Roman Reigns Delivers an All-Time WrestleMania Classic to Stun CM Punk for His 7th World Title Win

Roman Reigns is now a 7-time world champion in WWE. He outclassed CM Punk in a WrestleMania main event to remember for the years to come.

Roman Reigns Delivers an All-Time WrestleMania Classic to Stun CM Punk for His 7th World Title Win

Roman Reigns beat CM Punk for the world title at WrestleMania 42 [via- Athlon Sports]

Roman Reigns reclaimed the mountaintop of WWE at WrestleMania 42 in his record-setting eleventh main event match at the Showcase of the Immortals. He overcame an outspoken CM Punk to capture the World Heavyweight Championship and set off on his 7th world title reign in WWE. They beat each other up for over half an hour in one of the greatest WrestleMania main events ever.

Everything about Reigns vs. Punk clicked, which is a testament to their in-ring chemistry. ‘The OTC’ had a stunning prelude to his entrance music, and he got his original ‘Tribal Chief’ battle hymn back to everyone’s delight. Punk, on the other hand, had his Ring of Honor theme ‘Miseria Cantare’ playing as he was walking through the backstage area.

It was an ode to his days on the indies. Punk reverted back to Cult of Personality once he reached the entrance ramp. After having made their arrivals in epic fashion, Punk and Reigns talked trash to each other for about a minute after the bell rang. It’s remotely impossible to single out a handful of sequences that stood out from their bout, as there were a litany of those.

A few minutes into it, ‘The OTC’ hung his opponent in the Tree of Woe and landed a trifecta of Superman Punches on an upside-down Punk. Reigns even smashed Punk’s head with the steel steps, which should’ve ideally caused a disqualification, but the match referee didn’t call for the bell.

Michael Cole kept mentioning it on commentary that the referee knew the grandiosity of Punk vs. Reigns and hence gave a little leeway to let it go on. ‘The Tribal Chief’ then power-bombed ‘The Second City Saint’ through the Spanish announce desk to cause mayhem at ringside. Another newsworthy moment saw Punk grab the Ula Fala from one of the fans sitting in the front row and put it around his neck to mock Reigns.

Punk went for the spear but got caught by Reigns, who applied the guillotine choke on the 47-year-old. After having gasped for air, Punk got out of the predicament via a schoolboy roll-up for a two-count into the Anaconda Vice on Reigns. ‘The Best in the World’ even went low on ‘The Tribal Chief’ after distracting the referee momentarily. Punk hit the GTS too and went for the cover. But Reigns kicked out.

In a rare high-risk airborne attempt to render ‘The OTC’ impotent, the ‘Best in the World’ planted Roman Reigns with a diving elbow drop through the commentary desk. After sending Reigns back in the ring, Punk connected with another GTS, causing the former Bloodline boss to fall into the ropes and bouncing off them to land on Punk’s shoulders. The latter, however, all grizzly and worn out that deep into what had been a downright slugfest, tumbled as his knees gave up.

Roman Reigns speared a gingerly-moving CM Punk but couldn’t go for the cover. ‘The Head of the Table’ followed it up with a more intense, ring-ropes-assisted spear to pin the man who’s been a thorn in his side of late. It ended Punk’s world title reign at the 169-day mark at WrestleMania 42. He had previously defended the championship against the likes of Bron Breakker, Finn Bálor, and AJ Styles.

CM Punk’s WrestleMania attire for Roman Reigns clash paid tribute to several people

Apart from embracing his wrestling roots by coming out to Miseria Cantar, though briefly, CM Punk also wore a special jacket in his walk to the ring. It featured the names of several WWE family members and influences that are no longer alive, viz., Bo Leuders, Kerwin Silfies, Jim Shank, Davey Coates, and one of his all-time favorite wrestlers, Harley Race.

CM Punk wore a special jacket for Roman Reigns showdown at WrestleMania 42
CM Punk wore a special jacket for Roman Reigns showdown at WrestleMania 42 [via- Wrestle Features/@X]

‘The Cookie Master’ also didn’t miss out on remembering his beloved heavenly pet dog, Larry, who passed away last year. Speaking of the match he had with Roman Reigns, it’s being raved about all over the internet. The straight-up wrestling formula with absolutely no celebrity infusion did the trick, and the fans couldn’t have asked for more.

It was Punk’s first one-on-one main event match at WrestleMania. Even though he ended up losing it, the amount of time for which he kept pace with an athletically superior Roman Reigns was commendable. It’ll be very interesting to see what the future holds for Punk in WWE after such a setback.

As for Roman Reigns, he confirmed during the WrestleMania post-show that he’s going to be a full-time champion and the fans will get to see him a lot through the summer. Reigns will also be on Raw tonight. It could be turn for someone like Oba Femi to step up to Roman Reigns after having put away Brock Lesnar in under 5 minutes in his WrestleMania debut.

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