WWE made a surprising **** le change when CM Punk defeated Sami Zayn to become the WWE World Champion on Raw this week. Zayn lost the **** le just nine days into his reign when Punk replaced Cody Rhodes as his challenger. Punk won the belt in front of his hometown Chicago fans and should now have a main event for one of the SummerSlam nights.
Top wrestling insider Sean Ross Sapp and his Fightful site revealed that NBCU wanted Punk on Smackdown in a top spot as the champion:
“Fightful Select has learned that CM Punk is expected to have a lengthy reign, most of which will be taking place on SmackDown. NBCU has been pushing for his presence on the show for well over a year, as they view him as a premier star. He will make Raw appearances when needed.”
NBCU runs the USA Network and influenced WWE to move him from Raw to Smackdown. Punk is slated to have a long reign as the top champion and will be marketed as the face of Smackdown moving forward. Fightful added that Raw will also have Punk appearing when they need him, even though that goes against the rules of the brand split.
The other end of this story focuses on Sami Zayn and how he barely got to hold the top prize after finally winning it. Zayn had multiple viral videos celebrating his **** le reign and had another one this week for venting in anger, while cursing out Punk.