Photo credit: WWE.com
In a long-awaited grudge match, with Seth Rollins serving as special guest referee, Drew McIntyre beat CM Punk at SummerSlam on Saturday.
The simmering tension between Rollins and Punk finally boiled over. The two got into an argument midway through the match, with The Best in the World questioning The Visionary’s impartiality.
Eventually, Punk hit the guest referee with his Go To Sleep.
With The Visionary down, however, McIntyre landed a low blow and then connected with his Claymore finisher. Rollins regained his senses enough to count to three.
However, Punk was so focused on recovering the bracelet bearing the names of his wife and his dog from McIntyre that he missed opportunities to win the match.
To rub salt into the wound, McIntyre again took the bracelet from the prone Punk before leaving the squared circle.
Issues between Punk and the Scot date back to shortly after The Second City Saint returned to WWE in November, as McIntyre made his dislike for him quite apparent, but the Royal Rumble is what kicked their feud into overdrive.
Punk made it to the final two in the men’s Rumble match before getting eliminated by Cody Rhodes, but he suffered a torn triceps during the bout, putting him on the shelf for months and keeping him out of WrestleMania 40.
When Punk announced what had happened, McIntyre confronted him, told him that he had prayed for him to get injured and then attacked him.
Punk’s loss was The Scottish Warrior’s gain in many respects since it seemed The Best in the World was destined to face Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania, only for McIntyre to take his spot in that match.
The Scot beat Rollins at The Show of Shows to become the new world champ, but the celebration lasted only a few minutes, as Punk emerged from his spot at the announce table to attack McIntyre while Drew was taunting him.
That allowed Damian Priest to run down and successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract on McIntyre.
From that point forward, Punk and McIntyre vowed to make life miserable for one another, and that is precisely what they did.
Punk cost McIntyre in his World Heavyweight Championship match against Priest at Clash in the Castle in his home country of Scotland, and the Scot retaliated on a subsequent episode of SmackDown by beating Punk to a bloody pulp in his hometown of Chicago before removing his bracelet.
Then, after McIntyre won the Money in the Bank contract at the same-titled premium live event, he attempted to cash in that same night during the world title match between Priest and Rollins, only for Punk to interfere again by hitting him with a steel chair, allowing the champion to retain.
That reignited Punk’s rivalry with Rollins as well since The Visionary expressed his belief that The Second City Saint cost him the title and should not have been getting involved in his business.
When Punk recently announced that he was finally cleared to wrestle, Raw general manager Adam Pearce came up with an idea to maintain order by making Rollins the special guest referee for Punk vs. McIntyre at SummerSlam.
The match was expectedly chaotic nonetheless, and McIntyre thrived in that environment to take down Punk in the first televised singles match he has competed in since returning to WWE.
Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.