Look in his eyes! What do you see? CM Punk keeps losing on PLEs. No matter how many losses he takes, he is untouchable. However, that should not be taken for granted. Ever since 2025 began, CM Punk has lost at every single PLE. For someone who is a top star in the main event scene, that record is quite baffling. Granted, it is good for an experienced veteran like CM Punk to put talent over, but it should not be done at the cost of his credibility. Victories over CM Punk should be valuable, and those victories will lose value if he loses to everyone on big PPVs where the stakes are highest.
First, CM Punk lost the Royal Rumble. In retrospect, Jey Uso was an awful decision to win the Rumble. The Royal Rumble is a ticket to the WrestleMania Main Event, so it is not the match to take risks on wrestlers that are not yet ready for that pressure and spotlight. It should be a match for the established stars to solidify their spots at the top of the mountain after already doing the work throughout the year to connect with the audience. CM Punk, who never won a Rumble in his 30-year career, was the perfect choice, and WWE made it worse by booking Logan Paul to eliminate him.
Second, CM Punk lost the Elimination Chamber. In retrospect, John Cena was a solid choice to win the Chamber, as he was seeking his 17th World Title in the last year of his career and needed to be in the main event of Mania to finish that story and break Ric Flair's record. However, it was questionable as to why Cena needed to sell his soul to The Rock when he already won the Elimination Chamber without The Rock's help. If CM Punk won the Chamber match, Cena would have more of a reason to feel he needed The Rock to pull some strings that would get him to the WWE title match at Mania.
Then, CM Punk lost his first Mania Main Event. The fact that CM Punk had to bend a knee in acknowledgment of Roman Reigns to get his Mania Main Event was already ludicrous and the exact antithesis of his rebellious character. WWE also made the favor by Paul Heyman fall flat when it was revealed two weeks before Mania that Heyman would be at ringside in support of Punk over Roman instead of saving the surprise and revealing that at Mania itself. After that terrible chain of decisions, Seth Rollins was the best choice, but Punk was still robbed of a story in which he was destined to win.
Since returning to the WWE, CM Punk lost his very first WWE Title match to John Cena at Night of Champions. While the history between the two would justify them battling each other on this notable Cena farewell tour, it is befuddling as to why Punk was granted a title match in the first place after losing on every PPV before then. If WWE actually knew beforehand that this would be the WWE Title Match at Night of Champions, they should have had the foresight to give Punk a win on the road to Mania so that he would have the momentum to be a credible threat to Cena's title at that time.
More recently, CM Punk lost the first World Title he won since returning to the WWE in 5 minutes to Seth Rollins at SummerSlam via a surprise MITB Cash-In. Granted, Punk did defeat Gunther to win the World Title at that event, but he left the PPV a loser, just like he did on all the prior PPVs. It is understandable that Rollins is a curse for Punk, but Punk could have elevated that title to the next level and put over another rising talent down the line, such as Sami Zayn or LA Knight. The roster could have benefited significantly from his title reign due to his superior storytelling abilities..
Finally, CM Punk is inevitably going to lose the Fatal Four Way World Title Match against LA Knight, Jey Uso, and Seth Rollins at Clash in Paris because Seth Rollins just won the belt and is not losing it anytime soon. In fact, Rollins will likely drop the title to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, where Reigns will finally get his one-on-one victory over his Shield brethren and hold the title for another boring 1000 days. The WWE fans need to face the facts. Punk is not being booked as the "best in the world." Punk is being booked as a loser, and his momentum needs to shift before it's too late.
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