Roman Reigns and CM Punk met in the ring tonight in an explosive face-off that gave us our first match of WWE WrestleMania 42.
During Monday’s episode of RAW, Reigns closed out the show by coming down to the ring. Reigns spoke about his history in Philadelphia, how he won and lost a title there, and also won a Royal Rumble there. He then talked about the choice he has in front of him, and who he should pick to face at WWE WrestleMania 42.
The crowd clearly wanted Reigns to pick Punk, and before long, Punk was coming out to the ring. Punk made his way down to the ring with his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. However, he brushed right by Roman to address Finn Bálor, calling him out in response to Bálor calling out Punk earlier in the night.
Reigns didn’t like this, and soon the two were going back and forth. Reigns Punk said they weren’t on SmackDown, but his own show, and that he calls the shots. The two then launched into a series of insults at one another. The two bragged about individually beating Drew McIntyre before Punk said that Reigns needed his family to do it. Reigns then said he and his family helped carry WWE and take it to where it was, and is the only reason Punk had a place to come back to. Punk said that in reality, all Reigns and his family did was hold the company hostage.
CM Punk goads Roman Reigns into choosing the right champion
CM Punk then addressed Reigns’ ESPN comments and said that no one is trying to follow in his footsteps. He then said Reigns has actually been following in Punk’s footsteps, and that Punk is a fighting champion, just like he was when he brought Reigns and The Shield into WWE. Reigns laughed that off, saying the only thing he learned from Punk was not to do.
Reigns revealed that Punk wouldn’t be back if it wasn’t for him, as WWE checked with him before Punk’s infamous return years ago. He went on to say that he made a promise to Paul Heyman and kept it, and that Punk almost brainwashed him and his family, but it didn’t work. He called their ZeBros comments “stupid sh-t,” and then said he was picking Punk because he hated him. He’s always hated him, and he promised Punk that he will acknowledge Reigns at WrestleMania.
Roman Reigns wasn’t the only one who acknowledged Philadelphia, although CM Punk did it in a more subtle (and hilarious) way on RAW.
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