CM Punk said during a recent interview with ESPN that Chris Jericho has never been “The Man” in WWE. Punk told ESPN that he felt that Jericho has always played second fiddle to someone else.
“There’s always, I think, somebody that has overshadowed him,” he said. “I guess an argument can be made that John Cena is still ‘The Man.’ But the numbers don’t lie with merchandising, ratings and everything else. We’re not trying to hotshot the title around or play hot potato with it. We’re giving people a champion they can believe in. And Jericho was never really that guy. He was never really, I guess, the ambassador John Cena has been and that I’ve been lately. That’s what I meant by that.”
Punk also talked about his match last year with Randy Orton, saying, “At Wrestlemania last year — and I always say I thrive in high-pressure situations — my job was to steal the show and prove to everybody how awesome I was and what an amazing talent they were losing. I went out there with Randy [Orton] and we put on, in my opinion, the best match on the show of pure wrestling. I wasn’t concerned about what I was doing next year. I was leaving in my mind. I didn’t think I would still be here or holding the title.”
