Roman Reigns is the betting favorite to beat CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania. But after Monday’s Raw, fans may want to consider putting money on the champion.
The Usos, Jimmy and Jey, confronted Punk and demanded an apology after Punk disrespectfully brought up Reigns’ late father last week. After some dancing around, Punk finally apologized.
Just not for what he said.
Instead, Punk said he was sorry for how Reigns treated the Usos and for past comments about Dusty Rhodes,
his mentor and the father of Punk’s friend Cody, calling him irrelevant.
Punk continued, saying Reigns fooled everyone into believing he cared about his family while treating Jimmy and Jey like nothing more than “young boys,” glorified lackeys. Having heard enough, Jimmy punched Punk in the mouth to close the show.
This was a stirring segment that not only escalated the drama for Mania but may have introduced a factor that could cost Reigns the title.
Last fall at Crown Jewel, Reigns told the Usos to stand down before his match with Bronson Reed. They interfered anyway, and Reigns lost. Tension between them has been slowly simmering since then.
After Jey failed in his quest to face John Cena in Cena’s final match in December, he made a telling comment to Jackie Redmond about his solo career and world title aspirations.
“Roman said it best. Them titles look best on his shoulders and not mine,” Jey said before walking off. Weeks later, he was back to teaming with his brother, winning the World Tag Team titles to close 2025.
At the Royal Rumble, Reigns blasted Jey with a violent punch as Jey tried to yeet during the men’s Rumble match. Reigns later eliminated “Main Event” Jey en route to winning his second Rumble match.
Reigns returns to Raw next week to begin a three-week run on the show. How he responds to Jimmy and Jey stepping into his business, while addressing Punk’s claims, could hint at who ends up with the world title at Mania.
Currently, BetOnline lists Punk as the underdog. Following Raw, though, he appears to be the one holding all the cards heading into Las Vegas. If the Usos poke their noses into Reigns’ business at Mania, it could spell disaster for the Tribal Chief, allowing Punk to leave Sin City with the gold around his waist.
