RADICAN’S TAKE: Punk and Reigns promo exchange struggles to find balance in effort to arrive at a viral moment

As the build for the C.M. Punk vs. Roman Reigns World Heavyweight Championship kicks into full gear ahead of WrestleMania weekend, the focus of the promo exchange between Punk and Reigns on Raw this week seemed to be less about the storyline grudge between the two with the biggest prize in wrestling on the line and more about “breaking the fourth wall” and to shock fans to gain attention.

Reigns has gone out of his way to call Punk by his real name Phil, but Punk hasn’t returned the favor and referred to reigns as Joe on the mic. So, why does Reigns keep calling him Phil? Who knows, but I hope the payoff isn’t WWE telling fans on the next season of WWE Unreal on Netflix that Punk’s real name is Phil.

WWE is clearly trying to scratch that itch that they believe some fans have when it comes to believing they know when something is off script on a promo based on the content. Why can’t Reigns just call Punk by the name of his character as they build their grudge heading into their marquee match at WrestleMania? Imagine on your favorite show there was a big confrontation between two of the top characters and one of them called the other by their real name in the middle of a scene. It would never happen that way.

Punk did a good job of sticking to the storyline to build up the match on Raw this week for the most part outside of critiquing Reigns for his schedule. Reigns should have easily been able to combat that by talking about how Punk took his ball and went home when left the WWE.

Punk talked himself up nicely as being the champion that calls the shots on Raw on Netflix and he’s the reason Reigns lost his Wiseman. Roman then came at Punk with this weird speech about how “we” brought Punk back to WWE to fulfill certain roles, but not carry the company as world champion.

Who is the “we” Reigns is talking about? The intent here is for fans to believe that Roman pulled strings behind the scenes to bring Punk back into the company, but who did he work with to bring him back? The Final Boss? Ari Emanuel? Nick Khan? Triple H? All of the above? The question here is Reigns had said he resented Punk for leaving WWE previously, but didn’t say why, so why would he want to bring him back in the first place? It doesn’t add up.

WWE is into creating moments that go viral, but their storytelling is so weak they can’t draw upon the history between Reigns and Punk and why they hate each other. It should be a layup for Reigns to describe why he hates Punk just due to Punk taking Heyman from him, but that apparently wasn’t enough juice to create a viral moment from the Roman vs. Punk promo exchange.

Roman talking about how Punk is miserable and isn’t happy to be in WWE like he projects on social media isn’t a great way to build the match either. Who cares? I want to see these two fight for the biggest prize in the company on the biggest stage of WrestleMania. When it comes to the build to this match, I don’t really care how Punk feels behind the scenes and I can’t imagine many of you reading this do either.

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In WWE storylines, Roman has no power to book, so why was he talking like he had the power to not only get Punk signed, but also pimp him and make money off his name after he beats him after WrestleMania with a retirement tour.

Roman saying he will exploit Punk after he beats him for WWE’s financial game was an odd bullet point for his promo. What about making money together in Las Vegas? That’s where the focus of both men should have been – and they can still get there – but this game they’re engaging in of what’s going on behind the curtain isn’t going to build the match into a must-see event come April.

I thought Punk did a good job of pointing out that Roman doesn’t have any help anymore from his family, who from a storyline standpoint kept Reigns afloat as champion for a long period of time until Cody Rhodes finally beat him at WrestleMania 41. Punk pointing out that Reigns is alone heading into their match did a good job of spotlighting a big point of intrigue for fans heading into their match.

How is Roman going to win without help? Will Roman bring in some help during his match with Punk at WrestleMania this year to help him win? Those are some nice seeds that Punk planted during his promo exchange with Reigns on Raw this week.

The closing line of Punk’s promo left something to be desired. Sure, things got personal between Punk and Roman, but then at the end of the promo Punk promised to bury Roman next to his dead father. That felt heavier than the rest of the exchange and not exactly affirmation of Punk’s claim he’s not thin-skinned.

There was no reason for Punk to get that personal, but WWE wanted to create a moment that would go viral. They wanted to have another “moment” to showcase on social media to show fans just how personal things were between Roman to spike social media and YouTube views. The problem is that what Punk said doesn’t match the tone of the feud so far. The feud is personal, but it’s not THAT personal.

What Punk said about burying Roman next to his dad was personal and clips will go viral of people reacting to it with their eyes bulging out, but the problem is that those people that WWE are catering to aren’t making the trip out to Las Vegas this year to see WrestleMania, nor are they likely to go out of their way to watch on ESPN Unlmited.

I thought the promo exchange between Reigns and Punk had its flaws up to that point, but then Punk’s closing line about burying Roman next to his dad ended the segment on a down note.

(Sean Radican has been Pro Wrestling Torch for over 22 years. He has covered the independents, ROH, and NJPW in-depth over the years in addition to also watching all the major promotions in the U.S. PWTorch VIP members get access to his weekly Radican Worlwide podcast looking at a variety of news topics from the past week and then an in-depth Go-Home segment with a guest on a big topic of the week. You can contact him at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. You can follow him on X @SR_Torch and on Bluesky @SeanRadican.)