Why CM Punk Needs To Win The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble

It's Royal Rumble week in WWE and with WrestleMania on the horizon, men and women on the WWE roster will be competing in the annual over-the-top rope extravaganza in the hopes of winning an opportunity at a world championship on the biggest stage of the year.

The 2025 men's Royal Rumble is stocked with talent. Not just big names and top stars, but big names and top stars that all have reasonable paths to winning and wrestling in the main event of WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas.

This is a new series on The Takedown on SI that analyzes potential winners of the big match this year. Up first? CM Punk.

CM Punk Needs To Win The 2025 WWE Royal Rumble

The question WWE has to ask themselves when debating whether or not CM Punk should win the 2025 Royal Rumble or not is, "Can CM Punk ever get hotter than he is right now." The answer is, "no" and that's why WWE needs to pull the trigger this year.

MORE: CM Punk Threatens To Put Hulk Hogan Over Tope Rope In WWE Royal Rumble, Kill Hulkamania Once And For All

If you subtract the injury that stunted the early part of Punk's return to WWE, the current CM Punk run with the company has gone as good or better than could be expected. Punk is playing nice. He's not ruffling feathers behind the scenes. He's having good to very good matches when he wrestles and when he doesn't wrestle, crowds are responding strongly to him in a positive way.

By green-lighting a CM Punk Royal Rumble win, you're striking while the iron is hot.

Punk is 46 years old and has some mileage on his body from years of wrestling -- mileage that has already led to injury and lost time for Punk. Why risk big-time matches and big-time business at this point? The momentum is there with him, so WWE needs to take advantage of that and put him into the most impactful spots possible before the injury bug -- or something else -- can bite him again.

Enter the Royal Rumble. The biggest spot for Punk at this point in his career is a Rumble win and the main event of WrestleMania. If Punk wins the Rumble, matches against Gunther, Cody Rhodes, John Cena, and others are all on the table for him right away. WWE needs to get to all of those at some point soon, but one stands out clearly above the others. Roman Reigns.

Punk vs. Reigns

Punk vs. Reigns is a WrestleMania match that has a foundation because of storylines WWE put into place around Survivor Series last year. It also has years of indirect build thanks to Punk being away and Reigns grabbing the tip-top spot in the company -- something that Punk never had.

Add into the story a dose of Paul Heyman and a dash of a favor that Heyman owes Punk and you have the makings of something epic. Why not go there now while that foundation and reality are fresh on the minds of fans?

Just like any other wrestler in the wrestling business, the wheels of momentum can always fall off a star. Punk isn't an exception to that rule. Punk is hot right now. He can rundown a beloved talent like Sami Zayn on WWE Raw and still get the cheers from the audience that he desires. Wasting that momentum and not jolting it with the electricity of a Royal Rumble victory is a missed opportunity for a company that doesn't miss very many these days.

So, sorry Roman Reigns, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, John Cena, and others. You'll have to wait. It's Punk's year and WWE likely knows it.

Tell me when I'm telling lies.

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