WWE made a surprising title change when CM Punk defeated Sami Zayn to become the WWE World Champion on Raw this week. Zayn lost the title just nine days into his reign when Punk replaced Cody Rhodes as his challenger. Punk won the belt in front of his hometown Chicago fans and should now have a main event for one of the SummerSlam nights.
Top wrestling insider Sean Ross Sapp and his Fightful site revealed that NBCU wanted Punk on Smackdown in a top spot as the champion:
“Fightful Select has learned that CM Punk is expected to have a lengthy reign, most of which will be taking place on SmackDown. NBCU has been pushing for his presence on the show for well over a year, as they view him as a premier star. He will make Raw appearances when needed.”
NBCU runs the USA Network and influenced WWE to move him from Raw to Smackdown. Punk is slated to have a long reign as the top champion and will be marketed as the face of Smackdown moving forward. Fightful added that Raw will also have Punk appearing when they need him, even though that goes against the rules of the brand split.
WWE Also Had No Faith In Sami Zayn
The other end of this story focuses on Sami Zayn and how he barely got to hold the top prize after finally winning it. Zayn had multiple viral videos celebrating his title reign and had another one this week for venting in anger, while cursing out Punk.
Longtime wrestling insider Dave Meltzer confirmed Zayn was never meant to have a long reign due to WWE not viewing him as a star:
“Sami Zayn was never going to be the champion that people that were really happy that he won wanted him to be, it was never going to happen. I mean, the big question was, was it going to be nine days or was he going to be three weeks or was it going to be a month, and it was nine days.
(The world titles) really are in the hands of the people who the perception is are the money players and Sami’s not in their mind one of those people, he could’ve been.”
Zayn was not considered someone capable of being a “big money” player on the same tier as Punk, Rhodes, and Roman Reigns. In fairness to Zayn, his storyline with Reigns drew big money a few years ago, but WWE clearly didn’t believe in that today.
Zayn’s Win Was Part Of Cody Vs Punk Story
The title reign of Zayn was mostly done to have Rhodes lose the title and to put it on Punk without having them face each other. Most are expecting Cody to challenge Punk for the title as one of the SummerSlam main events.
WWE clearly just wanted to change the title and craft a new story without having them face each other before the PPV. Fightful’s report about Punk having a lengthy reign means that he’s most likely to retain against Rhodes. Some fans are hoping for a Punk heel turn after he paid tribute to the late Hulk Hogan with some of his heel gestures after the title victory.
Major Reasons Revealed For CM Punk’s Shocking WWE Title Win