out too long.
20:47You could call it recency bias on our end, yeah it just happened and it was really cool,
20:52and we wouldn't even knock you for it, but in our minds, this is legitimately one of
20:57the best stories, with matches tied to it, of the past few years, yeah, up there with
21:02the bloodline stuff, definitely the best we've seen from Punk since his run with NJF back
21:07in AEW, and maybe even the biggest story of Drew McIntyre's career so far.
21:13No matter how you're feeling, and we want to know how you're feeling in the comments
21:16below, we expect keyboard warriors to come at us saying, how dare you even put this near
21:21the precious bloodline, but you're still witnessing something go down in modern wrestling
21:27history that can best be described as a really personal issue that got paid off.
21:34Punk vs. Drew is certainly a rivalry that will be looked at fondly in the years to come.
21:41It sums up how great Punk's return to WWE feels like, and I know he has his detractors,
21:47but you can see he is coming back for the right reasons, for the right pro wrestling
21:52reasons and doing right by pro wrestlers he's working with.
21:56Drew McIntyre is a bigger superstar than he was a year ago.
21:59Even if Punk felt like he was never ever coming back to pro wrestling, let alone WWE years
22:05ago, this felt like the culmination of his homecoming tour in the truest sense, plus
22:12all the stuff he's had to deal with, injuries, backstage politics, AEW things, that's not
22:17a part of what this was.
22:19This was great pro wrestling, he's in a healthier locker room, he's embracing his
22:24role, guiding young up and coming talent, contributing to WWE NXT with names like Roxanne
22:30Perez, Cora Jade, and Trick Williams among others.
22:34He's genuinely seeming to love his position as a veteran in modern WWE.
22:40And props to Drew McIntyre, he took his villainous run to a whole new level with CM Punk, and
22:46it's a perfect example of how two superstars push each other to get better and have a better
22:52story.
22:53With Drew, for Punk, they helped push themselves to a next level under very challenging circumstances
23:00where one of the players couldn't be there every single week.
23:04And this was a story in 2024 WWE that wasn't strictly driven around the world title, but
23:11playing off of the world title.
23:13It's also worth noting, for Punk, Drew McIntyre proved to be the perfect dance partner who
23:18helped him show the world that he's far from as the kids say, washed.
23:24Some of you are claiming that, but Punk was in the game here, fighting through an injury
23:29and still delivering that best in the world for a reason.
23:33This may not have been a technical masterpiece to end the trilogy, but like we said before,
23:37that's not the point.
23:38It's supposed to be a bloody war and you got that and then the good guy won and it
23:43felt good, what's the problem?
23:45For that, we hope Drew McIntyre becomes a huge beneficiary of this rivalry despite being
23:51on the losing end.
23:52You don't have to win a match to be someone who truly benefits from it.
23:56He made a lot more storyline sense to have CM Punk be the victor, but it makes long term
24:01sense to strap the rocket to Drew McIntyre and see what he can do with it now as a certified
24:07cemented.
24:08It is one of those stories that we're going to be talking about in the years to come.
24:13It's also everyone behind the scenes who contributed to this situation, the creative
24:16team, the production people, all the people that made all the dots connect to make this
24:21matter.
24:22So that was the story, a very good one, between CM Punk and Drew McIntyre.
24:27Maybe one of the best modern day wrestling rivalries we've seen in quite some time.
24:32What did you think of it?
24:33How would you rank it?
24:35What are some of your favorite grudge personal rivalries in wrestling history?
24:40Let us know in those comments below.
24:43Come on, I want to hear from you.
24:44And check out these other great videos from Sportskeeda Wrestling.
24:48Also hit the like button or I'm gonna go and find you and steal your friendship bracelet.