Real Reason Why CM Punk Lost Undisputed WWE Title, Sami Zayn Plans Revealed (WWE News)
New details on why CM Punk lost the WWE Title last week.
With Sami Zayn having shocked the world by regaining the WWE Championship from CM Punk on last week's SmackDown, there's now some new information on Sami's big win.
Per Mike Johnson at PWInsider, WWE sources believe that part of the reason for Zayn taking back the WWE Title is to set up a match between Sami and Roman Reigns at WWE Crown Jewel in November. Crown Jewel will pit the WWE Champion against the WWE World Heavyweight Champion for the WWE Crown Jewel Championship. With Roman Reigns having retained his World Heavyweight Title against Penta in an excellent match on last night's Raw, that means that Sami and the OTC are currently lined up to face each other at Crown Jewel.
After taking place in Australia in 2025, Crown Jewel returns to Saudi Arabia this year, emanating from the Riyadh Season Stadium on November 7th. Of course, Sami Zayn is hugely popular in Saudi Arabia, and him walking in as the WWE Champion would certainly garner a major response from the Riyadh crowd.
For those who missed SmackDown, the main event saw Sami Zayn defeat CM Punk to become a two-time WWE Champion, complete with involvement from Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Kevin Owens. The finish came after KO accidentally hit Punk with the title belt after aiming for Sami, only for Owens to then get low-blowed by Zayn when he took a second swing at his on-off best friend, and the Underdog from the Underground then landed a Helluva Kick on Punker for the 1-2-3. Previously, it was the Second City Saint who brought Sami's initial WWE Championship run to an end at just nine days back in July.
As for last week's shocking title switch, speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that it was somewhat of a mixed reception backstage, noting that "there were certainly some people who were against" the idea of taking the WWE Championship off CM Punk and putting it back on Sami Zayn.