It’s Royal Rumble season, and “WWE Raw” didn’t hold back on getting a ton of business done in the opening segment of Monday night’s episode. As Drew McIntyre lamented his latest unsuccessful attempt at securing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, he made a point to namedrop Seth Rollins, Damian Priest, Cody Rhodes, and even CM Punk, setting the stage for inevitable confrontations leading up to, during, and possibly after the Rumble.

Of all invoked, only Punk took McIntyre to task tonight, hitting the ring shortly after hearing his name out of the mouth of “The Scottish Psychopath.” McIntyre made sure to mention that he might need some time away from WWE, to which Punk could relate, but Punk also noted how McIntyre made his way back into the organization, and he was following suit now. They went back and forth about being a leader, with McIntyre wittily stating that he and the boys in the back had a bet as to how long it would take before Punk would blow his latest last chance in pro wrestling. McIntyre mentioned Randy Orton as someone he looked to as a leader long ago but that Orton couldn’t help him at the time, while he was fighting his demons. And then he pivoted, as if having an epiphany, that Punk, being straight edge, doesn’t have any demons (thereby insinuating that he had no excuse a la Orton’s), but therefore, was a demon.

Gold!

I won’t harp on the fact that calling Punk a succubus is slightly off-base, in that a succubus is specifically a female demon. Instead, we’ll tap into Punk’s response, inviting McIntyre to join the long-defunct Straight Edge Society if he really still needed a leader, and denying being a demon but instead, Satan himself!

GOLD!

At the end of the day, these two, pre-existing issues or not, really looked like they were having fun in there and when you’re wanting a fanbase to buy in, just like your favorite SNL characters cracking up through a skit and making you laugh without even thinking about it, that’s about as easy as it gets.

Written by Jon Jordan