Bron Breakker will take on CM Punk when WWE kicks off Monday Night Raw for 2026. This match is for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but it is even bigger than that. Breaker versus Punk will set the tone for 2026, with the outcome either locking fans in with excitement, or pushing tired fans away with more of the same.
The WWE men’s division is stagnant. The main roster is packed with big names, but many of them are 40+ years old. Fans have long pushed the company to elevate younger men, and do so at a faster clip. Bron Breakker has pushed his way through, and at 28 years old he’s the youngest performer in the main event of the men’s division. As he steps into this match on January 5, taking a loss shouldn’t even be on the table.
In no world should CM Punk pick up a clean win over Breakker. He’s younger, faster, stronger and has been built as a destroying force long before he joined the main roster. Seeing him lose to a performer in Punk who is nearly 50 years old would cut into that presentation. It is time to crown the young and hungry star of the future, and that should happen without any interference or “Dusty finishes.”
That brings the conversation to another point. WWE can always lean on its typical, non-finish main event. Kicking off the New Year with a non-finish in its main event would be a slap in the face to fans who want to see the company do something different. One of the biggest complaints about WWE Creative is that the matches do not really matter. When the biggest matches are booked on regular shows, it is so easy to guess that they will end in some form of disqualification. Doing that with CM Punk versus Bron Breakker would not surprise anyone, and potentially push more away from the product as it grows more stale.
There’s growing speculation around the idea that Bron Breakker is the favorite to win the 2026 WWE Royal Rumble. That would put him in the WrestleMania main event, where he’d clearly win that championship in a crowing moment. But why should fans and Breakker have to wait? Why can’t WWE create an interesting angle with him as the champion now leading into that PLE? The Royal Rumble would be a great opportunity to get someone else over to have two major stars heading into the show. Think of someone like Oba Femi or Je’Von Evans picking up a surprise win. Fans wouldn’t expect that development and it would create some excitement when it is needed the most.
WWE needs a spark to kick off 2026. The anniversary of WWE’s debut on Netflix is shaping up to have some potential to be a show that generates some major interest. But there are a lot of eyes on the main event. Bron Breakker versus CM Punk should kick off one of those “new eras” that Triple H is always talking about. Only if WWE treats the moment right.