The go-home edition of Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania 42 wrapped with a final face-to-face between CM Punk and Roman Reigns, and Punk cut one of the most personal promos of his second WWE run, opening with the line “I hate you because I envy you” and walking Roman through a list of things he admitted he is jealous of before closing with a promise to walk out of Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night as “still” the World Heavyweight Champion.
Roman Reigns opened the segment demanding the Sacramento crowd acknowledge him. Punk came out through the crowd and said he was there to respond to what he called a political smear campaign in the cold open of the show. Punk said he was going to tell the truth and told the crowd to be his witnesses while Roman could be “the judge and the jury and the executioner.” Punk told Roman to tell him when he was telling lies.
Roman told Punk that if he got in the ring, they would not need the microphones.
“I hate you because I envy you”
Punk said the truth is that he hates Roman. Punk said he hates Roman because he envies him.
“This is all I ever wanted. This is the only dream I had in my heart since I was a little kid. And I envy the fact that it was handed to you, and I hate that you were champion for 1,316 days. Because after some self reflection, I hate that I know how hard you worked your ass off to be that great.”
Punk said in the history books in the future when they talk about legacy, they are not going to ask how, they are going to ask how many.
“I hate that number, 1,316. I hate the amount of times you’ve main evented WrestleMania. Tell me when I’m telling lies, Roman. Have I lied? I hate that I envy. I hate that I feel this way.”
Punk apologizes for invoking Sika’s name
Punk then paused the attack to apologize for a previous shot he had taken at Roman’s late father, Sika Anoa’i.
“Sika was a great man. Sika was a great wrestler. Sika was a champion. Sika is a Hall of Famer. And I love and respect the old timers. And I hate the fact that I invoked your father’s name in vain, and I sincerely apologize to you.”
“I wasn’t born on third base with a silver spoon”
Punk pivoted to his own origin story and contrasted it with the Anoa’i family dynasty.
“I hate that there’s more than one royal family in professional wrestling, and I hate that I envy the fact that I wasn’t born into a dynasty. I don’t know what having that kind of family is like. CM Punk was born in the backyards, avenues and alleyways of Chicago. I was a misfit who had to find my own family, and I found my family in the streets of Sacramento. I found my family in the locker rooms of every VFW hall or Knights of Columbus or dilapidated, burnt out Midwest barn. The Fireside Bowl, bowling alleys, abandoned churches. I found my family and my people on the indies, and I conquered the indies. And then I went to Japan. I went to England, I went to Puerto Rico. I went all around the world twice.”
“I wasn’t handed anything. I wasn’t born on third base with a silver spoon. I busted my ass, and I made pro wrestling my home, and I made them my family.”
Punk said he hates that he has to share anything with Roman, especially his first singles match headlining WrestleMania.
“Gold above my head”
Punk closed his portion of the segment with a prediction for Sunday night.
“On April 19, just like tonight, I got gold on my shoes. I got gold around my waist. And late Sunday night, after the desert sun is set and that dry air gets cold, and there’s going to be steam rising off of my beat up, blood caked face, I’m going to have gold above my head, and the ring announcer is going to be saying, ‘and still heavyweight champion of the world,’ with Las Vegas chanting CM Punk.”
Roman Reigns fires back
Roman told Punk that the truest thing he had said all night was about his connection to the fans.
“That’s probably the truest stuff I’ve ever heard you say, up until the end. Let me tell you something true. I hate you too. I’ve hated you for a long time, but the main reason is because of your relationship with all of them.”
Roman said he hopes that one day when he leaves, the fans will miss him as much as they miss Punk. Roman said he hopes that one day when he leaves, they chant for him for ten years straight.
“That’s the truest thing you got, is the connection that you’ve made with our fan base, and nobody can ever take that away from you. But on Sunday, that’s your truth. That’s not the reality. The reality is the time is up. I gave you two months to hold this relevancy, and you did nothing with it.”
Roman said on Sunday it is not “and still,” it is “and new.”
“This little nostalgia act, this experiment’s done. On Sunday, we fix this mess that you started. On Sunday, we make this place where we had it at the very top, worth every single dollar. On Sunday, the tribal chief takes back over, and you, along with the whole world, will acknowledge me.”
Raw went off the air with Punk and Roman face to face one final time before Sunday night. Click here for complete WWE Raw results.
What’s next: CM Punk will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns in the Night 2 main event of WrestleMania 42 on Sunday, April 19 from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on ESPN. The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony goes down Friday April 17 from Dolby Live at Park MGM Las Vegas, and the go-home SmackDown takes place Friday from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal set for the show.
