CM Punk, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn deliver ladder promos on SmackDown

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I truly believe the Money in the Bank contract is a played out gimmick WWE would do well to get away from in the near future. But one thing about it that consistently entertains me, for reasons I cannot fully articulate because, quite frankly, I don’t understand them, is that we always seem to get the incredibly goofy visual of wrestlers standing atop ladders to cut promos on each other. They did the same for this year on Friday Night SmackDown this week when CM Punk, Kevin Owens, and WWE Champion Sami Zayn climbed to the top of three ladders set up in the ring to hurl insults at each other. Now THIS is a staredown! 👀@CMPunk | @FightOwensFight pic.twitter.com/CoWSOrPXAn — WWE (@WWE) October 10, 2026 Punk’s talking points revolved around winning the contract for a third time at his advanced level while Owens pushed back against the idea of his ever winning another title. KO has business to take care of with Zayn, and he’ll use the contract to do so. Zayn, meanwhile, told them neither will win because they simply aren’t in the right headspace for it. No matter what happens, though, he will be the WWE champion, same as he is right now. Strangely enough, they didn’t bring out any of the other wrestlers involved in the match, despite advertising them for a segment previewing the ladder match and all of them being in the building. Maybe later. Get complete SmackDown results and coverage of this week’s entire episode by clicking here.