Steve Carrier on April 21, 2026
CM Punk’s WrestleMania 42 hotel drama may have gone further than the viral phone incident fans already saw online.
Most of the attention has centered on the now-circulating MGM Grand video showing Punk knocking a fan’s phone down near Bayley and AJ Lee. But during the Dirty Sheets Wrestling Informer podcast, Billi Bhatti claimed that was actually the second confrontation of the night, not the first. Bhatti is also not removed from the story, because he said someone he knows was the person who filmed the viral video and later sold it to TMZ.
Bhatti framed the situation as something that had been building all week at the WWE hotel, with fans trying to catch wrestlers in the lobby and around the elevators. He said the tension finally exploded after WrestleMania Night Two. Before getting into the details, Bhatti made his overall claim very clear.
“This all came to a head with an incident with two incidents in one night. The night after WrestleMania night two, where you'd think that CM Punk would be on top of the world after having a very good main event match, getting to main event WrestleMania, you would have think that after achieving your main goal in wrestling that you would be on top of the world… But no. CM Punk decided to attack not one, but two wrestling fans on the same night.”
According to Bhatti, the first alleged incident happened as Punk was walking through the lobby. He said a fan approached Punk after he had already gone by and tapped him on the shoulder while asking for a photo.
“The first one came as he was coming through the lobby… there was a Spanish speaking Mexican guy who asked him for a photo, but he asked him by… he'd already gone past him, so he tapped him on the shoulder. Punk responded by flat out slapping this guy around the face. Like just absolutely leathered this guy before tapping him on the shoulder.”
That alleged confrontation is significant because Bhatti said it was not captured on a fan video, which is why it has not gotten the same public attention as the phone incident. Still, he claimed the hotel had footage of it. Bhatti then said the first incident was seen on CCTV, even if fans never posted a clip online. He later added more detail about how hotel surveillance allegedly factored into the situation.
“Now, the first guy who got slapped across the face decided to press charges.”
“Now, the other incident wasn't filmed by the guy who got slapped across the face, but CCTV did capture both incidents.”
That gives this story a different dimension, because Bhatti was not just repeating internet chatter. He tied himself directly to the fallout from the second incident by explaining that someone he knows was involved in the viral footage that later made its way to TMZ.
“A person that I know who goes to WrestleMania every year was actually the one who initially sold the video to TMZ. I was sending out texts to see what price I could get for Ringside News, from Ringside News, as I have dealings with them, to try and get this guy the best price for his video. But in the end, he got that best price from TMZ.”
Bhatti also said the fan connected to the filmed incident later sold his own footage as well, which helped the story spread even further.
“This guy resorted to then selling his video to TMZ, which features Bailey pushing him away. And then you see Punk literally slapping the camera out of his hand.”
That makes the alleged shoulder-tap slap stand out even more, because unlike the second confrontation, this one was not the clip fans were already debating online. If Bhatti’s account is accurate, the phone incident was just the part that made it public.
The claim now adds a new wrinkle to CM Punk’s rough WrestleMania 42 weekend, which already ended with a loss to Roman Reigns in the Night Two main event before the hotel drama spilled into the early hours of the morning.
Do you think this alleged first incident changes the whole story around CM Punk’s night at the MGM Grand, or is the viral phone video still the only part fans will really focus on? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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