Two-time WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash recently disclosed details about a behind-the-scenes conversation that took place before CM Punk faced Triple H in 2011.
At Night of Champions 2011, The Game defeated Punk in the main event following interference from Nash. The outcome was highly controversial at the time, with many expecting The Best in the World to pick up the win.
On his Kliq This podcast, Nash said the storyline was originally supposed to lead to a match between himself and Punk. However, Triple H allegedly disliked The Straight Edge Superstar so much that he wanted to beat him instead.
“I know that when I was supposed to wrestle Punk, he got under Triple H’s skin so bad,” Nash stated. “Paul [Paul Levesque, Triple H’s real name] just came up to me and just said, ‘I’m gonna beat him. You’re not gonna wrestle him. I’ll beat him.’ I was like, ‘Cool.’ That’s why me and Punk never wrestled. He said, ‘F**k it, I’ve gotta beat this f****r.'”
Nash’s involvement in the storyline led to him losing a Sledgehammer Ladder match against Triple H at TLC 2011. By that point, Punk had already won the WWE Championship to begin his 434-day reign with the title.
CM Punk resented Triple H after Night of Champions 2011
In 2014, CM Punk appeared on Colt Cabana’s Art of Wrestling podcast. He spoke about a series of Triple H incidents that frustrated him, including the booking of their 2011 match.
Punk recalled how he confronted Triple H about the Night of Champions 2011 finish on the night of his infamous WWE departure:
“I seriously resent you for not putting me over three years ago when you should have. That would have been best for business, but you had to f***ing come in and squash it.”
A decade on, Punk returned to WWE at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 25. Triple H is now WWE’s Chief Content Officer, meaning he is in charge of the polarizing superstar’s creative direction.
Do you have any memories of CM Punk vs. Triple H at Night of Champions 2011? Let us know in the comments section below.
Please credit Kliq This and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Kevin Nash’s quotes from this article.
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