Roman Reigns and CM Punk have both been pioneers in their own ways throughout their illustrious careers. Both are multi time world champions and command an army of loyal followers of the pro wrestling Universe.
In spite of these similarities, there are plenty of significant differences between the two and if a comparison is to be made, Reigns comes out easily on top. Here’s 5 reasons why:
1. Physical Attributes
Roman Reigns just fits the bill of a champion. He is what comes to the mind when you think of a wrestler. At 6 foot 3 and 265 lbs with movie star good looks and a physique carved out of marble, Roman is what a superstar should look like. Athletically gifted, he was a college football star and still lifts a decent amount of weight in the gym. He is a physical specimen.
Punk, in comparison, is a small fry in front of the Tribal chief at 6’1, 220 pounds. Also, he has no athletic background and an average physique. He barely looks like he even goes to the gym. He doesn’t fit the bill of a stereotypical wrestler in any way.
And although both Superstars have fairly tattooed bodies, Roman’s tribal body art enhances his muscles and appearance and is pretty to look at. Whereas Punk’s tattoos are all over the place (A Pepsi tattoo and a Cobra tattoo, What’s that about?) and they aggressively take his appearance further south.
2. Reliability
Roman is a company man who has started from scratch and stayed with the same company his entire life. He is a team player who gives WWE management what they want and vice versa. He will never abandon ship even when it’s going under. He is the best ambassador they could have asked for.
Punk, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. He is most famous for publicly dissing WWE in his infamous pipe bomb promo. He then suddenly walked out on WWE and millions of fans, leaving them high and dry. Not only did he stay on bad terms for years but stayed away from wrestling altogether.
The guy is totally antiestablishment, badmouthing Vince McMahon and others publicly on every chance he got. The WWE could have been mostly at fault here, but his prolonged hiatus is all on him. Even though he has returned now to rivals AEW, he can’t be trusted to carry a promotion.
CM Punk just went off at the #AEWAllOut Media Scrum pic.twitter.com/QaNjTlJjUq
Advertisement— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) September 5, 2022
3. Roman Reigns has a better Mainstream Appeal than CM Punk
Roman will sooner or later join Hollywood like his super successful cousin, The Rock. Maybe after some years but it’s bound to happen. He has already started taking baby steps in that direction by appearing on hit talk shows like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon promoting WWE.
This episode had high ratings as well. His guest appearance on the super hit Hobbs & Shaw movie alongside his Hollywood cousin was well received by the audience and with his Greek God good looks, there’s no holding him back. He brings a potential mainstream media appeal to WWE that very few others can.
Punk, however, has only been mildly successful in his off WWE endeavors. He tried his hand at being a UFC fighter in which he failed miserably, being ridiculed by wrestlers and fighters alike. His film and TV projects received a lukewarm response too. He simply can’t stand up to Reigns’ media appeal.
4. Roman Reigns has a better Win % than CM Punk
Numbers talk. Roman has had 1344 matches in his career so far, out of which he has won 981 matches which is a whopping 73%-win percentage ratio. That is one hell of an impressive stat compared to the huge number of matches The Tribal Chief has had. It can be argued that he is booked that way but why him over the vast sea of talent that is WWE. In spite of him being from wrestling royalty, the Anoai’ family, he would not have reached far without supreme potential, as we have seen with so many others.
Punk has won 999 out of his 1732 matches, so his win percentage stands at 58%. Although he has had more matches being much older than Reigns, he was not nearly booked as strong as him because of his own volatile nature and shortcomings.
5. Roman Reigns has been Acknowledged by CM Punk himself
For over 700 days, you’ve sat at MY table and enjoyed MY body of work. It’s not over, I’m not finished, but if you’ve waited until this point to do so… #AcknowledgeME pic.twitter.com/HIIwLdGvFc
— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) August 2, 2022
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What can be more of an upper hand than being called “Best in the World” by someone who used to call that himself. In an interview, CM Punk had responded to a question about which wrestler being “The Best In The World” at the time, by mentioning Roman Reigns.
He said: “You could say it’s Bryan Danielson. You could say it’s Kenny Omega. There’s an argument for Roman Reigns,”
However, the Tribal Chief hadn’t reciprocated to Punk acknowledging him. He had claimed in an interview that Punk isn’t a worthy opponent for him and bluntly stated:
“But I mean, on a personal level, it doesn’t do anything for me. That’s not going to elevate me at all… Then also he got his whooped in the UFC. I don’t think anybody really believes someone 200 pounds soaking wet with no explosive bone in their body could ever really do anything to me.”
Also let’s not forget Punk’s total reign as WWE Champion of 462 days dwarfs in comparison to Reigns’ 738 days and still counting as the reigning Undisputed Universal Champion…Acknowledged!
