WWE
WWE ‘Monday Night Raw’: Roman Reigns Tells CM Punk, ‘I Hate You’ and Sets Tone for WrestleMania 42 Title Bout
After winning the Men’s Royal Rumble on Saturday, Roman Reigns ended Netflix’s Monday Night Raw making a decision of who he would challenge for a world title at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas come April. Would it be the Undisputed Universal Championship held by Drew McIntrye or the WWE World Heavyweight Championship held by CM Punk?
Previously, Reigns held the Universal title for an astounding four-year reign, that is the fourth all-time greatest title run in WWE history with only Bruno Sammartino, Bob Backlund and Hulk Hogan above him. Now, WWE looks to be flipping the switch to the OTC to try to jolt the creative to make for an interesting main event.
On RAW, as Reigns addressed the crowd in Philadelphia (where he has had major wins and major losses in his career) and the TV cameras, he was laying the groundwork of who he should pick to wrestle at the showcase of the immortals. However, CM Punk interrupted him and came into the ring all fired up.

Photo: WWE
Punk’s gloating words where he went back to The Shields origin story (Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley, AEW) sounded patronizing to Reigns, especially when the “Voice of the Voiceless” said how he chose Reigns for his faction, and now he is proud of him since he learned from the best in the world. Reigns shot back about Punk being away from the WWE for ten years, and that when he was considering coming back, the higher-ups asked Roman if he was good with it.
Then, Punk’s now infamous 2014 podcast appearance with Colt Cabana came up! It was there that Punk related that the WWE creative had him promise to “make Roman look strong!” Reigns revealed his genuine animosity towards Punk not only stemming back over a decade ago, but when he did Paul Heyman (then Roman’s wiseman) a favor, and let Punk join the Bloodline at Survivor Series War Games, a few years back.
As the promo came to a close, Reigns got in Punk’s face and snarled, “I made my choice. I could pick you because you’re the biggest star available, I could. I could pick you because you’re on Netflix, and you’re on the best show, I could.B ut no, I’m picking you because I hate you. I’ve always hated you. And WrestleMania is going to be the greatest day of my life because, in the main event, you will acknowledge me.”
Reigns lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. He’s never held the World Heavyweight Championship since it was introduced back in 2022.
Check out the final moments of the now epic Roman Reigns/CM Punk showdown on RAW below.
Then let us know, does this make you look forward to a Reigns vs. Punk main event on either night 1 or night 2 of WrestleMania 42? Do you think fans will be rooting mostly for Roman or Punk? Share your thoughts via the comment section.
Recaps
MONDAY NIGHT RAW: CM Punk Returns in Chi-Town and Defeats Sami Zayn for WWE Undisputed Championship

On the July 6 episode of WWE Raw on Netflix, CM Punk made his triumphant return to WWE programming and captured the Undisputed WWE Championship, in his hometown of Chicago, no less.
In the story, Punk stepped in at the last minute as a replacement in the title match against Sami Zayn, when Zayn’s scheduled opponent, the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes was taken out at the beginning of Raw by sneak attack by Gunther.
The attack on Rhodes, left Cody out of the title picture for the night and chance to reclaim the championship he lost to Zayn at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia just 9 days ago.

Photo: WWE
LAST MINUTE OPPONENT
With Adam Pearce currently in charge of both Raw and SmackDown after Nick Aldis also got into an altercation with Gunther last week, Aldis returned and got into with Pearce over the booking of the title match.
Zayn, who thought he got out of a title fight, soon learned he has an unnamed challenger in the main event and headed to the ring for this title defense. Only, it was going to be a losing battle with CM Punk’s theme music hit, and the crowd in Chicago went nuts!
Despite Zayn building significant offense throughout his match,, Punk ultimately came out victorious after using Zayn’s patented victory following a Helluva Kick and a Go To Sleep.
PUNK BECOMES A WWE CHAMP FOR THE EIGHTH TIME
This makes CM Punk an eight-time WWE world champion. Zayn’s reign as champion became one of the shortest ever. Previously, Punk dropped the WWE World Championship title to Roman Reigns in a classic bout at WrestleMania 42, and until now has been out of the storyline.
Since the Undisputed WWE Championship is associated with SmackDown, the WWE Universe can most likely to CM Punk heading to the blue brand as champ with Reigns the champ on Raw.
But all of this has to be leading to SummerSlam, where the smart money is that Cody Rhodes will demand a title shot at CM Punk for the Undisputed Championship, while we already know Seth Rollins is facing Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship.
WWE SummerSlam takes place in Minneapolis on August 1 and August 2 with the full match cards being revealed in the coming weeks.
So, what did you think of CM Punk returning in Chi-Town to win the Undisputed WWE Championship? Do you think we will now get a Cody or Punk heel turn? Happy or mad, that Sami Zayn’s title run was oh-so short? Weigh-in via the comment section. But first, check out Punk’s winning moment below.
News
Netflix Releases ‘WWE Unreal’ Season 3 Official Trailer

“Legends will fall, heroes will rise,” those are the keys to the stories as Netflix is set to take you one more time behind the scenes of the writers room and life as a professional wrestler in WWE Unreal premiering on July 21.
Now on Monday, the streamer has unveiled their official season 3 trailer for the docudrama which features: WWE legend, John Cena on the final run of his retirement tour, and a host of top WWE superstars including: Cody Rhodes, Liv Morgan, CM Punk, AJ Lee, Trick Williams, Lash Legend, Stephanie Vaquer, Oba Femi, Bron Breakker, Chelsea Green, Matt Cardona, Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch.
On the new season of WWE: Unreal, it is set to takes viewer inside the writers’ room as injuries, last-minute pivots, and career-defining decisions reshape WWE’s biggest season yet heading into WrestleMania 42.

Photo: Netflix
HOW THE STORYLINES AND MATCHES CAME TOGETHER FOR WRESTLEMANIA 42
In the trailer, John Cena asks,”Why are we fighting? Start there.The why is everything!” Then, the footage showcases the rising stars of the WWE from Oba Femi, Bron Breakker to Trick Williams.
WWE Chief Content Officer, Triple H is seen in the writers room as he says, “I think we got to pull the trigger on somebody.” Cena shares, “We have so many great new people. Who’s next? That’s the why” Bron Breakker explained, “If I get dinged up in the middle of a match, you quit? What’s it say about me? I’ll run through a wall for those people.”
In addition, AJ Lee returned after 10 years away from the WWE and wrestled alongside her husband CM Punk, who shared on having his wife back, “It might not seem like a big deal, but everything’s just so much better when she’s there.” Meanwhile, AJ Lee explained, “I needed to change things for everyone who came behind me.” The trailer also shows Liv Morgan battling back from injury, and so much more.
Check out the official WWE Unreal Season 3 trailer below.
Now, let us know, what you are most intrigued to see on the new season as WWE takes you behind the scenes of the creative decisions that led into WrestleMania 42 and more via the comment section.
Recaps
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW: Seth Rollins Challenges Roman Reigns at SummerSlam with Deep History

Two former teammates, two bitter rivals with unfinished business, was the voiceover call from WWE legend Michael Cole as Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns stood toe to toe in the ring after the OTC Tribal Thief accepted Seth Rollins challenge for a WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at SummerSlam.
The moment went down during the closing segment of the June 29th edition of Monday Night Raw on Netflix. After Roman entered the ring with his now sidekick, Jacob Fatu, he was interrupted by Seth Rollins’ theme music of “Burn it Down.”
Right from the start, Rollins brought up their now legendary rivalry that has gone on now for almost 15 years when he took the mic, in what was to be one of Seth’s most effective and heartfelt promos of his career.

Courtesy/WWE
FROM THE SHIELD TO WRESTLEMANIA
The Visionary explained that despite everything Roman has achieved in WWE, there is still one thing missing from his resume: he has never beaten Seth “Freakin” Rollins. In fact, and in truth, Seth never lost the WWE World Heavyweight Championship which is now in the possession of the Tribal Chief. Seth had to vacate the title due to his shoulder injury which kept him out of action for 9 months.
Taking the viewers and the fans in attendance on a history lesson, Rollins explained how he took Roman’s wiseman in Paul Heyman, pulled off the ruse of the century with his Money in the Bank cash-in, and yes, betrayed Reigns with the infamous chair shot when they were both a part of The Shield with Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley, AEW) when they came up in this business together.
Seth also pointed out that time is moving on, and that the younger generation of superstars is coming up and there may not be much time left for them to face each other again. All that, leading to recent remarks said by Rollins which could indicate that a loss at SummerSlam may be the last match of Seth’s WWE career?
Reigns didn’t argue with that points made. He accepted the challenge saying he needs to beat Rollins once and for all for him, and for his family, and to “close the door on The Shield forever” at SummerSlam.
WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H announced on X that Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will headline SummerSlam 2026 for the World Heavyweight Championship, calling it “a main event 14 years in the making.”
That’s about right! We have been asking and begging for this match-up for years, and it’s finally in sight in four weeks time!
You can check out the segment between Seth and Roman as they come face to face on Monday Night Raw below.
Now weigh-in: are you excited to see Seth and Roman headline one of the nights of SummerSlam 2026? What did you think of Seth’s promo? Who do you think will come away the victor? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
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