January 1, WWE Championship SHOCKER: Beloved Underdog Dethroned After Just Nine Days

Wyatt’s Take

• CM Punk returned to WWE and crushed Sami Zayn’s championship dreams in front of his own Chicago crowd — proving once again that opportunity doesn’t wait for anyone in this business.
• Over in AEW, Kenny Omega took the belt from MJF after an all-out brawl that showed exactly what champions are made of — grit, timing, and zero excuses.
• Sheamus hung up his boots after 16 years of delivering for WWE fans, walking away on his own terms while the suits in corporate probably hoped he’d forgotten how to count contract days.

Professional wrestling delivered the kind of week that usually only comes after a major pay-per-view. Both WWE and All Elite Wrestling saw their top championships change hands as the companies gear up for their biggest summer events — SummerSlam and All In.

CM Punk stormed back onto WWE programming during “Monday Night Raw” and walked straight into an Undisputed WWE Championship match against Sami Zayn. Cody Rhodes was supposed to be in that match until Gunther took him out.

Zayn thought he’d caught a break until Raw general manager Adam Pearce announced a replacement. When Punk’s music hit in Chicago, the arena exploded.

Punk and Zayn delivered one of the best TV matches WWE has put on all year. When the final bell rang, it was Punk holding the championship belt, ending Zayn’s run as champion after just nine days.

Later in the week, WWE booked Punk and Rhodes for a title match at SummerSlam. But first, they’ll have to work together against Zayn and Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City.

Over at AEW’s “Dynamite,” MJF defended his AEW World Championship against Kenny Omega. The stakes were brutal — if Omega lost, he’d never get another shot at the title.

It was the same kind of stipulation that Rhodes dealt with during his AEW days and that “Hangman” Adam Page faced in his own match against MJF earlier this year, which he lost.

AEW regularly puts on pay-per-view-level main events on “Dynamite,” and Wednesday’s title match was no exception. MJF and Omega showcased exactly why they’re considered among the best in the business.

MJF went crashing through the announce table and tried to use the Dynamite Diamond Ring to steal another victory.

Will Ospreay, who has a guaranteed title match at All In, stepped in to take the ring away from MJF before he could use it — but nearly cost Omega the championship in the process. MJF hit Omega with a low blow and the title belt while the referee was distracted kicking Ospreay out of the ring area.

Omega kicked out when the referee only counted to one.

The Florida crowd was on fire. MJF, seemingly battling through a knee injury, threw everything he had at Omega.

It wasn’t enough. Omega hit MJF with a series of V-triggers and a One-Winged Angel to finally put him away.

He captured the championship and began his second reign as AEW world champion.

There are plenty of unknowns in pro wrestling despite the scripted nature of the shows. You never know who’s going to return, who’s going to be sidelined, or who’s really going to win when it all comes down to it.

What we do know is that August is shaping up to be spectacular. SummerSlam and All In are building toward must-watch events.

Each show has been a slower build than what most fans are used to, but both promise high-level drama and intrigue. Don’t discount that fact as the weeks roll by.

“Hangman” Adam Page returned to AEW programming after being away for months following his world championship loss to MJF earlier this year. Dressed in a black suit jacket, Page walked down the entrance ramp to a roaring crowd.

He opened up about dealing with cervical radiculopathy, which kept him out of the ring for nearly four months. He talked about his gardening hobby and planting seeds, then told the crowd he wanted to plant one more seed.

He recalled putting his shot at ever challenging for the AEW world title again on the line against MJF — and losing the match.

Page vowed he would be “a man of my word.”

“I know the stipulation, it doesn’t live signed in ink on a contract filed away in a filing cabinet somewhere, but it does live in me. And I wanted to let you know that I intend to be a man of my word. I will never challenge for the All Elite Wrestling men’s world championship again.”

He suggested he took inspiration from Omega’s title win and that he sees “miles and miles of empty track” before him. He called out TNT champion Kevin Knight, national champion Mark Davis, continental champion Jon Moxley and international champion Kyle Fletcher.

“I’m going to have to find something else to do and you bet your a– I will.”

Welcome back, Page.

Sheamus made his WWE debut in 2009 — first appearing on ECW and later Raw. He immediately became a real threat to John Cena and shockingly captured the WWE Championship against him at TLC in December of that year.

Time flies.

Sheamus became a four-time WWE champion, three-time United States champion, five-time tag team champion and the winner of the King of the Ring, Money in the Bank and Royal Rumble. In the latter years of his career, injuries slowed him down, but he got one final moment with Cena in the ring at Madison Square Garden before Cena retired.

Reports surfaced during the week that Sheamus’ contract was expiring and that he would be leaving the company. He seemingly confirmed the reports when he changed his social media profiles to his real name, Stephen Farrelly, and fired off a farewell message to fans.

“Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Banger after Burger after Banger after Banger after Banger after,” he wrote on X, “slán mo WWE chaired.”

It’s unclear if this will be the end of the road in professional wrestling for the 48-year-old Irishman. But there will be plenty of opportunities inside and outside the ring for him moving forward.

It may lead to nothing and go largely unnoticed, but the interaction between CM Punk and Candice LeRae jumped off the screen during “Friday Night SmackDown.”

Punk finished talking to Cathy Kelley when he turned around to see LeRae and Johnny Gargano, who was still planking and not talking to anyone. Sami Zayn was the only person who Gargano seemed to be listening to — for better or worse.

LeRae offered a stark reminder to Punk after he beat Zayn for the title.

“I hope you’re proud of yourself. As annoying as Sami can be, he’s the only person who didn’t give up on Johnny. He’s actually the voice of the voiceless. And as long as Sami held that title, it was hope. Hope for the real underdogs. Hope for Johnny, hope for me, and you, stole that from us. So, yeah, I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

Punk responded the only way he could.

“I am proud of myself. You had hope for a whole nine days. Good for you. I hope you can hear me, Johnny Wrestling, because that’s who I remember. Johnny Wrestling. Not whatever this is. And you, too. Just stop whatever you’re doing and get back in the ring. Get back to doing what you two do best. Whatever this is, is not working.”

It had been quite a while since Baron Corbin had been seen in a WWE ring. But as he finished with Major League Wrestling (MLW), rumors were flying that his return to WWE was coming soon.

He made himself known to the roster on Friday night when he interfered in a match between Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes.

Corbin got into the ring and hit the End of Days on both Williams and Hayes. But the big question is why?

Why go after both guys who were putting on a stellar match? Was he back to challenge for the United States Championship?

And what did it mean for Ricky Saints who was watching the match intently?

We’ll have to keep watching SmackDown to find out.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s prestigious G1 Climax got started over the weekend in Chicago. Rocky Romero spoke to media about the event before the bell rang.

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling (MLP) will hit the airwaves this week when it debuts on TSN at midnight ET on Wednesday.

Rohan Raja spoke about MLP and why fans should tune in.

“I remember when we ran our first show a lot of fans, me, even if you go on Twitter and even news articles would report it, the quality is like an AEW or WWE product. It’s very top notch. We have Mauro Renallo as the voice of MLP. He’s on fire and he still does a lot of stuff like Jake Paul, he did Anthony Joshua’s last boxing match, Tyson Fury’s last match. We have all these star-studded guys.”

“How I kinda summarize it is it’s like a world’s collide but every week because we’ve had guys from AEW on there, we got guys from Japan, we got guys from Mexico, we got guys and girls from WWE who come on it. So, I feel like that’s the biggest thing where not only are they showcasing the Canadian talent but it’s showcasing everything. I feel like wrestling now, you do get glimpses of the worlds collide but I feel like we’re the promotion that’s had everyone — a taste of everything into one. With the TSN tapings and how that’s gonna go, it’s really just going to amp up what we’ve built and it’s something that you wouldn’t want to miss.”

Wyatt Matters

Professional wrestling reminds us that nothing lasts forever — not championship reigns, not contracts, not even the plans we make for ourselves. Men like Sheamus give 16 years to a company and walk away when the time’s right, no victim act required. That’s the kind of accountability and self-respect that built this country. Meanwhile, champions like Punk and Omega prove that when opportunity knocks, you better be ready to answer — because nobody’s handing out participation trophies in the real world.