CM Punk defeated Jey Uso to capture the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This is his second time holding the title this year, including the unfortunate cash-in ruse from Seth Rollins at SummerSlam. Now, Punk is back on top. But this should be his last run as a WWE Champion.
CM Punk is one of the most popular wrestlers of recent generations. When he walked away from the business years ago, he left a hole that WWE – and wrestling overall – struggled to fill. All that changed when he walked back through that door as a member of the AEW roster. While there were some good moments there, things did not stay rosy forever. The story has been covered multiple times, but fast forward to 2025, and Punk is back in WWE and now holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
To make it clear why this should be Punk’s last run at the top, it has everything to do with his age and WWE’s need to freshen up the men’s division. Punk is 47 years old. He’s well past his athletic prime. And in the eyes of many, he’s well past his creative prime as well. Punk seems like just another part in the WWE creative machine that lacks the excitement or energy that keeps fans intrigued to tune in every week. His latest involvement with WWE, traveling to Saudi Arabia, didn’t help that perception either, drawing out disappointment from many who supported him the most.
Yet, that didn’t stop WWE from putting the title around Punk’s waist. It is a call that makes sense, especially with Seth Rollins’ injury. But that is the safe bet, and WWE is certainly taking the safe bet more often than not when it comes to its creative development, which has led to the stale nature of the product today.
Many hoped WWE would take the risk and put the title on Bron Breakker, giving the young star an opportunity to stand at the top. That wasn’t the case, and this CM Punk victory is the outcome of that. Now, WWE has a 47-year-old holding its biggest title. Hopefully, this is as much of a thought-out transition run as it could be because there are so many different ways the situation could have played out.