Following last night’s edition of WWE Monday Night RAW going off-air, former WWE Champion Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson came out to rile up the fans and informed them that they were taping footage for the upcoming “Fighting With My Family” movie and that they would be recreating the scene where Paige defeated AJ Lee for the WWE Divas Championship, however that led to the fans then chanting loudly for AJ Lee’s husband and former WWE Champion CM Punk who walked out of the WWE back in January 2014 and has effectively been at odds with them ever since.
The Rock got on the mic and said that since the fans wanted to chant for CM Punk, he was going to call Punk and let him hear the fans for himself before pulling out a cell phone and allegedly calling Punk, however Punk never responded. The Rock then attempted to get CM Punk on Facetime, but once again, Punk did not respond. Punk did however later respond through his official Twitter account.
Thanks Los Angeles. Nice to hear from you. @STAPLESCenter
— Coach (@CMPunk) February 21, 2017
For those wondering, the company were not behind The Rock calling CM Punk last night, despite several cameras being on hand for ringside, which were all believed to be cameras ready to record footage for the “Fighting With My Family” movie. The move was said to have been something that The Rock did at the spur of the moment and something that did not make everyone backstage happy, with one member sent ringside to inform The Rock to go in another direction.
Both sides remain at odds and have been that way since Punk walked out of the company back in January 2014, before later claiming that he did so because he was not well physically and would learn that he was suffering from a MRSA staph infecton which he alleged in his appearance on The Art of Wrestling podcast alongside Colt Cabana, was ignored by a WWE doctor that he described as lazy and was upset with not knowing how his pay could be hurt with the WWE Network replacing traditional pay-per-views and with WWE not placing him in an official WrestleMania main event, which for years, had been his major remaining goal as a performer in the WWE. Punk later that year, received termination papers from the company, which as it turned out, happened to arrive on his wedding day, something Vince McMahon publicly apologized for during an edition of The Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network. Despite both sides still being at odds, they did come to some sort of a legal agreement that allowed the WWE to sell exising CM Punk merchandise and a video game that featured Punk’s likeness before both sides went their separate ways and CM Punk announced that he was signing with the UFC.
Punk and Colt Cabana were then sued by WWE doctor Chris Amann who claimed that both parties had slandered him, caused him personal harm and hurt his standing in the medical profession. That lawsuit is still pending and is not expected to be resolved, based on current court records, until at least the Summer of 2018 when it is currently scheduled to go to trial. CM Punk has stated in media interviews in the past, as well as in court filings that he believes that the lawsuit is being funded by the WWE as a way to get back at him for walking out of the company, something that the WWE have publicly denied, however the company did post a video of Punk’s back online, showing that there was no lump on it as Punk claimed when he told the story of a WWE doctor being too lazy to remove it when he requested him to do so.