CM Punk was WWE's World Heavyweight Champion for just five minutes after defeating GUNTHER in the main event of night one of SummerSlam before his arch nemesis, the man who has expressed his distaste for Punk at every chance following Punk's return in 2023, Seth Rollins, cashed in his Money in the Bank contract.
Rollins shocked the WWE fans, as many believed "The Visionary" was actually injured following his match against LA Knight at Saturday Night's Main Event. WWE made sure everyone knew that Rollins still had the full year to cash in the contract after winning it at the beginning of June. However, Rollins appeared following Punk's victory and looked to just be intimidating "The Second City Saint," but he turned around, dropped the crutches he was using, took off the knee brace he was wearing, and ran down the ramp to cash in the contract and win the gold.
Despite how different the two rivals are, fans were reminded of how reminiscent Rollins' cash in on Punk was of one of Punk's own sneaky tactics to become a champion. At Extreme Rules in 2009, Jeff Hardy defeated Edge in a ladder match to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. The men battered each other around the ring, much like GUNTHER and Punk at SummerSlam 2025, but it was Hardy to ascend the ladder and take the gold.
As the "Hardy Party" was just starting and he celebrated with fans, Punk's music hit and he ran down to the ring with the Money in the Bank briefcase he had won at WrestleMania 25 earlier that year. Punk cashed in his contract on a stunned Hardy, hit a Go To Sleep, and pinned the champion to take the World Heavyweight Championship for himself. It was Punk's second successful cash in, as he cashed in his first Money in the Bank briefcase on Edge to win the title for the first time the year prior.
WWE has gone as far as to call Punk's cash in on Hardy one of the company's greatest moments. In a documentary clip, Hardy expressed his shock, as both men were babyfaces at the time, and Hardy acknowledged that many of his fans, were fans of Punk as well. Those fans from back in 2009 did forget Hardy losing his first-ever World Heavyweight Championship in record time, however, and following Punk's loss by Rollins cash-in on Saturday, fans took to social media to speak their mind. Many took to X (formerly Twitter) to post about how it was karma for Punk to be the one to be cashed in on this time.
The GIFs and video clips were in full effect immediately following Rollins' reveal of a healthy knee, with one user posting a clip from James Gunns' "Superman" where villain Lex Luthor calls for his superpowered henchman to beat up Superman.
"Jeff Hardy stans seeing CM Punk get cashed in on," the user wrote alongside the video. "And know [sic] all you cm punk fans know how us jeff hardy fans felt since 09," another wrote.
The top post, by @CriticalOverlo3, featuring over 1,000 likes, stated a simple, "Jeff Hardy watching Seth Rollins cash in on CM Punk," alongside a GIF of Shrek looking up and smirking.
Even Hardy's brother, Matt Hardy, posted to X following the cash-in. He thanked Rollins for "avenging" his brother at SummerSlam and posted the clip from 2009.Fans took to Hardy's comments in the hundreds to share their own thoughts, from talking about Hardy's own heel turn on his brother to sharing images from the 2009 Extreme Rules crowd.
Punk himself doesn't use X, but has been known to comment on his Instagram stories. As of this writing, Punk has yet to post anything about his loss.
