Backstage Update on CM Punk’s “Pipebomb” Promo on April 6th WWE RAW Show
This past Monday’s WWE RAW show in Houston, Texas featured WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk delivering his latest “pipebomb” promo. During his promo, Punk called out Pat McAfee for his unwanted involvement at this past Friday’s WWE SmackDown show, referencing Vince McMahon as being a “weird old man,” taking shots at Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and called for TKO CEO Ari Emanuel to lower ticket prices for WWE shows to make it more affordable for families to attend.
PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials had a plan for what Punk was going to say during his promo segment but he ended up cutting a “different promo from the heart” compared to what was originally planned for him.
Johnson reported that many of Punk’s comments echoed some very real concerns WWE talents have had of late including the very high ticket prices for shows and the lack of comp tickets being available to them.
Johnson also reported that some WWE talents were also “throwing their hands up” about McAfee being inserted into the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton storyline and some of the comments McAfee made during his promo at this past Friday’s Smackdown show only served to exacerbate that situation.
Johnson also reported that while Rhodes apparently didn’t communicate any frustration to anyone in particular, there was still a general feeling of sympathy towards him now that he has to “carry the additional weight” of what McAfee said that was essentially blaming him for the lower ticket sales for WrestleMania 42 because of him being the face of the company.
One WWE talent spoken to reportedly stated that Punk’s comments “leaned closely into” how some members of the locker room feel about McAfee’s recent comments.
Valentino Khan To DJ of Both Nights of WWE WrestleMania 42
DJ Valentino Khan recently announced on Twitter that he will be making an appearance for WWE as the official DJ for both nights of WrestleMania 42 at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I’m back again DJing @wwe Wrestlemania in Vegas. Tried to get Dom & Rey Mysterio to hash it out. It didn’t go so well.
Pull up for my sets April 18 & 19 at Allegiant Stadium + all weekend long at WWE World!
(still working on the Rey & Dom situation)”
I’m back again DJing @wwe Wrestlemania in Vegas. Tried to get Dom & Rey Mysterio to hash it out. It didn’t go so well.
— VALENTINO KHAN (@ValentinoKhan) April 7, 2026
Pull up for my sets April 18 & 19 at Allegiant Stadium + all weekend long at WWE World!
(still working on the Rey & Dom situation) pic.twitter.com/eL6ykwB4qL
This will be Valentino’s first appearance in WWE WrestleMania 38 in April of 2022.
Shawn Michaels Comments on Backstage Issues with The Rock Were Blown Out of Proportion & Not Even Accurate
A recent episode of the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast featured WWE Hall of Famer and WWE SVP of NXT and Talent Relations Shawn Michaels as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Michaels’ thoughts about why he and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson never worked together during their time in WWE and the longtime rumors of him and Paul “Triple H” Levesque mistreated hm backstage during the Attitude Era.
“He didn’t like me [laughs]. I will say this…there is a big kerfluffle in the wrestling business about me and Hunter doing stuff to him and being mean. All of it way blown out of proportion, none of it even accurate. Things that, when he was younger, were said a lot. Later on, and to this day, we get along, and we talk about stuff. That’s one I think everybody would have liked to have seen. By the time I came back, he was well off into his Hollywood career.”
Michaels also gave his thoughts about the issues between him and The Rock.
“When he first came in, he was just Rocky Maivia’s [Rocky Johnson’s] son. When he first went out there, he was getting the ‘Rocky Sucks’ chants. There is always ribbing and stuff like that in the locker room. When he came back, he might’ve had an injury, and he took time off. That’s when he really thought about how his career was going and wanted to change things up. He came back just as The Rock and no longer being the son of Rocky Maivia. I think that’s a lot of what it was, at that time. He was one of the first legacies and people at that time were rebelling against that kind of stuff. I think he recognized that and felt like he had to come back with something a little harder and more aggressive. He changed that up.”
Transcript h/t: Fightful.com
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