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00:17Finn Balor is the man that says he will turn the main event at WrestleMania slated to be CM Punk
00:24versus Roman Reigns.
00:25One of the greatest WrestleMania main events of all time.
00:28Finn says he's going to turn that upside down when he wins the championship tonight.
00:36He's made it very clear, Wade, that Finn wants to do it alone.
00:42I saw Judgment Day members J.D. McDonough and Dominic Mysterio in the building earlier today,
00:49but Finn Balor promises he needs to do this himself tonight.
00:54Do you believe that?
00:55Yes.
00:56I actually don't believe that at all.
00:59I think that's merely a strategy to get Punk to drop his guard, keep the champ guessing.
01:04And I'll be honest with you right now, you have two choices at the very top of this game.
01:09You can be a noble loser or you can be a cheating champion.
01:15And I know full well which one I would pick.
01:26Balor who battled Punk in his homeland of Ireland, Belfast, Northern Ireland, back in January.
01:35It was a home game for Balor then.
01:38Tonight, he's the away team.
02:05You know, we already crowned one new men's champion this week.
02:10Congratulations to Miles Bourne down at NXT.
02:14He won the NXT North American title.
02:17Can Finn Balor secure a world title tonight?
02:25Give it up, woh!omma!
02:30We give
02:31it up, oh, oh! We give
02:34it up, oh! Number 400,
02:36Ron! Theme, campaign!
02:37She has jumped!
02:38The Ends'Chants!
02:40The Ends'Chants!
02:41We have jumped! The End�s
02:44We have jumped! The Ends'Chants!
02:44Yes! It's
02:47on!
03:48And the best in the world, C.M. Paul!
03:58Some nostalgia from the Jordan-era Bulls, voiced by the iconic PA announcer, Ray Clay.
04:31And the best in the world, C.M. Paul!
04:34C.M. Paul!
04:37C.M. Paul!
04:44C.M. Paul!
05:04C.M. Paul!
05:35C.M. Paul!
05:50C.M. Paul!
06:04C.M. Paul!
06:30C.M. Paul!
06:36C.M. Paul!
06:46C.M. Paul!
06:48C.M. Paul!
07:07C.M. Paul!
07:10C.M. Paul!
07:17C.M. Paul!
07:32C.M. Paul!
07:57C.M. Paul!
08:06C.M. Paul!
08:17C.M. Paul!
08:19C.M. Paul!
08:21C.M. Paul!
08:24C.M. Paul!
08:33fall and is for the world heavyweight championship
08:43introducing first the challenger from fray county wicklow ireland weighing in at 190 pounds
08:55representing the judgment day ten balor
09:11and his opponent from chicago illinois
09:33it has been a long time coming 13 long years since cm punk has had a wwe match in his
09:43hometown of chicago
09:50punk understands that father time is undefeated he understands that this could be the very last
09:57match that he ever has in his career here in united center and he says tonight he is going to
10:02savor it all as he defends the world heavyweight championship against a very hungry finn balor
10:09who wants to turn the main event at wrestlemania upside down
10:15you know i talked to balor earlier today he told me that he needs to take the crowd out of
10:21this
10:21match early on he learned way back in belfast what a crowd can do to you the momentum and the
10:27emotion
10:28that you can feed off when it comes to the hometown crowd he says he needs to take that crowd
10:33out of
10:34this match early on tonight i get that already right off the bat trying to charge up cm punk is
10:43this
10:43audience but let me just make it abundantly clear to insulated americans a lot of the international
10:50superstars they're used to these environments we spend most of our career competing on foreign soil
10:56and in finn's case most of his career either in japan or here in the u.s this will not
11:01phase finn balor
11:02in the slightest you know cm punk's been pissed off as of late way to all the questions uh coming
11:08his
11:08way over the past few weeks of why would you take this match why would you endanger one of the
11:12greatest
11:13main events in wrestlemania history against roman reigns what does punk do he doesn't back down from
11:18a fight instead he always doubles down he says he wants to be a fighting champion yeah i'm split on
11:25that
11:25i respect the fact that he sees it as his responsibility as the world heavyweight champ to prove against anyone
11:31any time that he is the champ however we know full well how much punk wants a win and i'll
11:37emphasize
11:38win in the main event of wrestlemania lose tonight you're not even getting a chance at that pal yeah
11:43full nelson applied by balor and now punk into a pinning combination and a kick out at two into a
11:50side
11:50headlock now you know finn balor actually credits cm punk and some of the talks that they had leading
11:56up to that match in belfast for quote awakening reawakening a killer instinct that was dominant for
12:04too long in balor and here's the kick out again by punk yeah we were speaking a little earlier today
12:11cole and you were asking me about what finn balor might have learned in that first match and i think
12:16the entire demeanor of balor when he entered here today you can read it on his body he is completely
12:22relaxed why because he proved in belfast that he can hang at the very top level with a world heavyweight
12:31champion in this day and age it's been a long time since he proven that to himself he is a
12:35completely
12:36different man if there were any doubts in the head of balor going into that match in belfast they've all
12:42disappeared today and again wade listen to how quiet it is right now inside the united center balor
12:48doing what he promised to do not allow this crowd into this match and that fires up balor more and
12:54what does it do to the mindset of cm punk he expects a raucous atmosphere suddenly goes deathly silent in
13:00here oh that'll wake him up a bit as punk delivers a heel kick to the face now balor's hungry
13:06as well
13:07it's been 10 long years since balor has held a world title he was the inaugural universal champion
13:13and remember he only held that title for 24 hours yeah and the butterfly effect of that incident you're
13:20talking about can be speculated about non-stop ad infinitum where would finn balor's career have
13:29gone over the last 10 years had he not been stripped of that championship because of the injury punk cover
13:34and balor kicks out
13:40you expect this pace early on in the match you know what i thought balor was going to come hot
13:44out of
13:45the blocks you mentioned the age of punk he's no spring chicken obviously he's fighting against
13:50father time and that is something as somebody like finn balor who is renowned for his endurance needs to
13:57use to his advantage so if i was balor i personally want to pick up the pace here senior official
14:02chad
14:02patton working this world heavyweight championship match again the winner will defend against the
14:08royal rumble winner roman reigns seven weeks at wrestlemania and here we go this is exactly what
14:15i was talking about from balor he's not as big as cm punk but he's ready to throw fists in
14:20the early
14:20goings here there was a technical start to the match but that's got thrown out of the window now
14:25of course wade the united center the home of the beloved nhl blackhawks punk's favorite team and
14:32does punk want to turn this into a hockey fight tonight against balor i mean you'll win by
14:38or by crook but if it is a hockey fight i think that probably favors cm punk he does have
14:46probably 25 pounds on finn balor and now punk after delivering the elbow to the face of balor
14:57and look at balor now nice switch by finn drops punk to the mat
15:08tweet something in his rib cage there was a nasty landing and if he did zero zero in on it
15:16is finn
15:17balor a sixth sense for an injury on an opponent's body and at this level with the world championship
15:24hanging in the balance that is a massive asset for the irishman can you imagine if balor wins tonight
15:30he turns mania upside down in a listen it's it's wrestlemania season anything can happen as balor now
15:37delivers a stop to punk weakening up the midsection for the coup de grace
15:44well finn balor is sick of being labeled an underachiever he does feel at times like management
15:49in a way lost faith in him when he had that injury 10 years ago as a brief world champion
15:55and this is
15:56one way to stick it up to management ripping away their dream matchup at wrestlemania between punk
16:02and roman reigns balor's got a five count here again working the rib cage
16:06let me kick to cm punk great strategy here by balor not only slow punk down but as i mentioned
16:12before soften him up for your finishing blow yeah and here's why you know that initial tweak in the
16:17rib cage your point was bad you do all you can to hide any form of weakness from your opponent
16:22punk was trying his best to he simply couldn't the tell was there immediately and balor is now all
16:28over that weakness like a rash yeah balor doing a great job physically wearing punk down this is
16:35the belief that is starting to grow in finn balor now and it's the belief that is starting to dissipate
16:40from this partisan crowd here in chicago punk has had a great career in chicago he won his
16:47intercontinental championship here when he beat william regal back in 2009 who would ever forget
16:53the great street fight with chris jericho here in chicago and how about 2011 wade the night that cm
17:01punk defeated john cena to win the championship in one of the most iconic moments in wwe history yeah
17:08blowing that kiss to john cena championship in hand as he left the arena one of the most iconic shots
17:15in
17:16wrestling history oh god abdominal stretch again working on the midsection of cm punk you see punk
17:21screaming in pain here a tap out by punk would give the title to balor yeah punk has a very
17:27high pain
17:27tolerance but barely barely able to conceal the sheer agony that he's in right now and balor attacking with
17:36abandon and i'm not sure balor has even got out of third gear at this point that's the scary part
17:47what a predicament here for the world heavyweight champion cm punk
17:57crowd trying to rally against punk who's got a bad taste in his mouth after last year's
18:03elimination chamber when he was in the chamber match and it was down to him and cena and a set
18:07rollins stomp handed the match to john cena the bad taste from elimination chamber perhaps oh an even
18:14worse taste from last year's wrestlemania we all remember how that went down getting stabbed in the
18:20back by paul heyman that's why he's so desperate to get back to the showcase of the immortals and set
18:27the record straight this year in the main event yeah but punk has really turned things around not
18:32counting the night that rollins cashed in on punk at summerslam punk has not lost a one-on-one match
18:38since
18:38late spring of 2025
18:43and now balor taking the fight to punk for the world heavyweight championship
18:50and main event wrestlemania kings in the balance here tonight
19:03and it's just so easy for balor to knock the stuffing out of punk here but punk resolute
19:18trying to rally a bit here an elbow followed by a clothesline well now suddenly he's got finn reeling
19:25finn balor has been knocked for a loop by punk and punk now ratcheting up through the gears the belief
19:31is back here this match is physical as those great 1990s bulls teams here tonight and punk now back to
19:39his feet and he's got finn in position for a gts finn though able to slide behind and now sending
19:48finn
19:49out to the floor here comes cm punk punk now with a suicide dive driving balor ready to our table
19:55yeah punk going high risk at the right time and the lower back of finn balor absorbing all of that
20:02abuse
20:02from our desk and this this is important for punk here it buys him a lot of time wade to
20:09try to recover
20:10from what's been a banged up midsection yeah i'm not sure time is gonna help that's one of those injuries
20:15that kind of gets worse and worse as the match goes on punk for my money needs to finish this
20:20and finish
20:21it quick that's why he sends balor back into the ring punk a proud man he doesn't want to take
20:25a count
20:25out win he wants to pin balor in his hometown here tonight cm punk top rope punk off the top
20:33rope with
20:33the flying clothesline cover now by punk to retain and a kick out if you're roman reigns right you're
20:40watching this match tonight who do you want to face at wrestlemania or does it matter i don't think
20:45roman reigns fears any man in this industry he wants all comers bring him on we'll make it as big
20:52as possible
20:54all he cares about is the gold and that gold might be coming the way of cm punk right now
20:59looking for
20:59a gts balor now from behind finn balor who actually into the cover hook of the leg on punk and
21:05a kick
21:05out balor actually owns a victory over roman reigns and the not so distant past and of course we know
21:11the
21:12the history and the rivalry between punk and reigns well victories over roman reigns are a collector's item
21:18in this industry so with finn balor has some history with reigns and it's a positive history
21:23even more reason why finn needs to get the job done here tonight and punk dragging himself through his
21:28feet balor again working the midsection this has been a great strategy by balor well you take gifts when
21:35they arrive oh that's the shot there to cm but you take gifts when they arrive in this game and
21:41whatever
21:41strategy finn had coming into the match immediately he had to pivot once punk
21:47ribcage will wait up in a position finn balor trying to hang on punk looking to hit the go to
21:51sleep
21:51here went for it balor rolls him up small packages and i'm gonna kick out by punk punk dips underneath
22:01there's that patented swinging neck breaker by punk cover to retain kick out at two by balor
22:10and punk just keeps finding answers i mean go back to summer slam last year with that epic matchup
22:16with gunther that looked completely unwinnable for about 98 percent of it punk just hung in there
22:23and hung in there and hung in there showed his toughness showed his resolve and got the dub in the
22:29end and it's it's been the story over the last month of course the win over braun breaker the win
22:33over finn balor the win over aj styles punk has been a fighting champion as we head into wrestlemania
22:39season but will his luck run out tonight
22:44both men in bad shape at this point in the matchup that's when you realize it is close to the
22:50death here
22:51perhaps both men must sense victory they know their opponent is a badly weakened state yeah punk now nice
22:59block balor was looking for a suplex there and punk drives him into the corner with a big four-on
23:10boxing the ears of balor
23:18punk again it's going to have to dig down deep to retain tonight
23:27trying his best to use that power advantage that has definitely been sacked from that rib injury
23:32oh and balor again going back to the midsection you don't change a winning formula in this game
23:40that's where all the success has come from for balor he's smart enough to know that oh god and punk
23:45collapsing it wisely the veteran trying to roll away but he's still in the drop zone finn balor from the
23:52top rope now has punk in his sights went for the coup de grace punk rolled out of harm's way
23:57and now
23:58punk with that bloody knee and i believe punk's been busted open to the mouth
24:02as balor his floor with a clothesline and that busted open mouth is the least of punk's worries
24:09that rib cage is where the real damage lies but it might be for nothing here if punk can connect
24:13on this
24:21oh yeah the elbow from punk but again the midsection giving in well that was exactly what takes the
24:29brunt of the landing for cm punk no cover no ability to pounce on a quick three count here it's
24:38in fact a
24:38slow three count and that allows balor to turn it into a pinning combination of his own and two and
24:44a
24:44half so much oh god sling blade by balor so much sapped out of cm punk at this point in
24:49the matchup
24:50balor's just a step quicker right now wait but it has to be and that blood coming from the mouth
24:56of punk
24:56balor senses victory he's got gold in his eyes now punk looks spent physically spent
25:09and punk though exploiting out of the corner just a veteran move by punk there taking a beat or was
25:17it
25:17desperate no it's taken a beat a beat to get his senses together no knowing full well phil finn was
25:23lining something up and what a battle we've got going on here and punk now oh hold on looking for
25:27the anaconda vice now on balor first of the sharpshooter now looking for the anaconda vice
25:31he's got it in on finn palor now submission move center of the ring is balor gonna tap now to
25:36the vise
25:38you're like a long away from the ropes here that hand is nowhere near that hand is looking like
25:42it's gonna tap out balor trying to hang on and balor able to roll through turns it into a pinning
25:49combination of his own and a kick out by punk
25:55that's something balor learned from her battle back in belfast last month
25:59but how to counter the anaconda vice we have to be merciless at this level forget that you are
26:05fighting a human being here this is your mortal enemy right now finn
26:11final and puck up and down goes punk now he's in position this could be balor's opportunity to alter the
26:17entire landscape of wrestlemania balor from the top rope into a coup de grace he connects to the
26:25bad ribs of punk covered by balor hooks the leg punk survives
26:33and now what does balor do wade oh what a gutsy kick out from cm punk the cogs are now
26:41whirring in the mind of finn balor who thought he was home and dry
26:47balor just hit his death blow and punk survived
26:59finn balor stare wait wait a minute we mentioned that jd and dom are here do you think well again
27:06he
27:06promised to do it on his own maybe a thought ran through his head momentarily clearly torn at that
27:11point no sign of the reinforcements as of yet oh wait up and punk now powering finn balor up
27:19into a position for the go to sleep go to sleep to the face but balor was driven out of
27:26the ring with
27:27his momentum and punk now realizes that the wind may have slipped away well that complete indecision
27:37momentarily from finn palor opened a tiny window a tiny window that the world heavyweight champ cm punk
27:44was happy to kick through unfortunately he kicked through a little too hard and no chance of a cover but
27:53there may be a count out there may be a count out here count of five now and again i
27:57told you punk does
27:57not want to count out victory he wants a decisive win heading into wrestlemania and balor with a sling
28:05blade and that's a heavy heavy landing on the outside of the ring those are thin pads over concrete here
28:11the ribs of cm punk absorbing all of that impact
28:19and balor now shades of a decade ago this time he drives punk to a barricade
28:27is this his moment laser focused on the gold laser focused on the broken body of cm punk now laser
28:35focused
28:36on getting him back in the ring and getting the three count tossing the dead carcass of punk back into
28:43the
28:43ring finn balor could be closing in on the world mvway title though punk
28:49weapon to go to sleep again balor with another sling blade again balor a step quicker in this match
28:56right now cm punk is swinging at whatever he can and he's missing and it's all in the corner now
29:03of
29:03finn balor and once again in that drop zone take two is cm punk survived once will he survive a
29:10second time
29:11dollar from the top rope went for the coup de grace punk got his foot up and he turns it
29:16now punk turns
29:18it around into a into a sharpshooter he's trying he's got it the sharpshooter's in
29:31remember the sharpshooter in chicago many many years ago at wrestlemania cm punk now with a sharpshooter
29:38locked into to balor oh god all of the agony on the lower back of balor balor managing somehow
29:44to break that hold man that was a great counter by punk incredible instinctive move there catching
29:51a flying finn balor and almost getting the victory now puck we're going to step through again balor again
29:59playing defense here what a physical battle between these two when the world heavyweight
30:08championships on the line in wrestlemania season you are going to war for it it is worth it that's how
30:15big this prize is remember roman reigns will be live in indian atlas monday night on raw to confront
30:21the winner of this match will it be punk will it be balor to face reigns at wrestlemania will either
30:28of
30:28these two men be capable of these two men be capable of going to roar at this rate bloody battered
30:33and broken
30:35but refusing to die off with balor up on his shoulders cf punk gonna sleep gts cover
30:45punk will main event wrestlemania here is your winner and still world heavyweight champion
31:00ccm punk their first face to face on monday night raw was explosive
31:09we can only imagine what's in store in 48 hours
31:16when punk and reigns come face to face again because wade the stage is set for one of the biggest
31:24main
31:25events in the history of wrestlemania seven weeks 49 sleeps away from cm punk and roman reigns
31:37for the world heavyweight title and this is how we got there finn baller connecting with that coup de grace
31:48but somehow cm punk refusing to be denied in that moment a broken cm punk still having the belief
31:58and then connecting with a gts that blasted ballast so hard he rolled all the way out of the ring
32:06but
32:06followed it off with this through our security barrier and now laser focused on that goal this
32:14is what finn came for but one mistake and that was all cm punk needed to hoist him up for
32:21another gts
32:22this time a fortuitous landing for the champ but three counts later a successful retention and cm punk heads
32:32to wrestlemania what a great performance by finn balor tonight promised to do it on his own he did just
32:40that but in the end it has become a trademark of cm punk's current world championship reign it is the
32:48guts it is the grit it is the resilience that has made that man the best in the world
33:03that is the strength of the world
33:10the world
33:10the world
33:10I will give up, I will give up, I will give up.
33:16Only you can set me free.
33:44I mean, what a show of respect from a true warrior in Finn Balor who over the past couple
33:50of months has really earned the respect of CM Punk.
33:54A respectful and defeat magnanimous in victory and now a double celebration from a couple
34:01of champs.
34:02What a night it has been for CM Punk and the new women's Intercontinental champ AJ Lee.
34:10Yeah, case can be made as the new power couple of WWE.
34:18What a night in Chicago, the adopted hometown of AJ Lee, the hometown of course of CM Punk.
34:24And now we turn our attention to Las Vegas and WrestleMania CM Punk versus Roman Reigns.
34:38I think the world has been begging for that matchup for years and years but
34:43we are now there Cole, cannot wait seven weeks time in Vegas.
34:49It is gonna be gangbusters at WrestleMania.
34:53And Wade, you and I are gonna have the opportunity to see.
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