CM Punk And Roman Reigns' WrestleMania Feud Is Hitting Hard, And There Are A Few Specific Reasons Why

There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding next month’s WrestleMania 42, but the main event match between World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Royal Rumble winner Roman Reigns is shaping up to be an all-timer. The hotly anticipated match between two of the most polarizing figures in modern wrestling history is headlining WWE’s return to Las Vegas, and these two are already off to the races.

Though they faced each other (and Seth Rollins) in the triple threat that headlined WrestleMania 41 Night 1 last year, their one-on-one bout at the upcoming WWE event feels different. It feels bigger (not just because it’s for the title), more heated, and a whole lot more real. It’s been one of the hardest-hitting feuds in WWE since it started a little more than a month ago, and I cannot wait to see where this goes.

The World Heavyweight Championship Is On The Line, But This Goes Deeper Than That

This match is technically for the World Heavyweight Championship, but it’s so much more than that, and you can feel it. Championship matches are nothing new for WrestleMania (we have two Royal Rumble matches and two Elimination Chamber matches each year to determine No. 1 contenders), but this feud between Roman Reigns and CM Punk feels like something that has been in the making for years.

From CM Punk seemingly throwing Reigns under the bus in his notorious The Art of Wrestling interview with Colt Cabana back in 2014 and inadvertently getting the fans to turn on WWE’s up-and-coming superstar of the next generation, to them butting heads at WarGames back in 2024 to their show-stealing match at WrestleMania 41, this is a collision course a decade-plus in the making. Sure, having a belt on the line raises the stakes, but this is about the past, present, and future of the business, not just gold around the victor’s waist.

Punk And Roman Aren’t Afraid To Get Personal, And It Feels Real

Though it feels weird saying this, wrestling is at its best when it feels real, and we’re getting that with Roman Reigns and CM Punk’s current feud heading into WrestleMania. Whenever these guys are in the same place at the same time since Roman stamped his ticket to the “Showcase of the Immortals” in late January, they haven’t held back and haven’t been afraid to get personal.

Much like CM Punk’s feud with Drew McIntyre (which resulted in a rare five-star match for WWE) or Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart back in the ‘90s, the current WHC program makes it feel like Punk and Roman genuinely can’t stand one another, despite being Zebros in the decorated Zootopia 2 a few months ago.

I didn’t think it could get more heated than Roman telling Punk he challenged him at Mania because he had always hated him for making his life so hard when he was getting started. But then came their most recent back-and-forth, where the champ told the challenger he was going to bury him next to his dead dad. Now I have no idea how intense this could get.

Honestly, I don’t know how any other match on the WrestleMania 42 card can compete with the banger these two are about to give us, but I guess I’ll have to watch with my ESPN Unlimited subscription to find out next month.