One part of this week's Roman Reigns-CM Punk encounter left WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray hyped up. Another left him scratching his head.On "Busted Open Radio," Ray expressed a mixture of concern and confusion over Punk and Reigns' devaluing of Drew McIntyre, who currently reigns as the Undisputed WWE Champion. According to Punk, McIntyre would have been the "easy" choice for Reigns to face at WWE WrestleMania 42 following his 2026 Men's Royal Rumble win. Reigns himself initially seemed to push back on that idea by reminding Punk of McIntyre's size advantage over him. After an additional exchange of words, though, Reigns then nonchalantly pointed out his record against McIntyre, which heavily favors "The Tribal Chief.""Talk about a whipping boy, a doormat, somebody who seems secondary," Ray said, referencing the promo from "WWE Raw." "'I was beating him for this long. Ah, who cares?' It's like yo mama jokes, only with Drew. 'I put him in the dirt, I beat him for three years.' So no matter who wins the [Elimination] Chamber, and I would guess it's going to be Cody [Rhodes], when he's forced to pick Drew, it's like, eh (shrugs). Last night they told me to look at Drew McIntyre and his championship like eh. And when Cody beats Drew, eh."As Ray alluded to, Reigns ultimately selected Punk, the reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion, as his WrestleMania 42 opponent, with Reigns' reasoning simply centering on his hatred for "The Second City Saint." In Ray's eyes, Reigns could have used that same reason to ensure that McIntyre, and the Undisputed WWE Championship, didn't get belittled in the process.
"Imagine if Roman says, 'I want to choose Drew. Drew holds the championship that I held for 1400 days and why I'm the third greatest on the list,' blah, blah, blah. 'I have every reason in the world to choose Drew McIntyre, but I won't because I hate you,'" Ray suggested. "So now you put over Drew and you talk about how the hatred for Punk is so great that you don't want your old championship back."In the wake of Reigns choosing Punk, signs are pointing to McIntyre potentially defending his Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, especially given that "The Scottish Warrior" not only dethroned "The American Nightmare," but also eliminated him from the 2026 Men's Royal Rumble. Despite this, Ray still can't seem to overlook the statements made by Punk and Reigns."I can't tell you why they went out of their way, and for lack of a better word, do you think they buried Drew McIntyre last night? I used the word 'buried' [but that sounds too strong]. I'm hoping Drew has some kind of a comeback to this," Ray said. "I'm hoping Drew can stick it to Punk and to Roman, because after last night's promo, I know two things for sure: I really want to see Roman versus Punk, and I really could care less about Drew McIntyre's WrestleMania match."The formal process to determine McIntyre's WrestleMania opponent may begin on tonight's edition of "WWE SmackDown" with the qualifying matches for the Men's Elimination Chamber. So far, Randy Orton, Solo Sikoa, and Aleister Black have been announced as qualifier participants, though WWE has yet to confirm if the winner of theMen's Elimination Chamber will indeed go on to challenge McIntyre.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
