CM Punk captures WWE Championship from Sami Zayn on Raw

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The Unforgiven CM PUNK IS UNDISPUTED WWE CHAMPION!!!! 🏆 CHICAGO HAS ERUPTED!!! pic.twitter.com/FFKaN4zk7o — WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2026 Sean is a fan of quoting Unforgiven whenever we talk about who deserves what in professional sports entertainment wrestling. “Deserves got nothing to do with it.” Sean, and the movie, are absolutely correct; wrestling isn’t always fair. There are times when a deserving wrestler gets looked over or shafted despite everything they do in and out of the ring. Sami Zayn, one of WWE’s most consistent workers, finally achieved his WWE Championship goals nine days ago. Nine days later, he’s now a former champion. Life happens that fast. I’m conflicted here. For starters, Sami and CM Punk put on a fantastic match. This is what happens when two vets with decades under their belt get together. Punk loves working ‘80s style matches and Sami was the perfect opponent for that. Match made in heaven in more ways than one. But, and this is a pretty big but, I didn’t want Sami to lose. I had an inkling there was no way he walked out of Chicago with that championship the second Cody Rhodes went down due to “injury” thanks to GUNTHER attacking him earlier. That inkling turned into a prophetic vision the second Nick Aldis secured a replacement. Punk wasn’t losing a championship match in his backyard. Especially as the surprise opponent. Chicago might’ve burned that arena to the ground. That made watching the match bittersweet. It also made me question why give Sami the championship at all. Transitional champions are a thing. I get it. Sami, however, deserves more than that label. Losing the title this quickly, on a Monday night no less, makes me wonder if they only gave him the championship to get a rise out of the Saudi Arabia crowd. Which goes back to something I’ve written in this space before about WWE being more focused on moments than fully baked stories. That focus on the former shows up in little ways like GUNTHER and Nick, two cats not supposed to be anywhere near the building, somehow finding themselves backstage. For Nick, that means not being escorted out of the building despite being on administrative leave, while still maintaining the power to book matches. If son is on administrative leave, he should have no power to do anything except have a seat. Alas, it’s about the short game. That’s said because there was a moment during the match that showed me what a Sami Zayn reign could be about. I don’t mean his wrestling, or his mic work, but the story for his title defenses as long as he held said title. Sami Zayn with a GTS and CM Punk KICKS OUT!! 💪 pic.twitter.com/Pqn0JUHOgw — WWE (@WWE) July 7, 2026 Punk survived everything Sami threw at him, which frustrated the champ. Sami then slapped Punk multiple times while telling him that he gave it a good shot, but he is the champion. This is his title. Sami spoke those words like a man possessed and willing to do whatever it took to hold on to the thing that he worked so hard to get. How desperate would he get as those title fights became tougher? Would he crack under the pressure he put on himself? Would it change him? There’s something interesting about one getting something they worked their entire professional life to get. They either find out all that glitters isn’t gold, or it’s everything they dreamed. CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes. These guys know what it’s like to be on top. They expect to win championships and expect to win many of them. But a guy like Sami knows his chances are few and far in between. How would WWE look with a champion who never expected to be champion? Sadly, we may never find out. The territory has to do something with him now, and here’s hoping it’s compelling. We’re full steam ahead to Cody vs. Punk at SummerSlam, which once again puts Sami to sidelines. He deserves so much more than that, but deserves got nothing to do with it. B-Sides Random thought: It still bothers me when champions come out first! Maybe I am becoming the old man yelling at clouds but c’mon let’s make sure the champion(s) maintains the prestige. Two things about the tag team championship match. First, I really hope this is only a brief respite from a lengthy Street Profits title run. Seriously, they had the belts for all of five seconds before losing them to The Vision. Thankfully, it was an extremely controversial win, so the rematch seems obvious. Although thinking something is obvious is never safe these days. Two, I liked the bit where Logan Paul actually had two sets of brass knuckles. That was a smart bit of business that led to my third point. So yeah, I lied. Three: Maxxine Dupri is officially seeing things clearly now. Not only did she help The Vision regain the titles through hitting Angelo Dawkins with a huge low blow, but she officially joined the crew and made her relationship with Austin Theory official. Why she chose him? I have no clue. Especially since Paul Heyman keeps sonning him, even after winning gold. But this adds a new wrinkle to The Vision, so maybe this is a good thing. Speaking of Paul E…. The Vision delivered when their oracle gave them an ultimatum: Win or go home. That made it apparent a win was coming for the team who seemingly can’t get right. And he’s still unhappy with them. Even after their win, he gave props to Maxxine for doing something rather than Bron Breakker or Austin. Either way, they have to bring some credibility back to this team. I don’t know if Paul constantly undermining them does that, even though I find it hilarious. Sol Ruca retained her title because of course she should. Her match with Raquel Rodriguez never got into second gear. There were a few dope moments, like Raquel’s hellacious clothesline before an ad break, but they felt out of sync for the most part. Things picked up once the drama outside of the ring became business and business did what business usually does in wrestling matches. Roxanne Perez and Liv Morgan showed up to run interference, literally. Liv stopped a Sol Snatch right in its tracks, which led to IYO SKY coming out for a little vengeance. She took out Roxy and Liv, then distracted Raquel just long enough for Sol to successfully snatch her Sol. I’m not a huge fan of the spot where someone doesn’t see Sol out their peripheral or even feel her footsteps, which allows them to fall victim to her move. I get it needs a set up but it’s better out of nowhere within the flow of the match. The way it happened here is too scripted and breaks the reality for me. Speaking of breaking reality, IYO sat on top of the announce table celebrating while Liv, Raquel, and Roxanne sat dumbfounded below her. Why in the world were they not clubbing IYO? This Liv’s challenger at SummerSlam. The same challenger they beat mercilessly a week ago. I understand they were in shock from Raquel’s loss but that, again, felt too scripted. Oba Femi battled Paul E. on the mic this week in lieu of another Mano y Mano with Brock Lesnar. And you know what? It was meh. Paul’s schtick is far from uncharted territory these days, and Oba used multiple words when he only needed a few. He said Paul’s now reduced to being a mouth. And he understands mouths need to get fed. But the mouth can’t eat if there’s no head. Now, my guess is Brock=the head. If he takes out Brock, Paul doesn’t eat. But he tortured the metaphor like he was in a Saw movie. He eventually go to the point about Paul masquerading his fear. And if Paul is afraid, then that means Brock has something to fear. The segment picked up steam towards the end but that saggy middle stood out. And now we end at the beginning. Seth’s promo towards an absent Reigns was solid storytelling. Seth summed it up succinctly: Roman needs to beat him to prove he’s not a fraud. Seth needs to defeat Roman to prove hard work matters. Seth lamented Roman being the chosen one since they entered WWE. He ended The Shield to prove he was worthy of everything coming to Roman. And he took it personally when Roman said he doesn’t work as often as Seth but makes twice the money. It’s not entirely new subject matter for this feud since the whole point of the World Heavyweight Championship was to have a champion who worked a more traditional schedule than the Tribal Chief. Seth loathed the fact that Roman effectively held a championship hostage by not showing up to work. LA Knight interrupted Seth’s moment. Chicago ate up every word he threw at them with a passionate promo. Extra points for him imitating Seth and Roman giving each other props. Everything LA said felt like it came from a real place. He was incredibly hot at one time, only to have it taken from him. First by the Bloodline, then The Vision. He figured guys who get championship shots had to earn them through matches or tournaments, but Seth gets to just walk in the ring and claim it. This continues LA’s rebellion against management and the WWE system. Will it go anywhere? Hard to tell because the Bloodline is permanently a part of his life right now. Jimmy Uso attacked him during his promo segment, then Jacob Fatu blindsided him when he approached Jimmy. I expect LA to show up to SmackDown, since Jimmy and Jacob said that’s their next destination. This was a solid episode with a fantastic main event. While I hoped for a different outcome, that didn’t take away from the match quality overall. SummerSlam is taking shape and might be special. What say you, Cagesiders? Did Sami deserve better?

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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 6: CM Punk celebrates after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship Title during Monday Night RAW at Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. | (Photo: Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images) Before Monday Night Raw, I boldly predicted on this site that Cody Rhodes wouldn’t regain the Undisputed WWE Championship from Sami Zayn. It’s now Tuesday, and Cody Rhodes isn’t the champion. I told you so. But like WWE’s booking, I went 50-50, as I also said that Zayn would leave Chicago with the gold. Waxing poetic on why a prolonged run for Zayn was good for WWE and its fans, I wrote: “…Zayn brings uncertainty into storylines at a time when WWE’s booking seems predictable. The longer his run goes on, the more people may want to tune in to see who ends it, how, and when.” And then CM Punk happened. But first, Gunther happened. “The Ring General” came to Raw and injured Rhodes. What followed was a storyline for the rest of the show based on whether Rhodes would be able to wrestle. Once it became clear that Rhodes wouldn’t be cleared, the outcome seemed obvious, at least to me. “Punk’s taking his place and he’s winning the title,” I told my wife. Sure enough, that’s what happened, as Punk celebrated like it was 2011 all over again. Kudos to WWE on the misdirection. Most expected Punk to return to WWE in his hometown of Chicago following a months-long absence. But what no one predicted before Raw was that he’d end the night as champion. Unfortunately, my wife, a true Sami ride-or-die, believed until the very end that Zayn would somehow retain. “Why are you so sure he’ll lose?” she asked. “Honey,” I began to explain, “the Road Warriors had the chance to win the tag team titles in Chicago, their hometown. They didn’t, and it killed business for the NWA and WCW for years. WWE isn’t about to make the same mistake.” Granted, that was in 1987. Still, Windy City residents love their locals. If I wanted to go full mark, I could’ve reminded her how another promotion killed its business in Chicago after the owner fired Punk in his hometown, claiming Chi-town’s favorite son was so volatile, he feared for his life. Looking at the big picture, was putting the title on Punk the right call? The reality is he’s a huge star, bigger than Zayn. If his holding the title leads to WWE doing big business at SummerSlam, then yes, it was the correct decision. After all, that’s what matters. But smart business doesn’t always make for compelling TV. As a viewer who wanted something different, all I can do is wonder what a longer Zayn title run might’ve looked like. I still believe there was genuine intrigue in seeing how he’d fend off challengers and the lengths he’d go to keep the title. Even better, I can only imagine how hilariously entertaining his promos would’ve been, explaining how wrestling’s “Last Real Good Guy” had to resort to doing very bad things to hold on to wrestling’s richest prize. It’s there that I feel cheated. There was a chance to do something different at a time when that’s all anyone wanted. Instead, WWE took an unpredictable route back home to Predictableville. Which, again, is understandable. But interesting? Meh.