TKO Has Reportedly Heard the Message About WWE Ticket Prices

CM Punk dropped a major league pipe bomb promo on Pat McAfee and WWE parent company TKO Monday night on Raw, and in the process, said out loud what was on the minds of wrestling fans across the globe.

The Best in the World should have been rather jovial upon his arrival at the Houston Toyota Center yesterday. He was seven days removed from dropping Roman Reigns through the Raw commentary table, but Punk was in no mood to celebrate as he kicked off the Netflix broadcast with a scathing and wide-ranging diatribe.

He first focused his wrath on his WrestleMania 42 opponent, blasting Roman Reigns for skipping out on the show. He then heavily implied that The OTC's career accomplishments were overblown, and said it was his father who got him the job in WWE in the first place because he sucked at football.

You’re SAFE and you’re BORING” 😳@CMPunk is not holding back on Roman Reigns tonight! pic.twitter.com/FdpC9N1xQv
— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2026

"You are just a bucktoothed nepo baby who ate dog food for a weird, old man. That weird old man treated me like a dog for years, but I had FU money and left," Punk said, claiming his exit from WWE was the true source of Reigns' disdain for him.

Punk was just getting warmed up at this point, and he soon turned his attention to former WWE commentator and current ESPN personality Pat McAfee. The former NFL punter shocked everyone this past Friday night when he showed up on SmackDown and kicked WWE Champion Cody Rhodes below the belt.

McAfee then ran down the WWE product on the microphone and labeled The American Nightmare as the poster boy for everything gone wrong with the pro wrestling business. He even brought up struggling ticket sales for WrestleMania, and said that should never be the case with someone like Randy Orton being booked for the show.

Lack of ticket sales a major storyline along the road to WrestleMania 42

The call to insert McAfee into the WWE Title program was reportedly made by TKO CEO Ari Emanuel to promote "corporate synergy" between WWE and ESPN, and to help boost ticket sales for WrestleMania.

CM Punk has his own thoughts about why tickets for WrestleMania 42 are not moving as fast as they did last year, and he didn't hesitate to share his opinions with the WWE Universe Monday night on Raw.

“You want to talk about ticket sales? Do me a favor and call up that agent that was foolish enough to shoehorn [Pat McAfee] into this business and this show, and tell him to lower the ticket prices,” Punk said to thunderous applause from the live audience, and no doubt from all those watching from home as well.

.@CMPunk is dropping a PIPE BOMB 😱 pic.twitter.com/W7l8m34bd8
— WWE (@WWE) April 7, 2026

This line was not uttered on a whim. The folks over at BodySlam are reporting that both WWE and TKO are very aware of the negative chatter regarding the high cost of attending their shows.

Several top stars have also reportedly been pushing for the company to lower ticket prices for some time now, feeling that the hardcore audience has been priced out from experiencing the product in person. Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer says that message has apparently been received, finally.

“If it wasn’t obvious from Punk’s promo, it appears WWE is looking to lower ticket prices through the summer,” Alvarez said in his report.

There's has been no word on when exactly ticket prices are going to start coming back down, and if WrestleMania 42 is going to be included in that reduction. We will keep you posted.