CM Punk Reveals If He Really Hates Roman Reigns

CM Punk shared his true opinions about his WrestleMania 42 opponent, Roman Reigns.

In the main event segment of WWE Monday Night Raw on February 2nd, the 2026 Men’s Royal Rumble winner, Roman Reigns, was in the ring weighing his options about which champions he wants to compete against at WrestleMania 42.

While Reigns was speaking about possibly challenging Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title or CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Champion, Punk made it easy for the Tribal Chief by confronting him in the ring.

What happened next was an explosive promo exchange where Punk took shots at Reigns for being a part-timer while Punk is here every week, and he’s a fighting champion. Reigns made the claim that Punk was wrestling so much because he felt bad about leaving WWE for a decade.

At the end of his promo, Reigns said that he’s picking Punk because he hates him, he’s always hated him, and WrestleMania will be the best day of his life because in the main event, Punk will acknowledge him. That’s when Reigns left to end it.

CM Punk Loves That He Makes His Opponents Emotional

Regarding the word hate that Roman Reigns used, CM Punk doesn’t seem to feel that way. However, Punk does believe he brings out the best in his opponents, as he told Kay Adams on Up & Adams.

“I don’t hate him at all. I’m the guy who gets under people’s skin. I can draw that out of him. I really make people step up and become the best version of themselves because they want to shut me up. I love that. If I can get him emotional, if you know you’re in their head, you can beat them.”

While CM Punk has to deal with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania and likely needs to deal with Finn Balor again, the US Champion Carmelo Hayes also wants to face Punk as well, which could be a big match in the future.