Roman Reigns: CM Punk Puts His Heart, He Puts His Soul & He Puts His Physicality On The Line

Punk became the topic of conversation.

CM Punk’s reign as WWE World Heavyweight Champion came to an end when he was defeated by Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 42 night two.

After capturing the title, Reigns stopped by the WrestleMania 42 Sunday post-show and was asked if he respects Punk. Below is his response:

“There’s a reason why in the UFC, after a big fight, you will see that respect that’s laid out, and that’s the thing, the fact that I’m out here as The Tribal Chief and I can still hear a couple people calling for CM Punk, you have to respect that. Do I respect the man and his personal life? I don’t know. But when it comes to when he steps into the arena, when the ring’s set up, when the pyro is gonna go off, I got a lot of respect for the man that steps into the arena and performs in front of all these people because he puts his heart and he puts his soul, he puts his physicality on the line. Do we see eye-to-eye? Hell no. Are we cut from the same fabric? Hell no. But at the same time, we’re a part of the same fraternity, just like you (Corey Graves), just like me and (Big) E. There’s very few of us. So, when you can go out there and you can main event and you can put it on the line and you can actually hold your own — CM Punk didn’t just run his mouth. He backed it up. He just ran into a better man today.”

Reigns is scheduled to appear on the Monday Night Raw following WrestleMania 42. He stated that he’ll be around all summer 2026.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit Fightful with an H/T for the transcription.