WWE has a new world heavyweight champion at the top of the Monday Night Raw roster, and his name is CM Punk, who defeated Jey Uso at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event on November 1, 2025 to win the vacated title.
Let's break down what happened here, what led to all of this, and where things could be going next for the title scene.
How We Got Here:
Seth Rollins was very clearly planned to hold the World Heavyweight Championship heading into WrestleMania 42. That in and of itself is interesting, since his match at Mania 41 was not at all the original plan, nor was Jey Uso winning the World Heavyweight Championship from Gunther at the time. Plans change at a strange rate in WWE, but WWE let it be known from the night after WrestleMania that Rollins teaming with Paul Heyman and having Bron Breakker by their side as The Vision was the focal point.
Unfortunately, after winning the title following a faked injury, Rollins suffered a legitimate injury at WWE Crown Jewel, which forced him to relinquish the World Heavyweight Championship, right after CM Punk had already been booked to win a No. 1 contender's match.
The following week, Jey Uso won a battle royal to determine the other new No. 1 contender to face Punk and settle who the next champion would be, after those two (and LA Knight, who was just brushed asided, unfortunately) had been feuding with each other over their feud with Rollins and The Vision in recent months, because somehow, my friend being the enemy of my enemy makes him my enemy. Essentially, there could be only one person to beat Rollins for the title, and both wanted it to be themselves.
Match Details:
This was an even match, with both finding their way on top at various moments. One particular big moment was Jey spearing Punk through the security barricade. Punk somehow managed to follow that up with a GTS, but Jey kicked out. Punk tried to follow that up with a piledriver, only for Jey to hit a GTS on Punk, who then speared Jey in an exchange of reverse signature maneuvers.
Jey locked in a sleeper hold—which he used to defeat Gunther at WrestleMania 41 to win the World Heavyweight Championship a few months ago—and was reversed into Punk's Anaconda Vise, but Uso managed to reach the ropes. Eventually, it was another GTS that did the trick and put Uso down for a three-count.
Here are some clips:
Personal Reactions & What Happens Next?:
I'm not particularly a fan of going in either of these directions, as I think it would have meant more for Bron Breakker to become champion directly out of the Seth Rollins attack, rather than to go in a roundabout method (assuming Breakker just beats Punk for the title in the coming months). However, at least it went to Punk, rather than Uso, who I feel didn't have as many interesting avenues to go down creatively. I do still expect Breakker to be the champion, but whether that happens before or after WrestleMania remains to be seen. I'm not at all hyped about Punk fighting Roman Reigns or Brock Lesnar, if either of those are the plan, nor would a match against Breakker feel interesting since we've seen it enough times in recent months, but WWE clearly didn't have any of this planned, so it's hard to tell where their minds are at.
What do you think about our new world heavyweight champion? Who should beat him for the title and when? Drop a comment below with your thoughts, predictions, and fantasy booking ideas!