CM Punk And Kevin Owens Reference 20 Years Of History, Including ROH And AEW, On WWE SmackDown

Ishaan SharmaAugust 14, 2026, 10:42 pm

CM Punk and Kevin Owens exchange words before their match next week.

On the August 14 edition of WWE SmackDown, CM Punk and Kevin Owens came face-to-face again.

Both stars had a heated exchange with each other. Owens explained the cause of his 20-year dislike for Punk as well. He mentioned that he and Punk both wrestled for the same indie promotion (Ring of Honor) back then. Punk berated him in the locker room in front of other wrestlers. That was just one of the reasons Owens didn’t like Punk so much.

"You chose to berate me, insult me, and scream at me in a locker room full of my peers." 😳@FightOwensFight on his history with @CMPunk. pic.twitter.com/6snc1IcnHL

— WWE (@WWE) August 15, 2026

Another reason was how Punk treated Owens’ friends. Which ones? That’s exactly the question Punk asked him as well.

Owens: “The way you’ve treated people I care about, good friends of mine.”

Punk: “Oh, which ones? Think you’re going to have to be a little more specific. I’m pretty sure your friends hate me.”

Owens: “Hey, you might think I’m talking about only three of them, but every friend I have in this industry hates you. They see right through you.”

Punk: “Being hated by losers is a price I pay for not being one of them.”

This is getting INTENSE 👀@FightOwensFight | @CMPunk pic.twitter.com/KZiA2o6oDP

— WWE (@WWE) August 15, 2026

Later, Owens calls him a phony and says Punk only came back to WWE because he had nowhere else to go.

“You are a phony. The only reason you came back here and made everything right was cause you had no choice. Because the kind of person you are led you to screw things up everywhere else you went.”

Punk says he sees a tough guy in Owens, but also someone who doesn’t work hard to make himself better every single day. Punk says that he sees Owens as stupid and a waste of potential.

The Cult of Personality says he has evolved over the years and has worked to make himself one percent better every day.

Punk said, “If you would have done even half the work that I’ve done in my career, maybe you would have been able to avoid that Bill Goldberg spear that ended the last time you held a championship belt.”

Owens said he didn’t want to be like Punk.

“What I see when I look at you is someone who even though main evented WrestleMania, World Titles, all the money, when you go home, I’m convinced you look in the mirror and you hate what you see. I don’t. I love who I am. I am the same person you screamed at 20 years ago, and guess what? That fat indie loser is in the same ring as you and he’s facing you next week for the WWE Title next week.”

Owens says he has regretted not punching Punk in the face for 20 years. Punk dared him to do that right there, but Owens said he can wait another week.

These were Punk’s final words before the segment ended:

“Twenty years ago you were a greenhorn who stepped into my locker room and thought you could get away with speaking to me disrespectfully, and you’ve been crying about the consequences for twenty years. You wanna seven days? That’s fine by me. You say you never looked up to me? That’s fine by me, because in Toronto that’s exactly what you’re gonna do, when I put your fat ass to sleep.”