CM Punk and Randy Orton can laugh about things now.
The 2011 Royal Rumble took place in Boston, Massachusetts, and was the largest Royal Rumble ever, as 40 men entered the contest. Randy Orton challenged The Miz for the WWE Championship at the event, but he failed to capture the title thanks to CM Punk.
The end result would be Punk and Orton clashing at WrestleMania 27.
Sitting down to watch their WrestleMania 27 bout, Punk and Orton looked back at the Rumble and how they didn't get along.
Orton: Was this when you and me butted heads in Boston?
Punk: Oh, bro. I was interested to see how much you wanted to talk about. We hated each other.
Orton: I don’t think we hated each other.
Punk: Maybe a little bit.
Orton: Hate’s a strong word. I never hated you. I think that I was the kind of person that had a backstage gimmick, and I was trying to live my backstage…I think I was just an insecure…you know what I mean? Then I was talking to Arn [Anderson], and like, ‘Fuck Punk,’ and you’re like, ‘Hey, motherfucker, I’m right here. Say it to my face.’ I was like, oh, man. I wasn’t expecting him to walk around the corner as I was burying him. [Laughs]
Punk: [Laughs, hugs Orton] This is amazing.
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Punk: Me and you, you say hate’s a strong word, but we did not get along.Orton: We were both our worst enemies, maybe at one point.
Punk: 100%.
Orton: I had other demons and shit.
Punk: But I think a lot of it is because we’re probably very, very similar. I think because of that, I think we created some magic.
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Punk: They’re telling me I’m number one in the Rumble, so I gotta go. I sprint to the locker room, I piss, I grab my energy drinks, and I’m running back down the hallway. Then down the hallway, near Gorilla, I see you. Your back‘s to me, and you’re talking to Arn, and you’re gesticulating, you’re pointing at your face. I’m like, ‘What, what’s he doing?’ I walk up behind you, and Arn’s trying to give you the iggy, and I remember Chavo [Guerrero] seeing it go down, and Chavo was just like, ‘Oh, popcorn, I’m gonna watch this.’ I was like, ‘What the fuck, man? You said I don’t get you?’ [Laughs] It just turned into this thing. I was like, ‘Fuck you.’Orton: I remember as soon as you came up and I turned around, I look, Arn was [laughs], he was in catering already. I remember right where it happened too.
Punk: I’ve never seen Arn move so fast.
Orton: He was right there where you’d go to gorilla. Catering is this way, so that plays out.
Punk noted that they worked with Arn for their WrestleMania match.
Orton was victorious over Punk, winning with the RKO.
Elsewhere during their sitdown, Orton noted that he reached out to Punk about returning in 2023. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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