WWE’s weekly “Raw” show rolled through Los Angeles on Monday night as it inched closer to WrestleMania, pro wrestling’s annual marquee event, but it’s what happened after the three-hour live show that got fans talking.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who was in the building to film parts of an upcoming movie based on the life of WWE star Paige, decided to do something special for fans. From the center of the ring, Johnson called up ex-pro wrestler and fan favorite CM Punk, who famously ditched the company to sign with the UFC in December 2014.
The Rock made the call in front of what he billed as 15,000 fans, but alas, Punk, who lost his debut UFC fight in September, didn’t answer the phone.
The former wrestler, who at age 38 is angling for another UFC fight, later tweeted to fans that he got the message, which was those thousands in attendance chanting his name.
The call came while Johnson helped organize reaction shots as a film crew shot the final scene of the film “Fighting With My Family.” The scene depicts Paige’s debut match from April 7, 2014, when she won the now-defunct WWE Divas title from AJ Lee, CM Punk’s real-life wife. As Lee herself did before she retired from pro wrestling in April 2015, Thea Trinidad, the actress portraying Lee in the film, also elicited chants of “CM Punk,” which inspired Johnson to place the call on Monday.
According to prominent pro wrestling blog PWInsider.com, WWE executives were displeased when the Rock called Punk, likely due to the rocky way the two parties split.
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Punk walked out of the company in January 2014, but didn’t technically part ways with the company until June of that year, when WWE fired him. Punk explained then that the main reason he walked out was because of health reasons. He alleged WWE’s ringside doctor Chris Amann ignored a cyst on his back, which ended up being diagnosed by another doctor as a life-threatening MRSA infection. Punk also said WWE’s concussion policy was inadequate and largely just for show.
Punk’s allegations were met with a $1 million libel lawsuit by Amann, which is ongoing.
WWE, meanwhile, remained mostly silent as the drama unfolded, save for once when Vince McMahon offered a tepid apology to Punk for terminating the star on his wedding day to Lee.
On Tuesday, WWE did not return The Washington Post’s request to comment regarding the Rock’s in-ring stunt.
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