Bully Ray Praises WWE Raw’s ‘Grand Slam’ Execution of CM Punk’s World Title Victory

CM Punk’s capture of the World Heavyweight Championship from Sami Zayn during Monday Night Raw earned widespread acclaim, with WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray asserting that the company’s creative direction toward SummerSlam was nearly flawless.

Appearing on the Busted Open radio show, the Hall of Famer commended both Punk’s championship win and the seamless weaving of concurrent narratives—including Gunther’s assault on Cody Rhodes and Nick Aldis’s decision to insert Punk into the title bout.

“Everything the WWE did last night with Cody, with Gunther, with Punk, with Sammy, with Nick, with Adam… it all worked.”

Ray went on to credit WWE for steering clear of the predictable outcomes that fans had speculated about prior to the broadcast.

“We talked about several scenarios yesterday morning that could happen on the show last night. None of those scenarios played out, but it doesn’t matter because the scenario that the WWE came up with—Grand Slam. Loved it. It worked. If you’re going to do it, let’s do it.”

Although much attention centered on Punk claiming his eighth world title, Bully highlighted a pre-match interaction as a personal favorite.

“When Punk gets in the ring and Sami walks to Punk and they’re face to face, out of nowhere, Sami mushes Punk right in the face. That got a gasp from the audience.”

He suggested that the seemingly unscripted exchange instantly amplified the competitive tension between the two athletes.

“That slight little mush shoving Punk’s head meant so much. I don’t think Punk knew it was coming. Look at his eyes afterwards. Look at his face light up afterwards. He was like, ‘Oh, okay… this is the way it’s going to be.’ I think that fired Punk up. I think it fired Sami up. I know it fired the crowd up because I heard the reaction to it.”

Ray also praised Punk’s ring entrance as a standout production choice, noting that WWE wisely refrained from immediately triggering his trademark theme.

“They go into the back of the arena and that garage door opens and there’s CM Punk standing there and they don’t hit the music. The place went ballistic.”

Instead of leaning on “Cult of Personality,” Ray observed that the live crowd’s roar served as Punk’s organic soundtrack.

“The music is the place going ballistic. The music is the sound of the crowd screaming at the top of their lungs. I want to hear the crowd scream. I don’t need to hear the music.”

The inductee further likened Punk’s bond with Chicago to one of professional wrestling’s most storied affiliations.

“CM Punk is as synonymous with Chicago as ECW was with Philadelphia. They’re connected at the hip. It’s peanut butter and jelly.”

With SummerSlam on the horizon, Ray noted that WWE also set the stage for several intriguing plots—most notably via Cody Rhodes’s injury narrative and Aldis’s subtle maneuvering to grant Punk a title opportunity.

“One of the things that I really liked last night was the C story in the midst of the A story. The A story being Punk and Sami. The B story being Cody and Gunther. The C story—Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce.”

Ray applauded the understated friction between WWE’s two general managers, suggesting Aldis cleverly outperformed Pearce by awarding Punk the championship match.

“Nick one-upped Pearce on his own show. It was beautiful. The story… it was a great thread throughout the show.”

Despite Punk’s title win being the evening’s marquee event, Ray attributed the episode’s distinction to its multi-layered storytelling, deeming it among the promotion’s finest television offerings ahead of SummerSlam.

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