Steve Carrier on April 21, 2026
The fallout from CM Punk’s WrestleMania 42 hotel incident may have stretched far beyond the MGM Grand lobby, because the fan at the center of the viral video now claims the situation cost him his job.
Most fans saw the now-circulating video showing Punk knocking a phone out of a fan’s hand near Bayley and AJ Lee inside the MGM Grand. The moment spread quickly across social media after the footage was sold to TMZ — and according to Billi Bhatti, he had a direct connection to how that video got out. Bhatti explained on the Dirty Sheets Wrestling Informer podcast that someone he personally knows was responsible for filming and selling the original footage.
“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… to try and get this guy the best price for his video. But in the end, he got that best price from tmz.”
But according to Bhatti, the fallout didn’t stop with the video going viral. He said he later spoke directly to the fan involved in the elevator-area confrontation and was told the situation caused serious personal consequences.
“I've actually, like, spoken to the guy since, and I'm pretty sure that the guy isn't all there. The guy actually believes, or he's saying is claiming that he lost his job as a result of the video surfacing.”
Bhatti later doubled down on that claim and said the fan told him outright that he had been fired after the video spread.
“He didn't get nothing from it. He got fired from his job. So he tells me the next day.”
According to Bhatti, the fan initially tried to handle the situation without pressing charges, instead hoping to get something resolved directly with WWE. He described how the fan wanted a very specific response from Punk following the incident.
“He wanted CM Punk to come out and make a public apology. He wanted him to come out back into the exact same place by the lifts. And he wanted all the fans to see him receive a public apology.”
That demand came before the claim about losing his job, which Bhatti suggested could change how the fan approached the situation moving forward. If true, the alleged job loss adds to the WrestleMania 42 hotel situation — one that moves the story beyond a viral clip and into real-world consequences.
Do you think the viral video fallout could really cost someone their job, or is this situation spiraling beyond what actually happened that night? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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