On Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes went face-to-face in the ring, delivering final words before they square off in the Men’s Royal Rumble match this Saturday.
In a recent WWE vlog, Punk discussed the moment. He said,
“A big reason I want to do this, and I’m so excited about it is because I really want to get the temperature of the room. I want to feel what kind of energy he’s got. He’s got goals that probably scare him, too. Those big goals. I’ve never had to follow in the footsteps of my legendary father. Cody is chasing a title they took away from his dad in the Garden. I won that title in the Garden. There is only one seat. There is only one king. There is only one face. I don’t know if we’re both trying to be there. I don’t know if my goal necessarily makes me what Cody wants to be. Tonight is about the emotion. Take the math out of it, it’s all about the chemistry. I want to see what these people are going to do if I say something that makes Cody a little bit angry. I want to see how they react if Cody says something out of pocket to me. I’m going to take the temperature of the room and I think it’s going to give me a mental edge going into Saturday. I think we’re both hungry for respect. I think we’re both hungry to accomplish the goals we set out for ourselves. What makes them so scary is because we are so vocal and so public about it. You’re really putting yourself out there. We’re both trying to manifest our future and essentially accomplish these goals, and I feel like, come Saturday, only one of us can do it. That makes a pretty compelling story.”
He continued, “I felt some tension there. That’s what the Royal Rumble is about, there are no friends. That doesn’t necessarily mean we have to be adversaries or enemies, but something about it just feels like, on Sunday morning, we might be. I’m hoping that’s not the case. We’ll have to wait and see.”
