CM Punk Explains Why Villains Are Better Than The Good Guys

Starting off 2026, CM Punk is one of the most popular babyfaces in the WWE.

As the WWE World Heavyweight Champion on WWE Raw, Punk receives the largest fan reactions of the show on a weekly basis. Audiences around the world sing his song and collectively cheer on their hero against some of the show's top heel villains like Bron Breakker, Gunther, The Vision, Seth Rollins, Judgment Day, and plenty of others.

Since returning to WWE, Punk has gotten involved in various silver screen projects and is set to appear in the upcoming film Night Patrol. But in the movie, Punk is ditching the good guy gimmick and returning to some old roots as a bad guy.

THE DREAM MATCH IS OFFICIAL 🚨@CMPunk vs @FinnBalor for the World Heavyweight Championship NEXT WEEK in Belfast, Northern Ireland!

SPECIAL START TIME 3e/12p on @netflix in the US
🎟️: https://t.co/VkcxiubJmc pic.twitter.com/s2DQLYFa7R
— WWE (@WWE) January 12, 2026

CM Punk on villains

In a new interview with Josh Wilding, Punk talked about his work on the new film and praised bad guys for being better than the good guys, using GI Joe as an example. Overall, Punk says that villains are sexier than good guys.

"Villains are often times ... sexier than the good guys. Villains get to do fun stuff. Villains got the better weapons, the better outfits. You know, Cobra is cooler than GI Joe. But, this movie really kind of turns that on its side and explores it. Like, who really are the villains here.”
CM Punk

Punk has had many runs as a heel across multiple companies, including WWE. In his first stint in WWE over a decade ago, Punk worked as a bad guy against some of the biggest stars WWE had, including The Rock, John Cena, Jeff Hardy, and others. Since making his return to wrestling for AEW in 2021, Punk has only worked as a good guy.

MORE: How To Watch WWE Royal Rumble 2026: Date, Start Time, Match Card, Location & Stream

Punk has had a busy couple of weeks on Raw. Last week on the first Raw of 2026, Punk successfully defended his world championship against Bron Breakker, who nearly defeated Punk, but Punk was able to hit a GTS for the victory.

This week on Raw, Punk said he was putting The Vision in his rearview mirror and looking forward to new challengers at the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber ahead of WrestleMania. In response, Finn Balor confronted Punk and said he wanted a championship match.

The match was made official for next week's edition of WWE Raw. That episode will take place in Balor's home country of Ireland.

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