Speaking in a new interview, Paul Heyman has revealed the real reason Vince McMahon refused to let CM Punk defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29, despite ‘The Second City Saint’ being ‘ready’ to beat The Deadman.
Heading into WrestleMania 29, CM Punk laid out a challenge to The Undertaker, playing on the death of Paul Bearer.
Punk would cut promos pushing at the emotional loss and even ended up pouring Paul Bearer’s ashes out onto The Undertaker.
But despite the build, Vince McMahon was never going to let CM Punk defeat The Undertaker at WrestleMania.
Punk was managed at the time by Paul Heyman, and Heyman has shared how Vince knew that allowing Punk to end the streak would work for the story and position the former WWE Champion as an all-time top guy.
But because Vince McMahon had issues with Phil Brooks, the man performing as CM Punk, that meant he would never be allowed to end the streak.
Instead, Brock Lesnar would defeat The Undertaker one year later at WrestleMania 30.
The Wise Man was appearing on Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin and discussed why Punk was never going to win, and his reaction at hearing Vince wanted to put Brock in against The Undertaker.
“I thought when we were going with Punk versus Undertaker, and Paul Bearer had just passed away, and we had done the out-of-the-box and way over-the-line story on television that we laid out the Undertaker, and then we poured the ashes of Paul Bearer out of the Undertaker’s urn onto the Undertaker, which was just the heaviest thing we could think of doing.
I was like, ‘Okay, if there’s a guy that could be anointed as a top-tier star, if there’s someone that could become equal to Cena at this point in time, the Macho Man to Hogan, The Rock to Steve Austin, a clear 1 and 1A, that if we give Punk this victory, we’ve established someone for the next 20 years as a star.’ I thought the case could be made for that.
CM Punk was ready to beat The Undertaker. In Vince’s mind, and a lot of other people’s minds, and most likely in Taker’s mind, Phil Brooks was not going to get that victory. CM Punk, yes. Phil Brooks, no. That was their decision. That was their judgment.
But Brock Lesnar going against the streak. The moment Vince came to us and said, ‘Hey, here’s what I have in mind for Mania. When he said Brock versus Undertaker, first thing in my mind was, ‘Oh, my God, we’re getting the streak.’ I didn’t see it any other way. I couldn’t fathom it any other way,”
Tony Khan Claims CM Punk Is “Very Important” To AEW
CM Punk is set for his first match since being suspended last September, as AEW Collision launches in his home town Chicago.
Since being stripped of the AEW World Heavyweight Championship, Punk has used this time to rehab and recover from a triceps injury.
Despite many fans claiming that the new show has been created to allow a return for Punk and to keep him away from The Young Bucks, Tony Khan claims this is not the case.
Khan was speaking with Sports Illustrated about the timing of Punk’s return to action, the launch of Collision, and the importance of having CM Punk in AEW.
“We haven’t seen CM Punk in a long time, since All Out last September.
He looked great in his last match. To the fans, he’s very important. He’s very important to the company, too.
He’s been a big draw for us and historically throughout his career, and the launch of the new show happens to line up with the schedule on his rehab of his triceps injury,”
H/t to Fightful