CM Punk Wants Stone Cold; LA Knight Eyes Sydney Sweeney; WWE Rumors on Cody, Heyman

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

CM Punk Cites Stone Cold, Hitman as Dream Opponents

No matter how implausible, the idea of a generational dream match between CM Punk and Stone Cold Steve Austin refuses to die.

Punk was a guest on the Jan. 5 episode of Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson's Nightcap show. He cited Austin as the legend who "always comes to mind" when he ponders his ultimate fantasy opponent (via Ringside News' Felix Upton). He added that the Texas Rattlesnake is "number one with a bullet."

Punk also would've loved to get in the ring with Bret Hart "because that is a guy I looked up to when I was a kid."

"That's a guy that helped get me into this sport from an interest perspective," he said.

Punk vs. Austin is an idea WWE fans have floated for years, ever since Punk emerged as the closest facsimile among active stars to the Hall of Famer. His return to the company after a lengthy exile renewed the possibility.

In February, Austin told ESPN's Marc Raimondi that Punk "would be a good one" to go up against if he were to have one final farewell match. Later in the summer, the Straight-Edge Superstar taunted Austin a bit at Fanatics Fest and said "his six-shooters might be buried in the Nevada desert."

Is this ever going to happen? Probably not. Will that stop fans from fantasy-booking Austin vs. Punk? Also no.

LA Knight Expresses Wish for Netflix Project

WWE's partnership with Netflix opens up some opportunities in content terms. The major motion pictures and straight-to-DVD releases WWE once helped to produce, for example, would be a natural fit on the streaming service.

LA Knight is already dreaming of branching out into the movie or miniseries world.

"My first instinct is, we should do something comedic, but I don't think that would be the right move," he said to Metro's Alistair McGeorge. "I feel like we need to do some sort of—maybe we take it easy on me and get my feet wet with a little maybe action-drama of some sort.

"And maybe it's some sort of a miniseries, or maybe even a little quick, little quick little movie or something."

The former United States champion listed Sydney Sweeney as his first choice for a co-star.

Netflix's deal to broadcast Raw only just got underway. Considering the contract run for 10 years, that's a long time for WWE's footprint on the service to evolve and expand.

Contributors for Rhodes/Heyman Segment Singled Out

Last Friday's edition of SmackDown opened with Paul Heyman announcing Roman Reigns is entering the men's Royal Rumble match with the goal of dethroning Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

Rhodes didn't get to enjoy much mic time before Kevin Owens intervened. As they battled in the stands, things spiraled from there with Jimmy Uso staving off an attack by Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga on Heyman before getting laid out by the "Samoan Werewolf."

Fightful Select (via Joseph Lee of 411 Mania) detailed the backstage personnel who helped lay out SmackDown. Michael Hayes and Jamie Noble were the producers for the opening segment, while Michael Kirshenbaum and Cristian Scovell were credited as the writers. Scovell was also mentioned as one of Rhodes' regular writers.

Between announcing Reigns' inclusion in the Rumble and prolonging the storylines involving Rhodes, Owens and The Bloodline, they managed to cram in a lot of information and action to get SmackDown started.

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