CM Punk and Kevin Owens face off ahead of championship match

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The CM Punk vs. Kevin Owens WWE championship match was made for Aug. 21 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and that meant they only had one more week to build to it on Friday Night SmackDown. So they booked another face-to-face between the two. Maybe they would talk the same shit to each other on mic that they did off mic last week? "You chose to berate me, insult me, and scream at me in a locker room full of my peers." 😳@FightOwensFight on his history with @CMPunk. pic.twitter.com/6snc1IcnHL — WWE (@WWE) August 15, 2026 They referenced that right away, calling back to it in a clever enough way. Then they got to the meat and potatoes of the whole issue, the root of the problem they have with each other. Owens brought up their history in Ring of Honor, which kickstarted the problem, and then said something about how he’s treated his friends. Punk asked him to name those friends. They were very clearly talking about The Elite here, and Owens copped to that by saying it wasn’t just those three friends but all of them. It didn’t get the shock value of actually name dropping them but they at least referenced Punk brawling with The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega. KO wanted Punk to say right to his face that he thinks he’s a fat slob fan who belongs on the other side of the guard rail. “Is that what I think of you, or is that what you think of yourself?” Finally, Punk played the same card he did with Eddie Kingston in AEW — he sees a tough guy in Owens but a guy who hasn’t lived up to his potential, that he could be great but he avoided the work and therefore he’s a bum. Owens has been waiting for 20 years to punch this man in the face. He’ll wait seven more, and take the title from him when he does it. Punk responded by saying he’ll put his “fatass to sleep” in Toronto. He said this on the mic, right in his face. Let’s get to the fighting, damn it. Get complete SmackDown results and coverage of this week’s entire episode by clicking here.