Tag: CM Punk

Cody Rhodes shares update on WWE WrestleMania 42 eye injury 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Cody Rhodes left WWE WrestleMania 42 with his left eye swollen and almost shut following his match with Randy Orton. 

As reported by our own Dave Meltzer, Rhodes was placed in concussion protocol as a precautionary measure, with evaluations yet to be completed. There was no orbital bone fracture, the seriousness of which could have led to him being sidelined. 

Rhodes shared an update on Instagram Stories that doctors informed him he ‘won’t lose the eye’. 

‘“You won’t lose the eye…’ has to be the most positive yet absurd thing I’ve ever heard in a doctors office,” posted Rhodes.

The main event at Night One of WrestleMania 42 saw both men bloodied by the end of it. After the match, Orton delivered a Punt Kick to Rhodes out of frustration for not winning the WWE Championship. 

Rhodes appeared on the Raw after Mania with a bruised eye. He confronted CM Punk who was in an unusually upbeat mood after losing the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns the night before. And his mood was contradictory to what Rhodes was expecting from him. 

The segment concluded with Punk stating ‘you never know when a championship opportunity is just gonna fall out of the sky’ and looked down at Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Title. As he made his exit, Rhodes responded ‘just say when’. 

Fan wants ‘an apology’ after CM Punk post-WWE WrestleMania incident

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The fan who had his phone smacked away by CM Punk after WWE WrestleMania 42 is asking for an apology.

On Monday, TMZ Sports published video of an incident that took place in a Las Vegas hotel lobby after Mania. A fan was filming Punk’s wife AJ Lee and Bayley as they hugged and said goodbye to each other. In response, Punk knocked the man’s phone to the ground. Punk was visibly angry, but the incident did not escalate any further. Security and Punk’s mentor Ace Steel stepped in to help diffuse the situation.

The fan, asking to remain anonymous, has now spoken to TMZ and said he is not planning to sue Punk, instead asking for an apology and a handshake.

“I want an apology — shake my hand — I’m not gonna sue him or put him in jail,” the fan said. “I just want an apology.”

Punk has frequently spoken out against fans who show up at hotels and airports looking for wrestlers, and security was said to have been an issue all of WrestleMania weekend with not enough being done to give wrestlers privacy while they had to go through common areas where fans were going to be.

TMZ has also shared some more video of the incident between Punk and the fan. It shows that, before Punk slapped his phone away, Bayley and Lee had multiple fans filming them. The two then went into an elevator bank looking for privacy, but this man followed them.

“We love you, Bayley,” the fan said before Bayley responded by putting her hand up to block the man’s phone and telling him to get out of there. Punk then smacked the phone away.

The incident happened shortly after Punk main evented night two of WrestleMania 42 in a loss to Roman Reigns. Punk appeared on Raw last night and teased an upcoming match against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes, CM Punk tease future WWE title match during Raw after WrestleMania

Posted on by Josh Nason

A future title match between reigning WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and former World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk may be on the horizon.

On Monday’s Raw after WrestleMania, Punk came out for a promo segment where he acknowledged those who had passed that were on his jacket Sunday before his match with Roman Reigns and those he had lost which included his dog, Larry, and past MMA trailer Duke Roufus.

He also talked about how he kept going when there were times he could have gone home, eaten donuts, and hung out with his hot wife like after he first lost the title after five minutes, but he put everything he had into coming back and winning it again.

He said the fans helped him get through all that and that he expected the fans to help him get through the loss of the World Heavyweight title to Roman Reigns Sunday, and that he’s not close to being done.

Rhodes then came out, sporting a black eye and the WWE title belt. He said this Punk wasn’t what he was expecting. He said he was glad Las Vegas gave him his flowers and wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do out there when he was the one looking like a beat up loser.

Punk questioned if he was supposed to feel like a loser. Rhodes said no, but Punk later said in a way that he was. He said what Rhodes is feeling is the weight of remaining the champion while he is free to do whatever. It wasn’t his night and the path for Rhodes it so keep being champion.

Punk then said his path is to stay read “because you never know when a championship opportunity is just gonna fall out of the sky.”

As Punk left, Rhodes said, “Hey, Punk? Just say when.”

The two have yet to square off during the latest run for both of them. They have two singles matches in the past: both in the last four months of 2008 and both on Raw. Punk won the first one and then Rhodes won the second via countout after just four minutes. They never crossed paths during their time in AEW.

Damian Priest reportedly intervened in separate post-WWE WrestleMania hotel incident

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

After WWE WrestleMania 42, a clip was circulating of CM Punk snatching and throwing a fan’s phone. The person seemed to be recording Bayley and AJ Lee embracing and bidding farewell to each other.

According to PWInsider, that was not an isolated incident at the hotel. Earlier, Damian Priest had to step in when fans were swarming a female WWE talent for autographs and photos. They also noted an incident of a WWE referee almost knocked down by a crowd of fans gathered at the hotel.

Last week at the hotel there was significant concern surrounding the security. The hotel’s connection to the casino led to fans gathering and camping by elevators and the lobby area waiting to get pictures with the WWE stars. There were multiple instances with Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre and more talents getting hounded by fans with little to no security in sight at their place of stay during the Premium Live Event. 

WWE stars have often addressed situations when fans approach them at airports and public spaces for signings and photographs. A few agree to their requests but Rhea Ripley, Kevin Owens, The Undertaker and Chelsea Green among others have instructed fans to avoid approaching them in such settings which can lead to uncomfortable and awkward encounters.

Last month, Stephanie Vaquer responded to a fan who claimed that she was the only wrestler who did not give in to his requests for a photo or a signature at the airport following Raw in New York City. She expressed that despite multiple refusals the individual continued to follow her and left her feeling uneasy. 

TMZ publishes video of CM Punk fan incident after WWE WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An altercation between CM Punk and a fan took place in Las Vegas overnight after WWE WrestleMania 42.

TMZ Sports has published video of Punk smacking a fan’s phone away in an incident that took place in a hotel lobby in Vegas. It appears that Punk got upset over the fan filming his wife AJ Lee and fellow WWE star Bayley as they were hugging and saying goodbye to each other after Mania. In the video, security can be seen stepping in to stop the altercation from escalating any further. Punk’s mentor Ace Steel is also there and helps to diffuse the situation.

The fan can be heard apologizing to Punk, who is still visibly angry and replies, “No, you’re not.” The video then ends with Punk and Lee leaving together.

“Punk was captured on video just after midnight Monday, getting into it with the fan, who was filming Punk’s WWE friend, Bayley, as she was hugging someone in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Vegas Strip,” TMZ wrote.

“Punk steps right up into the face of the fan before slapping down his phone. Security promptly jumps in between Punk and the other dude to prevent things from really going awry. Punk then coldly stares at the man, who is so terrified that he runs off while apologizing profusely.”

Speaking out against fans who show up at airports and hotels is something that Punk has done repeatedly. As recently as October 2025, he posted a message telling fans to respect wrestlers’ boundaries.

The main event of WrestleMania 42 night two on Sunday saw Punk drop the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns. Appearing on ESPN SportsCenter after the event, Paul “Triple H” Levesque praised both Punk and Reigns and called it one of the greatest matches he’s ever seen.

Triple H praises WWE WrestleMania 42 main event: ‘One of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Appearing on ESPN after the conclusion of WrestleMania 42, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had very high praise for the show’s main event.

Night two of Mania concluded with Roman Reigns defeating CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Levesque told SportsCenter that it was among the greatest wrestling matches he’s ever seen.

“Just epic,” WWE’s Chief Content Officer said. “You can see the passion and the pride of two guys that absolutely to the very core of their soul believe that they are the best in the world. And they’re out there to prove it to each other, they’re out there to prove it to the 55,000+ fans that were here tonight. Everything about them screamed, ‘I have to show I am the best.’

“And you see it all the way down to the end. Knock-down, drag-out fight that just someone won’t give. And you finally get to the end of it, no one really loses. But Roman Reigns comes out the winner. Roman Reigns is the new World Heavyweight Champion. To me, one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen, doesn’t get bigger.”

The match went nearly 34 minutes before Reigns got the win, beginning his first title reign since dropping the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. Reigns said after the show that he will not be a part-time champion and plans to be around all summer.

WOR: WrestleMania night 2, Lesnar, Punk vs. Reigns, Van Hammer, Cluster, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including a full recap of WrestleMania night 2, a show a million times better than night 1, Brock’s apparent retirement, Oba Femi, Punk vs. Reigns and more! Plus, more on Van Hammer, Saudi Arabia, the Clusterfuck, ratings and more. Thank you all for an incredible weekend, I appreciate you all!

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Roman Reigns reflects on WWE WrestleMania 42 main event against CM Punk

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

In the main event of WWE WrestleMania 42 Night Two, Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk.

Reigns became the new World Heavyweight Champion after keeping Punk down for the three-count in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shortly after celebrating his title win with his family, Reigns appeared on the WrestleMania 42 post-show.

Responding to Oba Femi’s challenge and revealing his Summer 2026 schedule, Reigns also reflected on his match against Punk.

“It feels good. It feels as it should. That’s what’s so pure about our business is we know right away, there’s nothing like this,” Reigns said.

“That’s the beauty of how subjective this is, you have two extreme examples of professional wrestlers and sports entertainers in me and CM Punk, and somehow we can go out there and find a middle. That’s how I love this business.”

He further opened up and answered whether he gained any respect for Punk after their match. “The fact that I’m the Tribal Chief and I still hear people out here chanting for CM Punk, I have to respect that. Do I respect the man and his personal life? I don’t know.

“But when it comes to when he steps into the arena, when the ring’s set up, when the pyro is gonna go off, I got a lot of respect for the man that steps into the arena and performs in front of all these people because he puts his heart and he puts his soul, he puts his physicality on the line. Do we see eye-to-eye? Hell no. Are we cut from the same fabric? Hell no. But at the same time, we’re a part of the same fraternity, just like you (Corey Graves) and I, just like me and (Big) E. There’s very few of us. So, when you can go out there and you can main event, and you can put it on the line, and you can actually hold your own. CM Punk didn’t just run his mouth. He backed it up. He just ran into a better man today.”

In a match lasting over 30-minutes, Reigns defeated Punk after executing two spears and stood tall to close the night.

Roman Reigns defeats CM Punk for World Heavyweight title at WWE WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Josh Nason

After a 1300+ day undisputed WWE title run that ended at WrestleMania 40, Roman Reigns can once again call himself World Champion two years later after Sunday’s WWE WrestleMania 42.

Reigns defeated CM Punk in the night’s main event to win the World Heavyweight title, pinning Punk after a spear after a 30+ minute match.

The end sequence came when both men were exhausted in the ring. Punk hit a GTS and Reigns fell on top of him in position for another GTS but Punk dropped in exhaustion and so did Reigns. They struggled to get up and Reigns hit the spear to end the match.

It was Reigns’ first match since January’s men’s Royal Rumble match and his first singles match since October 2025. It was Punk’s first true WrestleMania main event and his second run with the title ends after four successful defenses and 170 days.

There was no outside interference and no allusion to Pat McAfee after he and Punk feuded verbally over the last week with a Reigns alliance even teased at one point.

After introductions, the match started just before 9 pm Eastern.

As he did in during his Ring of Honor days and then again for his AEW dog collar match with MJF, Punk came out to Miseria Cantare by AFI. He also wore a ring jacket adorned with the names of several WWE employees who passed away in the last year in addition to an ode to his longtime dog, Larry.

The back of the jacket featured an homage to New Orleans who was supposed to host this year’s WrestleMania. Reigns entered to his old “Head of the Table” entrance song with a female singer setting the stage beforehand.

The match itself was sponsored by Saudi Arabia for Riyadh Season which some saw as ironic given Punk’s past feelings about the country and subsequent apology last year.

**********

The match was a brawl early on, heading to the outside of the ring. Punk jumped off the ringside barricade with a clothesline followed by Reigns recovering with tossing Punk off the announce table he was standing up on afterward. Punk was later powerbombed through the Spanish announce table while Reigns later took an elbow drop from the top rope while laid out on the English announce table.

It featured the usual array of finishing moves and nearfalls, including both men teasing and hitting signatures moves from the others. It also featured blood as Punk juiced after being hit with ringside steps while in the tree of woe position on the outside apron.

WOL: What is WWE’s post-WrestleMania plan?

Posted on by Jim Valley

It’s the Saturday Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley just hours before tonight’s first night of WWE WrestleMania 42…

…not that you’d know from the way SmackDown ended Friday night with Cody Rhodes and CM Punk hugging.

Where were all the celebrities who’ve been on TV for weeks? Was that a response to fan reaction or a creative decision? The past few years, WrestleMania hasn’t been well planned out. Will this year be different?

Plus, Jim talks about the WWE Hall of Fame, Bloodsport, ROH Supercard of Honor, JCW, Joey Janela’s Spring Break and more.

Check it out.

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CM Punk on Danhausen: ‘I think his impact has yet to be felt’

Posted on by Ian Carey

CM Punk spoke about Danhausen in a recent interview.

The World Heavyweight Champion appeared on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike on Friday and was asked about his friendship with Danhausen. Punk responded that Danhausen is perfect for WWE.

Punk said:

“I think his impact has yet to be felt. Man, he’s perfect for WWE. He is perfect for what we do. Sometimes you find a talent that has always kind of belonged here and you never really realized it.

He’s somebody who to me is a throwback. He’s a bit of a gimmick, but he’s so entertaining and you can put him in any single situation and it’s more about how other people react or don’t react to him.

Hopefully, I said enough nice things about him he’s not going to curse me.”

Danhausen appeared in a scene that aired on SmackDown as The Miz and Maryse were renewing their wedding vows. The segment ended with Maryse going face-first into the cake.

Punk will headline night two of WrestleMania on Sunday. He is scheduled to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns on the show.

The full episode of ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike is available below. The player is cued to Punk’s comments about Danhausen.

Paul Heyman confirms original WWE WrestleMania 42 plans for four top stars

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

For the first time in many years, no Paul Heyman guy is set to main event WWE WrestleMania; however, Heyman recently made it clear that WWE’s original plans for WrestleMania would’ve seen something else.

In the past few months, WWE altered several of its WrestleMania plans due to injuries and other creative decisions. During an interview with his son, Jacob, on Instagram, Paul Heyman was asked if he was upset with the lack of representation on WrestleMania’s main event scene this year.

The Hall of Famer opened up and revealed that WrestleMania’s original scrapped plans included him being involved in the main event.

“I don’t think it’s a big secret that everything was driving this year to be Seth Rollins vs Roman Reigns, and then that fell apart. And then it was going to be Bron Breakker vs CM Punk, and that fell apart,” Heyman said. “So I was in line to be a part of the main event this year, and fate intervened not once but even twice.”

However, it is also to be noted that these were not the two main events for WrestleMania’s two nights. Instead, these were just the planned World title matches with Breakker vs. Punk coming after the Rollins vs. Reigns match was scrapped.

When Rollins vs. Reigns was planned for the World title, the Undisputed WWE Championship main event was rumored to be Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk.

However, later, when things changed due to Rollins’ injury, the World title plan was switched to Punk vs. Breakker, and the Undisputed Title was changed to Rhodes vs. Reigns.

Roman Reigns teases WWE departure if he loses at WrestleMania

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Roman Reigns is, unofficially, raising the stakes for his match against CM Punk at WWE WrestleMania 42.

On its YouTube channel today, WWE uploaded an in-character interview with Reigns speaking with Michael Cole ahead of WrestleMania. Reigns addressed what will happen going forward depending on the result of the night two main event. If Reigns wins, he says it will help bring WWE back to relevancy. But if Reigns loses, he doesn’t see a place for himself in WWE anymore.

“If I lose to CM Punk at WrestleMania, I don’t belong in the WWE anymore,” Reigns said. “I think if I were to lose on Sunday, I’d say my work is done.”

It was stated last year that Reigns’ WWE contract was coming up soon after WrestleMania 42. But he recently said he still feels like he has a lot more to offer WWE, is feeling good physically at 40 years old, and plans to maximize his earnings potential in the company.

The World Heavyweight Championship will be on the line when Reigns challenges Punk on Sunday. A victory would give Reigns his first title reign in WWE since dropping the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40.

CM Punk responds to Roman Reigns WWE WrestleMania promo

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While appearing on ESPN’s Get Up this morning, CM Punk gave one last response to Roman Reigns ahead of their WWE WrestleMania 42 match.

Reigns posted a social media promo yesterday, calling out Punk for not being a fighting champion and saying Punk’s “not even a fighter.” Reigns said it blows his mind that Punk thinks they are equals — and he vowed to end Punk when they face off this Sunday.

The Reigns promo received a lot of praise from fans online. Punk seemed to have respect for it too, telling ESPN he wishes Reigns brought this kind of material when they were actually in the same building together.

“My response is: man, I wish he brought that energy the days he actually decided to show up on a couple of Mondays,” Punk said. “Look, I take nothing away from Roman. Tremendous superstar, he has the credentials. He’s a heavyweight. He’s going to be a tough out for me. But I am not looking to lose on Sunday. I’m sure he isn’t either. But this is about pro wrestling versus cinema.

“I’m glad that he had four days to shower and think about what he would say to me in a rebuttal and did it in a car while I wasn’t around. But I’m going to be around and in his face on Sunday. I’m going to send him to the orthodontist. I’m going to make his orthodontist a very rich person.”

Punk vs. Reigns is headlining night two of WrestleMania 42 this weekend. They were also opponents last year at WrestleMania 41, losing a triple threat to Seth Rollins.

WrestleMania is back in Las Vegas again this year, which Punk does not mind even if business is down from 2025.

“We’ve run into a little bit of trouble running the same venue twice in a row,” Punk told Get Up. “But, logistically, for me, I’m selfish. It’s fun for me. I like Vegas. There’s great food. There’s great atmosphere. You can always do something at any time of day.

“But we want your sights focused on Saturday night and Sunday night, Allegiant Stadium, for WrestleMania. Because this is going to be our biggest show of the year. We always like to say it’s our Super Bowl. I like to say the Super Bowl is the NFL’s WrestleMania.”

Roman Reigns fires back at CM Punk ahead of WWE WrestleMania 42

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Roman Reigns did not take lightly to CM Punk’s latest comments targeting his schedule, calling himself a fighting champion and that he is coddled by WWE management. 

Reigns was evidently infuriated in his response on X to promote their fight on WrestleMania Sunday. He dismissed Punk’s claim to be a fighting champion citing he’s only defended it three times in his one year reign. He brought up Punk’s tenure on the indies and called it an embarrassment.

“You defended the title three times. You’ve had it the whole year. You’re not a fighting champion. You’re not even a fighter. We’ve seen how that went. Coddled? By management? Because I’m money! And they’ve known that since the beginning. I told them I’m an unsigned billion dollar check. Go back and find it. It’s in the archives.”

“You don’t have that type of confidence because you’re not the type of man I am. You’re not cut from the same fabric as me. It blows my mind that you think we’re f*cking equals, in which way? It’s only gonna take the first couple of minutes for the whole world to see there’s no way we could ever be on the same level.”

“Coddled, the whole industry coddles you just by having you in it. You talk about the old times, those were tough guys. We’ve seen what happens when you try to be a tough guy. We put our whole reputation, the whole art form on the line for you, because what 100,000 internet marks love you from the beginning? Let’s go back to your journey days when you were on the Indies, it was the sh*ts, an embarrassment. There’s not a legend in my family that respects you. You’re the reason we don’t let marks in the business. Keep my f*cking name at your mouth on Sunday it ends for you.”

Pat McAfee also responded to Reigns’ post against Punk. Their tension stemmed from Punk calling out McAfee for getting involved in WWE and indicating he was a corporate stooge.

“It’s all starting to come together for you IWC nerds isn’t it? Your time is up…  The Business is about to be saved by Randy Orton on Saturday night.. and then Roman will drive it home on Sunday Night”

Reigns and Punk will collide in the main event of Night Two at WrestleMania this weekend. After his Royal Rumble win, Reigns chose to face Punk stating that it stemmed from his hate for him. In the weeks that followed they had multiple face-offs in which Punk made personal remarks about Sika Anoa’i and the rest of Reigns’ family.