Summary

Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk in the WrestleMania 42 Sunday main event to win the World Heavyweight Championship after a long, violent match that saw both men survive multiple finishers and submission attempts.

Match recap

WrestleMania 42 closed with a championship fight that kept building in intensity from the opening lockup. Reigns made his entrance with live musicians and imagery tied to his Bloodline run, while Punk arrived to AFI before "Cult of Personality" kicked in.

Once the bell rang, the match quickly turned physical. Reigns took control with a Samoan drop and a sustained stretch of offense outside the ring, then punished Punk with three Superman Punches while Punk was hung up in the tree of woe. He also used the steel steps and later drove Punk through the announce desk with a powerbomb.

Punk kept finding answers. He stopped an early spear with a running knee, answered one Reigns charge with a GTS, and later smashed Reigns through the announce desk with a top-rope elbow drop. The match had already been framed by the personal tension between the two heading into WrestleMania 42, and the finish reflected that with both men exhausting every option they had.

The closing stretch turned into a war of counters and desperation. Reigns survived a GTS, Punk escaped repeated Guillotine attempts and even used a low blow behind the referee's back before landing another GTS. Punk tried to put the match away one more time after the elbow drop, but he collapsed from exhaustion before he could follow through.

Winner

Roman Reigns won the World Heavyweight Championship by pinfall after hitting a final spear on CM Punk.

What Roman Reigns' win means for WWE's title picture

Roman Reigns leaving WrestleMania 42 with the World Heavyweight Championship immediately puts one of WWE's biggest stars back at the center of the title scene. Because this happened in the Sunday main event, the result is positioned as a major post-WrestleMania direction change rather than a one-off defense.

For CM Punk, the story coming out of the match is that Reigns needed to endure everything from multiple GTS attempts to a table-breaking elbow before finally finishing him. That leaves room for Punk to remain a top-level factor around the championship even in defeat, especially after pushing Reigns to the limit in a match built as one of the weekend's biggest attractions.

Sources

As reported by NoDQ.