On the March 25, 2024 episode of WWE Raw, CM Punk and Drew McIntyre traded barbs on the microphone with some deep cuts thrown each way.
During the exchange, McIntyre stated that he has always been "The Chosen One."
Punk replied, "Who chose you? What was his name?" Referencing Vince McMahon and the nickname he bestowed on McIntyre in 2009.
McIntyre smiled, but gave no reply as Punk continued.
Speaking to Kenny McIntosh from Inside The Ropes, McIntyre revealed what he truly wanted to say.
“What’s going through my mind is: “The same person that fired you on your wedding day.” But I’m a professional. I think by that point, people started seeing what I was capable of on the microphone like it was a new thing. If you watched my stuff outside of WWE, you know when I’m comfortable and the reins are taken off me. I don’t care who it is, I can go toe to toe with anyone. Even Punk.
"If you watch the first interview we had, the look in his eyes throughout the promo and how much it changed, you realise this is not the same kid that was an arse so many years ago. He was ready that night, I was ready that night and we went back and forth and back and forth, just hitting each other with these lines.
"And again, this is not something that’s written on a piece of paper like you say this and I’ll say that. This is just two guys going for it, two guys that have got some banter, and two guys that genuinely don’t like each other in a place as hot as Chicago where Punk’s from.
"Then that one line, once we’d finally go back and forth so much, it was a choice for me to make. Do I go back and then we see where we end up? Or do I bite my tongue and say OK, this round belongs to you. I’ll be a professional. I’ll do it for the company as well as the de facto babyface, even though I’m really the real babyface of the situation. So I let him have it. For the company, not for him.”
McIntyre and Punk would wage war on the microphone and in the ring throughout 2024, culminating at WWE Bad Blood in Hell in a Cell.
McIntyre and Punk will both compete inside the Elimination Chamber at WWE Elimination Chamber.
