CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship for the second time in 2025. (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images)
Getty Images
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event wasn’t supposed to feature Jey Uso vs. CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship, but unforeseen circumstances led to it happening anyway.
Then-title holder Seth Rollins suffered a major shoulder injury at Crown Jewel last month and underwent surgery, so Raw General Manager Adam Pearce was forced to strip Rollins of Raw’s world title. Not only did Rollins’ untimely injury lead to the premature dismantling of The Vision, but it resulted in Jey Uso winning a battle royal to earn a shot at CM Punk, who had already cemented himself as the No. 1 contender with a triple threat win over Uso and Knight the prior week.
Obviously, WWE had to go back to the drawing board once Rollins was injured, and that led us all to Saturday Night’s Main Event, where Uso and Punk looked to reclaim the World Heavyweight title that they both had previously lost in 2025.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Results for CM Punk vs. Jey Uso
WWE could have went one of two routes at Saturday Night’s Main Event: Put the World Heavyweight Championship back on Jey Uso as the latest step in The Bloodline saga, or give CM Punk his first real world title reign in more than a decade.
The ultimate decision? Punk defeated Uso with a pair of back-to-back GTS finishers to capture the world title for the second time this year. In a match that was expected to feature plenty of outside interference, there, well wasn’t. Punk won as clean as a sheet, capping off a better-than-expected counter between two of WWE’s biggest babyfaces.
Some of the biggest highlights and takeaways from Jey vs. Punk at Saturday Night’s Main Event were:
- The match started off as a standard wrestling match for the first few minutes. Then, the action picked up when Punk hoisted up Uso for a GTS, only for Uso to narrowly escape.
- Eventually, Punk blocked a spear attempt by Uso, but Uso quickly rebounded. Punk missed a dropkick and Uso got a nice nearfall with a jackknife cover. Punk was able to get up Uso and hit him with a GTS, but Uso’s momentum took him to the floor so Punk was unable to attempt a pin.
- Back in the ring, Punk went for a superplex, Uso blocked it and knocked Punk off the top rope. Uso took down Punk with a series of punches and then a running corner splash. Punk countered into a GTS attempt, and then Uso countered with a superkick and a spear. Uso went for the top rope splash and nailed it, but narrowly kicked out at two.
- Uso went back to the top rope, but Punk climbed up as well and hit the superplex this time. Punk and Uso exchanged blows to dueling crowd chants. Punk hit a running kick and summoned the crowd to cheer for him. He hit his patented running knee followed by a bulldog.
- Uso was able to hit Punk with a dive on the outside and then destroyed Punk with a spear through the barricade near the announce table. Back in the ring, Uso went for a splash again, but Punk blocked it and hit the GTS. But it only got a two-count as the fans in Salt Lake City went bonkers.
- Uso hit Punk with a GTS and then Punk hit Uso with a spear as each star stole a page out of the other’s playbook. Punk tried for GTS again and nailed it, then Uso collapsed back onto Punk’s shoulder’s. Punk went for it again, but Uso countered into a sleeper hold as Punk fought to avoid the submission.
- Punk reversed the sleeper into the Anaconda Vice as Uso reached for the rope. He eventually got to the rope to break the hold. Uso nearly stole a win with a crucifix pin and then hit a pair of superkicks. Finally, Punk hit Uso with a kick to the jaw and a GTS. Uso ricocheted off the ropes and into another GTS. Punk pinned him for the 1-2-3 as the crowd erupted.
Punk had previously won the World Heavyweight Championship by beating Gunther at SummerSlam, only for Seth Rollins to immediately cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and take it from him.
WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event Results for CM Punk vs. Jey Uso
WWE’s Survivor Series card and long-term plans were both thrown into disarray when Rollins was injured, and Punk’s victory at Saturday Night’s Main Event provided some clarity about where all of these stars are headed.
With Rollins now likely to be out beyond Wrestlemania 42 next year, WWE opted not to have the World Heavyweight Championship as the focal point of The Bloodline’s issues. Now, Punk is holding that title, and as is the case with Cody Rhodes on SmackDown, Raw has a beloved babyface who can cut a stellar promo holding its most prestigious title.
That opens up a lot of possibilities for Punk to face some improbable challengers, like Rusev, or familiar faces, such as LA Knight, in the months ahead. Short-term, however, Punk, Roman Reigns and the Usos are still all fan favorites while The Vision’s Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker are wreaking havoc on the red brand.
Although Rollins’ absence caused some alterations to the Survivor Series: WarGames card, there are still four weeks left for WWE to book that quartet of babyfaces (with possibly another addition) in a WarGames match against Breakker, Reed and a few other heels. WarGames matches tend to have layers of storylines, and although The Bloodline messiness sure feels like a retread, there will still be fan intrigue about a group consisting of Reigns, the Usos and Punk that can’t quite get along.
That’s likely where this is headed, even with Punk now holding the World Heavyweight Championship after Saturday Night’s Main Event. While WWE is missing a big piece in Rollins, it still has enough pieces left to play a nice game of chess heading into Survivor Series later this month.