We’re firmly on the road to WWE WrestleMania 42, and while the total card remains to be yet to take shape, each on camera and behind the scenes, one match is locked in to be one in all the fundamental events for this yr’s show. CM Punk will defend the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against the person who won the 2026 Royal Rumble match, “The Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns.
The 2 men may need only had one segment together since Reigns won the Rumble match at the tip of January 2026, but it surely’s protected to say that one segment has got fans world wide foaming on the mouth on the considered two of the largest stars within the industry fighting it out on the grandest stage of all of them. The shared history between the 2 men adds much more layers to things as Reigns was, in kayfabe, brought into WWE by Punk back in 2012 as a part of The Shield alongside Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose. “The Hounds of Justice” were employed to maintain Punk because the WWE Champion for so long as possible, but The Shield would eventually be corrupted and join forces with The Authority, while Punk would once more turn into a fan favorite and find yourself fighting against The Authority until his WWE exit in 2014.
With Punk and Reigns set to headline WrestleMania 42, it brought up an interesting topic here at Wrestling Inc. as to what the primary pay-per-view/Premium Live Event meeting between the 2 men was, and it was this. A 3-on-one handicap match from WWE TLC 2013 that pitted Punk against all three members of The Shield.
This was presupposed to be one in all the primary steps in a story that might culminate with Punk facing Triple H at WrestleMania 30 but that might obviously never occur, with Punk’s exit inadvertently becoming one in all the explanations for Daniel Bryan’s eventual glory at WrestleMania. Punk and Bryan were allies at the moment fighting against each The Shield and The Wyatt Family, with Bryan being in a three-on-one handicap match of his own later within the night against Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan, matches booked by The Authority to maintain the establishment in WWE.
So in celebration of Punk and Reigns fighting over one in all the richest prizes in all of skilled wrestling this April, let’s shine a highlight on their first-ever meeting on pay-per-view and watch CM Punk vs. The Shield from WWE TLC 2013.
David Vs. Three Goliaths
Considered one of the largest selling points of The Shield was that they were unstoppable as a trio. Yes, you may get a victory over one in all them in singles competition, and with the best teamwork you may get the higher of them in a two-on-two setting, but after they all working as a three-man team, there was simply no stopping them.
That is what made Punk’s story on this match so interesting as he was all the time mindful to not let all three men gang up on him at any point. He starts by frustrating Ambrose, the wildest member of the group, by continuously getting out of his holds. He attempts to do the identical with Rollins by playing cat and mouse with him, all the time ensuring that his offense takes place in the alternative corner to where The Shield are placed. Distance is his friend on this match and that may turn into key in a while. It’s when Reigns tags in after Punk gets the higher of Rollins where the mood within the match changes. Punk cannot really outmuscle Reigns attributable to his size so he tries to be smart, slightly too smart, and gets caught in The Shield’s corner.
Once Punk is within the unsuitable side of the ring, Reigns, Ambrose, and Rollins all take their turn in wearing down the “Straight Edge Superstar.” Punk is all the time attempting to fight out of things but he simply cannot compete with the numbers game, especially against Rollins and Ambrose who’re the more experienced members of The Shield. Nevertheless, allowing Reigns to get his licks in ultimately becomes the turning point within the match as he tries to spear Punk through the announce table but misses, injuring his eye in the method. Reigns does get some control back for his team but has to tag out to be checked by the doctors, and just through the use of Reigns’ momentum against him, this match is now a two-on-one handicap match.
Rollins tries to make up for Reigns not being within the match but is simply too frantic along with his attacks, allowing Punk to make use of his experience to mount a comeback and eventually lock within the Anaconda Vice which is broken up by Ambrose. Rollins was within the hold just long enough for him to be taken out of the bout and abruptly, we’ve a singles match on our hands between Punk and Ambrose. This time, Ambrose is more methodical and appears to have finally swung the momentum of the match back in The Shield’s favor, but Punk keeps fighting long enough to prepare for the Go To Sleep. Rollins tries to interfere but gets hit with the GTS, Ambrose fights out of a GTS, but just as he looks to complete things, Reigns, blurry vision and all, tries to hit a spear on Punk but hits Ambrose with a Spear which puts his own partner down long enough for Punk to get the win.
The Aftermath
Against all of the percentages, CM Punk overcame The Shield and managed to get the win in what was a really fun opener to WWE TLC 2013. It wasn’t the most effective match on the planet by any stretch, but it surely has a legitimate case to being the most effective match on the show in some people’s opinions. As for what happens next, everyone knows about Punk’s famous walkout the night after the 2014 Royal Rumble, however the work between Punk and The Shield towards the tip of his WWE run on the time was a few of Punk’s best work in the corporate for some time. It truly is a shame that Punk wasn’t around through the mid 2010s when Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns really got here into their very own because singles feuds between them on this era would have likely been great.
While Punk would go away the corporate, making a gaping hole within the fundamental event scene in the method, this might actually be a blessing disguise for The Shield as they were quickly turned babyface in early 2014 and had various great matches with The Wyatt Family. “The Hounds of Justice” even pulled some good matches out of Evolution which was seen as a borderline miracle on the time. It was that eventual face run that made The Shield one of the popular factions of all time, which provided the springboard for all three men to turn into Hall of Fame level talents within the years to come back, and that may not have happened without Punk leaving WWE.
Since Punk has returned to wrestling, now that he’s having a correct singles feud with Reigns, he has had rivalries with all three members of the faction he introduced to WWE. Punk feuded over the AEW World Championship with Ambrose, now more commonly often called Jon Moxley, which can have only been temporary but it surely was actually memorable, and Moxley is now seen as one in all the faces of AEW and one in all the corporate’s biggest wrestlers ever. Once he returned to WWE and handled the thorn in his side that was Drew McIntyre, Punk would have a lengthy feud with Seth Rollins that lasted principally all of 2025, and also you get the sense that it would pick up steam again when Rollins returns from his most up-to-date injury.
As for the story with Reigns, the person Punk brought into WWE is wildly different to the person that exists now. As “The Tribal Chief,” Reigns has reached an unparalleled level of success in WWE and is one in all the explanations for the corporate’s boom period that will or may not still be occurring depending on who you ask. They were each involved within the WrestleMania 41 night one fundamental event, but that was more of a Punk/Rollins story match that it was Punk/Reigns. What might the long run hold Punk and Reigns on the road to WrestleMania 42? We’ll just should tune in and see.