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CM Punk Recalls His Reaction To Main Eventing WrestleMania 41, Sees No Difference Between Nights

February 11, 2026 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
WWE Smackdown 4-4-25 CM Punk Roman Reigns Image Credit: WWE

CM Punk main evented WrestleMania for the first time last year, and he recently reflected on his reaction after the match and spoke about doing it again this year. Punk fulfilled a dream to main event the show at WrestleMania 41 against Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns on night one. He is back in the main event this year as he faces Roman Reigns in the main event of night two.

Punk appeared on the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast and was asked about how it felt last year, and what it’s like headlining night two this time around. He recalled his reaction to the WrestleMania 41 match being over and spoke about how night two doesn’t feel different than night one to him. You can see the highlights below:

On His Reaction Main Eventing WrestleMania 41:

“I think with any big moment, there comes with it a sigh of relief and ‘Oh god, thank God it’s over’ kind of thing. And I think that is amplified when the moment is good. When the moment’s bad, when it’s — man, when you s**t the bed you’re like [groans]. ‘Well, okay. I guess I’m glad it’s over, but–‘ So much had been said and so much had been built up about me main eventing a WrestleMania. I felt like I put my best foot forward, I felt like we stole the show. And man, I was I was relieved that it went well. But I really just tried to live in that moment, because it’s so fleeting and it was so important to me for so long. I just I wanted it to be — it wound up being everything I wanted it to be, legitimately. Because you know, it’s life. You got to take the sour with the sweet. But everything about that day and that night and that match, I don’t think it could have gone any better.”

“There’s that moment that they captured. And it’s weird to say that I didn’t know they were filming me, because there’s cameras everywhere, always in my face. With Unreal and everything otherwise, especially Mania. There’s camera angles that you didn’t even know existed, there’s drones now. I didn’t know the camera was filming me. It was literally like, I’m surrounded by all these fans. And it was a moment where it was just mine. That moment was for me, I was by myself. And I let out a sigh and I said, ‘I f**king did it.'”

On Main Eventing Night Two This Year:

“Night one, night two, the argument. I currently don’t feel any more pressure to perform night two than I did night one. Now, maybe that’ll change. I think if it does, it’ll be incremental. I don’t differentiate between the two. People will argue that I once said in a promo, which doesn’t make it real life, ladies and gentlemen…

“So the emotions will be high. I’ve got to prepare. You know, I’ll always be like, ‘Oh, I got to get in better shape. I got to do this, I got to do that.” But really, everything that I’ve ever done in my career has prepared me for these moments. This is all I ever wanted. It was all I would — you know, when I would be screaming at Vince. ‘I need the experience, I need to level up. I can’t level up, I can’t be better, I can’t sell more tickets, I can’t draw more money if you don’t put me in those situations,’ you know? Here we are.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.