WWE Hall of Famer criticizes Seth Rollins' actions against CM Punk

WWE Hall of Famer Teddy Long has criticized Seth Rollins’ recent conduct on RAW, suggesting that General Manager Adam Pearce’s response to the champion’s actions was insufficient. The controversy stems from last week’s physical altercation between Rollins and CM Punk, which required official intervention.

During an appearance on Sportskeeda’s The Wrestling Time Machine, Long outlined how he would have handled the situation differently as General Manager:

If it were me, when Seth Rollins said he wanted to talk, I would have stared him down. I’m the GM, I’m the boss, so why should I care about your actions? If you do anything to me, I have the opportunity to fire you. Yeah, that’s great, but what I’m looking for, Seth, is a solution. And he says to me, well, I have the solution for you. The solution is me and CM Punk. At that point I stop. I’m speechless. But he walks away, looks at me one more time, CM Punk and Seth Rollins.

Rollins requests release of extended interview footage

Following his December 23 interview with Jackie Redmond about his upcoming January 6 match against CM Punk on RAW’s Netflix premiere, Rollins made an unexpected request to WWE:

Now publish the other 30 minutes that didn’t air.

During the published portion of the interview, Rollins discussed his reaction to seeing Punk alongside Roman Reigns at Survivor Series, promising to display unprecedented intensity in their upcoming confrontation. The champion described the anticipated match as raw, visceral, and violent.