The March 3, 2025, edition of WWE Raw opened with CM Punk delivering a fiery promo, addressing his recent loss in the 2025 Men's Elimination Chamber match. During his tirade, Punk took direct shots at The Rock and John Cena, referring to them as "bald frauds." He criticized The Rock’s involvement in WWE’s corporate affairs and accused Cena of abandoning his principles following his shocking heel turn at the Elimination Chamber event.

In response, Seth Rollins did not hold back while speaking on the Raw Recap podcast. He called out Punk’s perceived hypocrisy, stating, "I mean, look at the guy. He is a hypocrite... Dude, you have done everything and more that you are accusing these guys of. You are a coward, you are a fraud, you gave up on your dream to main event WrestleMania years ago." Rollins further emphasized his disdain for Punk, stating that, unlike his complicated feelings towards Roman Reigns, his feelings for Punk were purely negative. "With CM Punk, there is no seed of love. That is gone. He erased that a long time ago. So it is pure, unadulterated hatred. That is all I have for him."

The tensions between the two superstars boiled over during the Raw broadcast, leading to a chaotic backstage brawl. Security struggled to separate them, but the fight ultimately resulted in WWE officials announcing that Punk and Rollins would settle their differences inside a Steel Cage at the upcoming March 10 episode of Raw at Madison Square Garden.

“I mean, look at the guy. He is a hypocrite. The world is going to sit there and talk about, oh, listen to all these wonderful, great things he said about John Cena and the decision he made at the Rumble and The Rock. Dude, you’ve done everything and more that you’re accusing these guys of. You’re a coward, you’re a fraud, you gave up on your dream to main event WrestleMania years ago. We don’t have to go through all the things that he did in his time away before he came back. I’ve told the story a million times, and the fact that he has the gall to go out there and spit what he thinks is truth about these guys when he won’t even look in the mirror and talk to himself about all the mistakes that he’s made, that have made other people suffer, that’s the thing. He’s made other people suffer and never owned up to it. So that is a microcosm.

There’s love for Roman Reigns. Do I agree with what he stands for? Absolutely not. But there’s a seed of love in there somewhere. That makes it more painful. That makes it more painful when I get in there and have to do what I have to do to him. With CM Punk, there’s no seed of love. That’s gone. He erased that a long time ago. So it’s pure, unadulterated hatred. That’s all I have for him. You mentioned the Netflix debut and this match at The Garden, I hate that he’s a part of it with me. I hate it so much.”