Roman Reigns defeats CM Punk for World Heavyweight title at WWE WrestleMania 42
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.
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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.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.