If Randy was third then who was first?
One of the points of contention that CM Punk brought up about Triple H on the Art of Wrestling podcast was a controversy over a role in the movie 12 Rounds 2.
According to Punk’s account, Triple H and WWE offered Punk the role, but Punk noted that primary shooting was during the November WWE tour of Europe. After initially insisting the dates didn’t line up that way, HHH was proved to be wrong.
WWE ended up going with Randy Orton for the role.
Interestingly, Punk was actually the second or third choice to star in the movie. After John Cena, who presumably turned it down, it was actually Chris Jericho who was the studio’s first choice to be the star. However, he turned it down, leading the studio to the next on the list Punk. When WWE revealed to the studio that the schedules didn’t line up, they ended up with Orton.