CM Punk Was Shooting From The Hip On Raw This Week, Brother... Sort Of (WWE News)

More on CM Punk's latest pipebomb.

WWE Raw CM Punk
WWE

With CM Punk going scorched earth on this week's WWE Raw, there are now more details on what the Second City Saint was instructed to discuss on Monday night.

For those who missed it, Punk opened Raw by taking shots at Roman Reigns, the Rock, the OTC's wider family, TKO, Pat McAfee, and even made reference to disgraced former WWE Chairman, Vince McMahon. Without hyperbole, it was one of the best promos of 2026 so far, and some would even call it one of the very best of the Straight-Edge Superstar's career - which is quite the statement.

Per Mike Johnson of PWInsider, there has not been any "fallout" behind the scenes to this promo, and CM Punk's words mirror some very real backstage frustrations among talent. The outlet has heard from several wrestlers who have been unhappy with WWE tickets continuing to be pushed at such a high price point, and those talents are likewise frustrated with the fact that there are still so many tickets still available for WrestleMania 42, and also unhappy that, despite there being so many available seats, talent are only allowed two comp tickets for the night that they are in action. Additional tickets are available to talent, but they would need to purchase those themselves.

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By all accounts, WWE had a plan for what they expected Punker to say on Raw, but he ultimately went out and cut a different promo that came more from the heart.

As it stands, both nights of WrestleMania 42 have sold in the region of 40,000 seats, with Allegiant Stadium set up to hold 45,000. Of course, that same venue hosted WrestleMania 41, where Night 1 brought in approximately 55,500 and Night 2 surpassed 60,000.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.