Jim Cornette isn’t buying the idea that CM Punk’s WWE Title win over Sami Zayn was some cheap shortcut. In fact, he thinks WWE got this one right.
Sami Zayn’s nine-day reign came crashing down on RAW when Punk beat him for the Undisputed WWE Championship in Chicago, and the aftermath was ugly. Sami was later shown breaking down in furious backstage footage, raging over Punk returning after months away and walking right into a title shot while Sami’s long-awaited run ended almost immediately.
But while fans were tearing into the booking online, Cornette took a very different view on his YouTube channel. He defended the match itself and said Punk and Sami delivered exactly what a serious world title main event should look like.
“So, they actually had, I know this will surprise some people, a wrestling match. This was a good match. And without doing a blow-by-blow, the point is if they did something that we normally criticize, when they traded punches and forearms, they actually threw ones that looked good and then they sold and reacted to them when they landed. It doesn’t have to just be stand there and look stupid. And both these guys can work and their s*** looks good, but they were serious about it. They didn’t bury the referee. They didn’t use any furniture. There was no [stuff] on the floor forever. It was a serious main event world title match.”
Cornette said the match worked because it felt focused instead of overproduced. He pointed to the false finishes, Punk’s elbow drop, the Anaconda Vice, Sami escaping, and both men trading offense in a way that made the crowd believe the title could actually change hands at any moment.
“And when they went into the false finishes, they all worked. Punk got the elbow off the top and got a two count, but then he got the anaconda vice and the fans were going crazy, but Sammy broke out of it.”
That was the part Cornette kept coming back to. To him, Punk and Sami weren’t just rushing through spots to get to the next big stunt. They were selling, reacting, and making each exchange feel like it mattered.
“They did more punches on their knees, but they were trying. They were exhibiting some effort at making each thing look good, not just going through the motions so they could do the next stunt with an improvised explosive device or a goddamn, you know, lighter fluid enema.”
Cornette also praised the closing stretch, especially when Sami hit Punk’s Go To Sleep and followed it up with the Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. The Chicago crowd was already fully behind Punk, but Sami’s performance kept enough doubt alive to make the finish hit harder.
“Then they started hitting each other’s finish. Sammy hit a Go To Sleep and got a big pop on a two-count… Then Punk foiled the kick… Sammy got another GTS and hit the Blue Thunder and got a two-count. And the place is rocking with the CM Punk chants.”
Cornette then made it clear why Punk winning worked for him. He said the match built properly to the finish, with Punk avoiding Sami’s kick, hitting the Helluva Kick himself, and then landing the GTS to win the title.
“And then they get into another slugfest. And then Punk hit the knee and sidestepped a kick and he hit the Helluva Kick and then hit the GTS. One, two, three. It was a great match and a great finish to it because it got the people up and then it hit them and it paid off in a way that they could blow on rather than them see it coming a mile away because they’re all down in a goddamn chin lock for 45 seconds beforehand immobile or just something out of nowhere because they’d run out of [stuff] to do. It built to the end.”
For Cornette, this was the kind of match WWE should be putting on when the world title is involved. He said it proved wrestlers do not need weapons, chaos, or over-the-top shortcuts to make a main event feel important.
“So, if anybody wonders what we’re talking about when we say you don’t have to do all that stupid s*** to have a good wrestling match, there’s one. Watch that.”
Brian Last agreed with him and said the match was one of RAW’s strongest main events in a long time. He also gave Sami major credit, saying Zayn showed again why he is such a special performer inside the ring.
“I thought it was excellent. I thought it was an excellent main event. One of the better Raws in a long time… Sami Zayn really is just a special in-ring talent… CM Punk looked great.”
Cornette also had praise for Sami after the match, even while taking a jab at his look. He said Sami’s ability to sell as a babyface remains one of his biggest strengths: “He’s an exceptional seller as a baby face… He looks like s***, but everything else is there.”
That reaction gives the whole situation another angle. Sami’s emotional collapse made it feel like WWE had ripped the title away from him too fast, but Cornette clearly believes the match and finish delivered in the ring. Punk left Chicago as champion, Sami left broken, and now the debate is not just about whether WWE did Sami wrong. It is also about whether the company pulled off one of RAW’s best world title matches in a long time.
Do you think Jim Cornette is right about CM Punk beating Sami Zayn, or should Sami have gotten a longer WWE Title reign? Sound off in the comments.
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