
"Don't Deserve To Call Myself Best In The World, I Earned The Right": CM Punk To Gunther
It was Gunther who opened the segment, saying he was victorious last Monday because he left CM Punk speechless. Punk, however, was in no mood to remain silent.
"I'll give it to you. You are correct. I don't deserve to call myself the best in the world. I earned the right to call myself the best in the world. And I've earned the right to call myself the best in the world and be arrogant about it. But you are out here as world heavyweight champion being as arrogant as me, but you can't back it up," Punk told Gunther on Monday's WWE Raw.
"I have left a trail of bodies, a hall of famers, legends, and superstars that you've only dreamed to be in the ring with. And when you compare your career, as great as it's been so far, with my career, this isn't apples to apples," he further said.
"I don't deserve to call myself the Best In The World, I EARNED the right to call myself the Best In The World!" - CM Punk #WWERAW pic.twitter.com/xtEElmtTF8
— The Movement - Pro Wrestling (@TheMovementXx) July 29, 2025
Gunther looked to stop Punk from continuing his rant, but it was the World Heavyweight champion who was made silent as the latter put a hand on his mic.
"You know what, I have enough of this. Shut the...," Gunther said as Punk came back "I wasn't finished."
"There's levels to this, kid. And you're going to find out a hard lesson at the Summerslam on Saturday. You are not on my level," Punk said.
"For as great as you are, Saturday night, I'm leaving World Heavyweight Champion. But hey, at least you'll be able to share a ring and finally feel what it's like to be in the ring with the one, the only best in the world, CM Punk," the verbal duel concluded.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
What Ekta Kapoor could learn from the longest running soap opera: It has more stars than Hum Saath Saath Hai, a bigger budget than Dharma
I mean, you could call it a marketing ploy, an injustice to the idea of 'sports entertainment', and something completely against the very grain of what the company stands for. But WWE Unreal is a product of a company realising it's not 1975 anymore. People aren't just interested in Sholay, but in how it was made, and they don't just want a peek; they want the whole nine yards, and for all its 'faults', WWE's new documentary series Unreal gives the people exactly what they want. For almost 75 years, WWE has been at the peak of the sports entertainment world. Born as Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the company changed its name to WWF (World Wrestling Federation) in the early 1960s. The idea was simple: think of any soap opera on television; it has a protagonist, maybe 2, and a wide and varied supporting cast that get their time under the spotlight one by one. You have episodes coming out weekly, twice a month or monthly, and you have several different seasons. Now scale that same idea to 110%, with around 30-50 characters going through 10-15 storylines twice a week. Just like TV shows have Christmas specials, or Diwali specials for that matter, WWE has big pay-per-view events such as Summerslam, TLC, Royal Rumble, and their Super Bowl season finale, Wrestlemania. The season goes on the entire year (imagine Salman Khan taking his jacket off in Big Boss for 365 days), and the gruelling part of the business comes to light when you realise that the new season begins the very next day of the season finale. No breaks, no time-outs. It doesn't matter if you got thrown out of the ring by a 7-foot-tall man last night, or the script required you to get hit by a steel chair right on your head. When Monday Night Raw starts right after Wrestlemania, you show up. This ever-evolving process of travelling the entire country (sometimes the world for foreign events), putting your body through enormous amounts of pain and suffering, while showing your face during every press tour, merch signing, and interview, is one of the most difficult jobs in the world, and it proves that wrestling isn't fake; it's rehearsed beauty. ALSO READ: 'Well done': Indian father-son duo recreates The Undertaker's iconic entrance at home, WWE star reacts From the get-go, you notice that the documentary isn't trying to give a history lesson (like Mr McMahon); they throw you right into the mix of things, and the biggest employees, like John Cena, CM Punk and Rhea Ripley, give the fans insight into what their position is in the company right now. The off-camera persona of these stars isn't exactly the polar opposite of their actual personalities. The in-ring characters they are playing are products of a hidden and trodden part of themselves, something Rhea talks about and says, 'I like to say that it is the side of me that would get arrested in everyday life. It's all the sides that I don't like to show in my actual life.' For the longest time, WWE superstars were supposed to carry their characters with them everywhere they went, whether it was random guest spots at SNL, fan interactions, or talk shows. I mean, Ted DiBiase (Million Dollar Man), who was a heel, once offered a kid from the audience $500 if he managed to dribble a basketball 10 times. Just as the 6-year-old kid got to dribble number 9, he kicked the ball. He would have loved actors like Irrfan Khan, because that is true dedication to your role. This loyalty to one's in-ring persona slowly changed, and wrestlers started to act like normal human beings during interviews. Now Unreal has completely broken 'kayfabe' (the story that is being portrayed on the screen); you see superstars hugging and congratulating each other minutes after beating each other to an inch from death. You see the spots (positions or moves you are supposed to carry out in the ring) being planned, stories being meticulously broken down before being green-lit, and you see how all segments, matches, and camera angles are part of an orchestra, and the CCO, Triple H, is the conductor. Sure, the German Philharmonic doesn't necessarily break tables and chairs (even though a true classical music fan might be moved to), but watching Hunter (Triple-H) dictate every move, every shot, and every decision tells you exactly the amount of skill it requires to perform live in front of a packed-out stadium. Mind you, WWE fans are some of the most cynical people on the planet, so if a punch doesn't connect properly, or a signature move gets botched, they will notice it, and they will create a Reddit thread about it. ALSO READ: Hulk Hogan secretly battled blood cancer before his death; official cause of death confirmed as acute myocardial infarction: Report The documentary then explains one of the most important aspects of WWE as a company, the Gorilla Position, named after a very famous wrestler from the yesteryears, Gorilla Monsoon. This is the room which serves as the backstage and kind of a PCR throughout the show. The explanation given in the documentary is less technical and more philosophical, as it gives the fans an insight into the room that controls the fate of the show and all the superstars in it. Netflix bends the 'drive to survive' format just the right amount while focusing on the psyche of everyone involved with the production of the show. You see a massive team of employees create this huge spectacle, only to tear it down at the end of the show. It works like the modern-day circus, and instead of animals being tortured, you see grown-ups jump through literal fire, metal and concrete, which justifies the exorbitant amount of money they make (it really does), and the huge pay cheque is just one of the similarities between Bollywood and WWE. Tell me if any of this seems similar: the current champion (top guy) is the son of one of the legends of the game, one of the greatest female talents of this generation is the daughter of another veteran, and the greatest wrestler of this generation is a complete outsider. I get that this could be anyone else, but Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Shah Rukh Khan having similar career stories as Cody Rhodes, Charlotte Flair and John Cena is just something too fun to not mention. As Unreal tells the story of some other outsiders trying to make a name for themselves and nepo-kids trying to find relevance, they move on to breaking down the most important story that came from WWE this year. Cena announced last year that 2025 was going to be his final year with the company, a decision that sank hearts across the world. The company and Cena both agreed on a farewell tour, during which Cena would face some marquee superstars with whom he has feuded during his illustrious career. This was a great plan, but everyone wondered whether, during the tour, Cena was going to become the 'never seen 17' time world champion or not. They had to make sure Cena wins the championship without making his run to the title too predictable. Here is where Unreal shines the most; in the hands of arguably WWE's greatest star, the documentary suddenly shifts into a new gear and tells the story of one of the greatest heel turns of all time. Whoever edited the Royal Rumble footage for this documentary deserves a raise, and a very big one. The camera focuses on key eliminations throughout the match, but the footage cuts in such a way that you feel like it was all happening at once. In one frame Cena could be eliminating someone in the left corner, while in the next frame he could be fighting for his survival near the top-right turnbuckle. It was cohesive, it was quick and it was the most efficient way of portraying WWE's most chaotic event. The heel turn of John Cena seems so much more impressive when you realise that Hunter and The Rock decided to keep the news from everyone, including the ring announcers and commentators. You can't let information like Darth Vader being Luke Skywalker's father out or leak the fact that Nandini's son, who was kidnapped in Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, was actually being raised by Parvati from Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki (Ekta Kapoor had a multiverse before the MCU). The shock on every kid's face was genuine, and the commentator Michael Cole truly felt helpless for a few moments, as he saw the kid who grew into a superstar right in front of his eyes go against everything he stood for. While Unreal doesn't get all of it right, it makes a valid attempt at being honest with the audience. The superstars are stripped of their characters, entrance music and costumes; it's just them, laying it bare for the world to judge the legitimacy of this job. As you get to the last episode, you can't help but feel a bit tired. You are hit with so much information that you just want to take a break. At that point you truly realise the relentless nature of this business, as the director shows Hunter with the script of Monday Night Raw just as Wrestlemania 41 ends. It's an orchestra, it's a circus, it's a performance, it's a spectacle, and Unreal does its best to show what all goes on behind the curtain and why the show must go on.


Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Austin Theory has not been released from WWE's internal active roster. Here's why he is missing
Austin Theory's absence from WWE programming may last longer than fans anticipated. PWInsider's Mike Johnson first reported that the 28-year-old has been removed from WWE's internal list of active talent. He last wrestled on the July 14 edition of Main Event, where he lost to El Grande Americano. Austin Theory is facing injury concerns and will likely miss time(X) Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select later clarified that Theory isn't entirely off the roster but has instead been moved to the internal injury list, alongside names like Zoey Stark and Ilja Dragunov. Though Grayson Waller mentioned Theory's injury during a recent episode of Raw, WWE has yet to share specific details regarding his condition or a timeline for return. Speculation suggests Theory could undergo a character refresh before making his next on-screen appearance. Read More: John Cena opens up on hair transplant, admits it 'completely changed' his life A-Town Down's future? Theory and Waller formed the duo A-Town Down Under after Waller was drafted to SmackDown in April 2023. The team's biggest moment came at WrestleMania XL, where they won the WWE Tag Team Championships in a Six-Pack Ladder Match. However, their reign ended 90 days later when they lost the titles to #DIY. The duo's momentum faded further after they were quietly moved to Raw in January. The team never found its footing on the red brand and disbanded following Theory's injury. Waller has since transitioned into a new storyline with The New Day, signaling the official end of their partnership. Reacting to the reports, one fan tweeted: 'Seriously, where is bro? I hope I'm wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if they released Austin Theory by the end of the year 😭' 'I seriously doubt Austin Theory will be released. He is the future face of WWE. Probably just injury related. At least, we can hope,' another one added on X, platform formerly known as Twitter.


Hindustan Times
11 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Is Hulu shutting down? Are prices spiking? New Disney+ merger explained amid massive shakeup
Disney announced a merger with Hulu in a whopping $9 billion deal with Comcast. The streaming platform will be integrated into the Disney+ platform, the company confirmed on Wednesday. The merger will take effect in 2026. All Disney+ subscribers will be able to download a new app. The Hulu app will shut down in phases. Disney announced a merger with Hulu after a whopping deal with Comcast(Unsplash) Will subscription prices rise after the Hulu and Disney+ merger? Disney says subscribers will still be able to purchase stand-alone plans for Disney+ or Hulu, despite plans to discontinue the Hulu app. The current Disney-Hulu bundle costs $10.99 to $19.99 per month. How did subscribers react? The change has sparked backlash from longtime Hulu fans. 'I wish Disney would just go back to being Disney… instead of absorbing every other streaming service,' one X user wrote. 'Can we shut down Disney+ and keep Hulu instead? It's just an all around much nicer platform to use,' another one wrote on X, platform formerly known as Twitter. 'Disney will be phasing out the Hulu app later in 2026 to make Hulu apart of Disney+ fully. It's unknown if it will change the Disney bundle. As well, Star will be rebranded into Hulu for international regions later this Fall after almost 5 years of being introduced,' a third person tweeted. CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter called Hulu 'the fastest, user-friendliest streaming app out there' and urged Disney to adopt its technology. 'Today we are announcing a major step forward in strengthening our streaming offering by fully integrating Hulu into Disney+. This will create an impressive package of entertainment, pairing the highest-caliber brands and franchises, great general entertainment, family programming, news and industry-leading live sports content in a single app," CEO Bob Iger and CFO Hugh Johnston said about the media giant's quarterly earnings. Is Hulu shutting down? Yes and no. While Hulu will keep operating under the Disney+ domain, its main application will shut down. The move comes as Disney's ESPN struck a deal with WWE to stream marquee events—such as WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, Money in the Bank, and Survivor Series—starting Aug. 21 for $29.99 per month. ESPN's new streaming platform launches in 2026. Disney has been pursuing full control of Hulu for two years, buying NBCUniversal's final one-third stake for $438.7 million in June, on top of an $8.61 billion payout in November 2023—bringing the total to $9 billion. From March to June 2025, Disney's streaming division reported $346 million in profit, up 6% from the previous quarter.