Tom Percival and
Alistair McGeorge
Published January 30, 2026 8:00pm
Updated January 31, 2026 12:20am
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Previous Page Next PageSeth Rollins has taken another shot at CM Punk as his bitter rival is unveiled as the WWE 2K26 cover star.
The Visionary is currently out of action after suffering a devastating shoulder injury, but that has not stopped him from talking trash as he addressed the ‘real conflict’ between himself and the current World Heavyweight Champion.
He exclusively told Metro: ‘I think if I didn’t have a proclivity for disarming him, so to speak, in the media before he came back, he wouldn’t even be here.
‘So he can give me more credit than he’d like – but at the end of the day, yeah, I mean, we don’t like each other.
‘I don’t know that we’re ever going to see eye to eye.’
This year, Punk will take centre stage on the cover and as the focal point of the Showcase mode, featuring some of his most memorable matches.
Seth thinks CM Punk came back to settle old scores (Picture: Michael Marques/WWE via Getty Images)
Fans will also be able to play through Fantasy Warfare dream bouts with the Second City Saint stepping into some of WWE’s most iconic bouts.
The Showcase will also include ‘What If?’ matches, allowing fans to see how Raw and SmackDown might have looked if Punk had never left in 2014.
The Voice of the Voiceless would eventually return to WWE in November 2023, and his real-life history with Rollins – who once publicly branded him a ‘cancer’ – has spilt on screen.
‘[Working together is] easy in the sense that there’s real conflict there, real passion, real emotion there,’ Rollins explained.
Seth and CM do not get on (Picture: Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
‘[But] I think the working in the ring with CM Punk part is a little more difficult because of that conflict.’
However, Rollins acknowledged that wrestling is a business and those rivalries are what fans pay to see.
‘At the end of the day, that conflict is what creates controversy, and that’s what creates cash,’ he said. ‘And you know, that’s the reason CM Punk is back here.’
Punk is on the cover this year. Rollins could easily front 2K’s campaign, highlighting his own legendary career, while just being in the game each year is a badge of honour for the lifelong fan.
Hey, look, it’s Punk! (Picture: 2K Games)
‘I’ve played wrestling video games for pretty much as long as I could hold the controller,’ Seth smiled.
‘I used to try to create myself and make an avatar that sort of looked like me with an outfit that I like and music, and now that I am a full entity in these video games and kids get the chance to pretend to be me on a screen, it’s pretty awesome. Never really loses its lustre.’
Those kids playing the game include his neighbours, who have invited the real-life superstar round to challenge them – and he didn’t go easy on them.
‘They’re old enough, they get it, they’re eight and 10,’ he smirked. ‘They need to know what it’s like to lose.’
These rivalries are what fans pay to see. (Picture: Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)
A Seth Rollins Showcase mode would be fascinating given the number of times he’s reinvented himself, but embracing a more flamboyant style didn’t come naturally.
‘In my day-to-day life. I’m not walking around what you’re seeing me in right now. So, you know, it was a big leap for me to take the risk and do something different from a fashion standpoint,’ Rollins admitted.
‘The suits, in the very beginning, and the outfits, they did get a negative reaction, and they were doing exactly what I wanted them to do.
‘And then eventually it became sort of a positive thing, and people started to look forward to what I was going to wear, what I was going to pull out at a big show.
The suits weren’t always popular (Picture: David Berding/Getty Images)
‘And so it’s been fun to be that person and to play that character and fit into that role. Is it something that I ever thought I would do? Absolutely not. But here we are.’
Rollins and his wrestling megastar wife Becky Lynch are a true WWE power couple, but Rollins doesn’t think their five-year-old daughter Roux will be making it a family business.
‘She just doesn’t care about it at all. She’s a performer, but I don’t think wrestling is her medium,’ he said, making it clear they’ll support her no matter what.
Seth thinks he’s on the road to recovery (Picture: Michael Marques/WWE via Getty Images)
‘There are other ways she might want to earn a living that don’t involve throwing yourself at full speed into the ground over and over and over again,’ he quipped. ‘If she can do something that’s a little less physically taxing, that’d be great. But if she wants to do this, she’s got some pretty good teachers.’
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Rollins has loved spending ‘strengthening that bond’ with Roux during his injury layoff, but he gave a promising update on his recovery.
‘Body’s healing up good, shoulder – it just is as it is. You can’t do it any faster. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen any slower. I feel like I’m on a good road, and I’ll be back when I’m ready.’
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WWE 2K26 will be released on March 13. The King of Kings, Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars editions will all drop with early access on March 6.
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