CM Punk returns, wins WWE Championship on Raw
CM Punk is not only back, but he’s now WWE Champion.
Punk, replacing Cody Rhodes, defeated Sami Zayn in the main event of Monday’s Raw in his hometown of Chicago to win his eighth world championship in WWE. The two had a classic back-and-forth main event but it was Punk who emerged victorious after hitting the GTS on Zayn.
After the match, Punk exited the ring and sat on the barricade, blowing a kiss in a callback to his infamous WWE Championship win at Money in the Bank 2011. He then walked through the crowd and posed with the championship as the show went off the air.
This was Punk’s first appearance since April, confronting Rhodes on the Raw after WrestleMania 42. There had been reports over the last several weeks regarding a return in his hometown.
Rhodes out, Punk in
A show-long storyline took place throughout Monday’s show when Gunther attacked Rhodes in the opening segment. Later backstage, Adam Pearce made the ruling that Rhodes was out of the match after doctors were reluctant to clear the number one contender. After Zayn was asked to react to the news, Pearce interrupted and said there would be a championship match regardless of Rhodes’ condition.
Nick Aldis, who is still on administrative leave but was backstage regardless, told Pearce that he had made a phone call and had the main event for tonight’s show secured.
Zayn had been champion for only nine days. He defeated Rhodes and Gunther in a triple threat match at Night of Champions, pinning Rhodes with a rollup.
Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.