CM Punk apparently went off-script with one of his more colorful remarks about Sami Zayn ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship match on the September 11 episode of SmackDown.
Shortly before losing the title to Zayn in Mexico City, Punk delivered a backstage promo in which he mocked Zayn’s previous nine-day championship reign.
“If you think I came to Mexico City, where some of the greatest pro wrestling fans in the world reside, to lose my title to a guy who broke his hand jerking it to his nine-day fluke title win, then you’ve got another thing coming.”
The “jerking it” portion of Punk’s remark was subsequently bleeped out of the Netflix replay of SmackDown.
According to Fightful, the line was not listed on WWE’s internal rundown for the September 11 show, suggesting Punk added the remark himself rather than it being part of the material documented for the segment.
Punk’s comments proved somewhat prophetic in the wrong direction, as Zayn went on to defeat him later that night and regain the Undisputed WWE Championship.
The victory ended Punk’s reign after 67 days and began Zayn’s second WWE Championship reign of 2026.
"My name is CM Punk and I have approved this message" 👏@CMPunk is ready to defend the Undisputed WWE Title against Sami Zayn tonight! pic.twitter.com/rG4WlrT4iE
— WWE (@WWE) September 12, 2026
