WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray has shared his critique of the main event of Saturday Night’s Main Event, arguing that it was the wrong time and place to crown CM Punk as the new World Heavyweight Champion. Punk defeated Jey Uso on Saturday to win the title, which had been vacated due to a severe injury to Seth Rollins.
Speaking on “Busted Open Radio,” Bully Ray explained that while the match was “fine” and there was “no negative” to the outcome, the moment itself lacked the magnitude that a CM Punk title win deserved. He felt the booking was a reactionary move to Rollins’s injury rather than a climactic, planned-out payoff.
“It didn’t fit. Listen, everything went fine. Everything was good, everything worked out. No problems. They put the championship on Punk. There’s no negative to what they did. But it just didn’t feel like a big deal. Yes, the fans were happy; yes, the place popped. But it just didn’t feel like a a win that really, really mattered. It felt like a win because they had to do something based on what happened to Seth. And I think subconsciously that’s in the back of everybody’s minds.”
“It felt like this moment was to come down to him and Seth Rollins again. We never expected the injury, and then this to come down to Jey vs. Punk, two babyfaces. Two guys that kinda like each other. So there wasn’t that. I mean, it was a good wrestling match.”
Bully also criticized the babyface-vs-babyface dynamic for lacking traditional storytelling heat, suggesting one of them should have used heel tactics to create a real obstacle for the winner to overcome.
“No matter if it’s Jey Uso vs. CM Punk or any other babyface vs. baby face match, it’s not easy to go out and do. Because when it’s babyface [vs.] baby face, not every guy is going to be loved by every person in the arena… from what I understand about pro wrestling and what I know works, is in every babyface vs. baby face match? Eventually one of the baby faces gets frustrated and relies on a heel tactic.”
“I would’ve loved to have seen Jey Uso assume the heel role… We got a straight-up match, we got a straight-up winner. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s totally fine. But then you get the reaction that you got, which was good. It was a good reaction to CM Punk winning. And now, [non-chalantly] ‘Okay. CM Punk is our champion. Moving on, moving forward.”
He concluded that Punk, much like Dusty Rhodes, “never needs a championship” and that a Jey Uso win would have felt like a “placeholder” reign.
