Here’s what matters today in wrestling 👇
Image Credit: WWE
After months of speculation, CM Punk finally made his big return to Raw last night. Gunther slamming a car door on Cody Rhodes’ head allowed a title opportunity to fall out of the sky, and Punk took advantage of it to defeat Sami Zayn and become the new Undisputed WWE Champion. To be honest, I didn’t hate it! It was a good surprise for the audience, especially in Punk’s home market where he’s always the most popular person in the building. Sami Zayn has a gripe because he wasn’t preparing to take on CM Punk. Cody Rhodes has a gripe because Gunther slammed a car door on his head and doctors wouldn’t clear him for his scheduled title shot. Gunther doesn’t really have a gripe, but he’s convinced himself that he does and he’ll obviously go to great lengths to win the Championship. You’ve got a champion with three worthy challengers that people could see as champion, which is a great thing heading into a major event like SummerSlam, where you could run a Fatal 4-Way or have one of the challengers earn a title shot while the other two wrestle each other, or a three-way while Gunther wrestles Nick Aldis, or any number of things. Plenty of options here.
Not everyone is happy with the developments from last night. Some of them hate CM Punk with the fire of a thousand suns and aren’t happy he’s getting another run on top of WWE. I know those people are out there, I hear a lot of their carrying on, but I also watch WWE programming and see all these people out there that love CM Punk. I’ve also seen the guy cut good promos and have good matches since returning, and I haven’t been hearing anything about backstage issues. As long as Punk doesn’t start fighting random mid-carders for dumb stuff backstage again, I don’t see a problem here.
Others are unhappy because Sami Zayn got a nine-day title run and is now the Stan Stasiak of his generation. Last week we heard all the complainers about Sami being champion because he was too small or it wasn’t the right time, so this week we’ll hear from the other side. It is what it is. Sami even foreshadowed this sort of thing happening in his speech after winning the title, so he seems perfectly happy getting to have “Former Undisputed WWE Champion” in his profile forever. Hey, it’s not like I would have mentioned Stan Stasiak in any kind of article in 2026 if he didn’t hold the WWWF Championship for nine days. Hopefully Sami’s happy and getting paid well, if nothing else he should get to work with Punk, Cody & Gunther a while longer.
WRESTLING HEADLINES 👊🏽
•More Details On Sheamus' WWE Exit, Potential AEW Interest
Image Credit: WWE
After twenty years with WWE, Sheamus is on his way out of the company. He didn’t take the 50% pay cut. Twenty years is a pretty damn good run, and Sheamus did his fair share of cool things & had plenty of bangers. It’s a shame that he didn’t get to have a little retirement run, but injuries played a role in that and the most likely scenario was probably Gunther beating him again anyway. Sheamus is 48 years old and has spinal stenosis, but we’re still wondering where he’s going next. AEW seems like a fit, and his old tag team partner Claudio Castagnoli is right there. MJF has already been making grandstand challenges on social media, so one can assume that if Sheamus’s representation hasn’t already been talking to AEW they will be soon.
There’s some concern within AEW about Sheamus (and The New Day) coming in for the reason you’d expect some concern: if Sheamus comes in that’s one less spot for everyone else on a roster that’s already pretty packed with talent. Uncle Dave Meltzer mentioned in his screed on the matter that Sheamus isn’t much of a business mover, so you know somebody in AEW’s mentioned that to the decision makers. I’ll be honest, I just hope that Sheamus is physically capable of having all the great matches people say he’s going to have in AEW or CMLL or wherever. If he is, great, if he isn’t, I hope he’s done some great financial planning because not every 48 year old with spinal stenosis needs to be in the ring. Hopefully I’m wrong and we’re served plenty of bangers in the future.
Image Credit: AAA
Vikingo’s an interesting case in that he’s always been more popular with United States wrestling fans than he is in Mexico. He fits American beliefs of what a luchador should be, with the high flying & crazy moves you don’t see anyone else doing. A couple of years ago, everybody who saw him on US indy shows was begging AEW to sign him. Meanwhile, down in AAA the fans loved his moves but got tired of seeing him presented as Champion while not doing much other than having “great matches” with stars from other places. They even cheered Alberto el Patron over him, which is unthinkable to most American wrestling fans, but in Mexico they’ve grown up with Alberto as a star and he connects with them even if he’s a real life scumbag. Recent AAA has seen Vikingo still featured, but he’s been pushed out of the main event scene to give fans time away from the idea. Now they’ll have plenty of time to forget about Vikingo as a main eventer.
The obvious conclusion to draw from Vikingo’s injury problems in recent years is he needs to slow down. It’s not impossible, as I’m old enough to remember when Rey Mysterio Jr. needed to slow down and he’s still doing this stuff three decades later. They work for the same people right now, so hopefully Vikingo can get the advice he needs to hear and can learn from it.
MORE MUST-READ LINKS FROM 411MANIA
→Hall's WWE Monday Night Raw Review - 7.6.26
→Why Underdogs Matter: The Story of Sami Zayn
→411's WWE Greatest Moments Report: Stephanie McMahon
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– Steve Cook