This Week's Raw Almost Got SERIOUSLY Dark For CM Punk (WWE News)
Roman Reigns was originally due to mention Larry on this week's WWE Raw.
After this week's WWE Raw ended with CM Punk punching Roman Reigns after the Tribal Chief had called Punk old, some fans felt it was a little underwhelming that a dig at his age would be what pushed the Second City Saint over the edge. However, it appears that this segment was originally going to be a lot darker than what we ultimately got.
Of course, two weeks ago, we saw CM Punk shockingly say how Roman "won't be alone anymore... because I'm gonna bury you next to your father," referencing Reigns' legendary father Sika of the Wild Samoans, who passed in June 2024 at the age of 79. With the OTC absent from last week's Raw, Punk was confronted by the Usos, as Jimmy and Jey demanded an apology for those comments.
So, with it announced ahead of time that CM Punk and Roman Reigns would both be at this week's Raw, fans were expecting a brutal dollop of payback from Roman, be that physical or verbal. Instead, in a slightly flatter interaction than their previous exchanges, the segment concluded with Reigns calling Punk old, Punk decking his WrestleMania 42 opponent, as security broke things up, and Roman smirked.
As some fans had speculated about ahead of this week's Raw, Cory Hays of Bodyslam.net has confirmed that this latest segment was originally meant to have Roman Reigns reference Larry, CM Punk and AJ Lee's dog, who sadly passed away at the end of last year.
Sources indicate to Bodyslam that last night’s promo segment was not the original creative direction for the segment.
The original creative direction would have seen Roman Reigns respond to CM Punk talking about his father 2 weeks ago with a response about Larry.
Instead,… pic.twitter.com/qfbFmtmNgLAdvertisement— Cory of Bodyslam.net (@Cory_Hays407) March 17, 2026
Whether wrestlers should be bringing up deceased relatives or deceased pets is questionable in itself, but it very much felt like the Roman Reigns character referencing Larry would've been on brand for the Head of the Table in response to his dead father being brought into this.
With there four more Raws between now and WrestleMania 42, including three advertised Roman Reigns appearances, it remains to be seen whether Larry will be brought up at some point before the Showcase of the Immortals rolls around.