CM Punk‘s victory over Sami Zayn to win the Undisputed WWE Championship on this week’s edition of Raw was reportedly part of WWE’s long-term plans.
According to Fightful’s post-Raw show, WWE had been planning for CM Punk to dethrone Sami Zayn for some time, with the company aware of Punk’s return timetable well before he captured the championship.
“This was the plan all throughout that. They knew that they were leading to this. They always knew that Sami Zayn was going to drop this title to CM Punk because they have known when CM Punk was going to come back for a while, I believe,” the report stated.
False Finish has echoed that claim, reporting that Punk’s championship victory had been planned for more than a month.
“False Finish has learned that CM Punk winning the Undisputed WWE Championship and heading into #SummerSlam to defend it has been planned for well over a month,” the outlet wrote.
It Was Also Reported That WWE Originally Planned For CM Punk To Face Cody Rhodes For The Undisputed Title At WrestleMania 43
The report added that Punk had originally been scheduled to challenge Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh before WWE shifted its focus to making this year’s two-night SummerSlam in Minneapolis an even bigger event than WrestleMania 42.
While neither report has been confirmed by WWE, both suggest Punk’s title win was planned well before Sami Zayn captured the Undisputed WWE Championship at Night of Champions on June 27.
Punk is now expected to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, although WWE has yet to officially announce the match.
