The drum beats of AFI’s Miseria Cantare echoed inside of Allegiant Stadium as CM Punk started his entrance for the most important match of his career on Sunday night at WrestleMania 42.
Those beats took me back to a small, stuffy gymnasium in the south suburbs of Chicago. As the beats thumped, I remembered the hum of the 100 people packed in and around basketball hoops and signs for summer camp at the park district venue that felt like the inside of a grill. Punk confidently strolled through the curtain to the roar of those hundreds. Sunday night it was thousands upon thousands, but it felt oddly similar.
Deep roots
For years in that gym, I watched CM Punk wrestle guys like The Briscoe’s, Colt Cabana, Samoa Joe, Jimmy Rave, and other top independent stars just like he did against Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 42. With something to say. With something to prove.
Make no mistake, CM Punk wrestled in the main event of WrestleMania 41 last year in Las Vegas. At WrestleMania 42 in the same wild city, he got what he always wanted, though, and those were two distinctly different things.
When Punk laced up the boots against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat Match at WrestleMania 41, it was the Saturday night main event and wouldn’t have been considered as such just eight years ago. Still, a main event is a main event and if you’re in the last match on a show, you’re in the main event. Let’s move on.
Not a stranger
The thing is, CM Punk had been in the “WrestleMania Saturday” main event before. That’s the co-main event on most other WrestleMania cards. Up until last year, he knew that spot well.
Would Chris Jericho vs. CM Punk for the WWE Championship have held down the main event of WrestleMania 28 if it was two nights? Probably. What about Punk vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 29? Main event? Yep.
Wrestling in the main event at WrestleMania is a label. One that Punk certainly wanted, but not without a bigger and more important one behind it. One that’s only two words. The guy.
CM Punk’s career narrative isn’t about the main event of WrestleMania. It’s about being positioned as the top star in WWE. Punk wanted to be at the top of the biggest wrestling company in the world. For most of Punk’s run, that label meant the main event of WrestleMania, so that larger goal manifested as such.
Mission accomplished
CM Punk was a WrestleMania main event talent last year, but this year at WrestleMania 42, he truly achieved the spot he coveted most. At WrestleMania 42, Punk reached the pinnacle of his career. He actually grabbed the brass ring he famously said was imaginary and delivered in the spot and on the stage he always wanted.
The Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk match at WrestleMania 42 was positioned as the biggest match on the show since it was announced after this year’s Royal Rumble event. Since then, Punk and Reigns built their feud in main event segments during WWE’s biggest show of the week and were the main reason to buy a ticket to the show or attempt to figure out how to watch it for $30 on ESPN Unlimited. That’s the stage that Punk obsessed over. That was the goal. That’s the real top spot. The best label. He got there.
Punk wrestled the match against Reigns like he was 25 years old. He didn’t get stronger or move quicker, but he threw real 47-year-old caution right to the wind. Punk took harsh bumps, jumped off of high things, and had the Allegiant Stadium crowd eating out of the palm of his hand just a few minutes into the match.
The tone of Punk’s WrestleMania 42 performance was identical to the tone of his matches all those years ago in the sweaty Chicagoland gym. It was rooted in a “watch this” attitude that’s synonymous with the CM Punk character and man. Just like back then, in the main event this year, Punk had plenty to say and plenty to prove. Years of frustration and yearning wrapped into each vicious bump he took in front of over 50,000 strong. With the stellar match he had, not only did he prove himself right after years of trying, but he proved doubters wrong too. Triple H? It’s poetic that Punk ended up being the guy who saved WrestleMania 42 for him. Who would have thought? Well, Punk.
When Punk verbally destroyed WWE on the Art of Wrestling podcast after he left the company in 2014, Punk infamously said “I needed the experience of a main event at WrestleMania with somebody who is equal or better than me so I could learn. So I could further become an asset to the fucking product. So I could draw more instead of always being told ‘well, you’re not a draw.’ ‘How do you know? Why don’t you give me a fucking shot?’ And anytime they did give me a fucking shot, I knocked it out of the fucking park, ran, caught the ball myself and then shoved it down their fucking throats to remind them, yes, I am all that, and then some, and more.”
The guy
WrestleMania 42 was the biggest home run of his career and he caught that ball too. Punk demanded the top spot in the WWE for over a decade and he made good on why he always deserved it with the match he had at WrestleMania this year.
Good for Punk. That’s a pretty damn cool story.
Not only did he get the spot he always wanted, but he knew enough and was smart enough recognize and embrace it. He delivered. The match he had against Reigns at WrestleMania was a performance that only “the” guy in the company could pull off.
What grade did you give CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42? Let us know in the comments!
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