Bronson Reed joins Paul Heyman’s new alliance, and his attack could keep CM Punk out of Saudi Arabia

A look at an eventful Saturday Night’s Main Event–which included the return of Cody Rhodes

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Bronson Reed allows CM Punk to miss Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia

Five years ago, CM Punk expressed his distaste for WWE’s travels to Saudi Arabia.

A lot has changed since then, most notably Punk rejoining WWE. But that doesn’t mean he’ll be traveling to travel to Saudi, which is where WWE is headed in a month for Night of Champions. After last night on Saturday Night’s Main Event, WWE creative may have found a way to write him out of that show.

Bronson Reed returned, joining Paul Heyman’s new alliance. Beyond Reed making a phenomenal fit for the faction–and this is truly turning into a modern-day version of Heyman’s Dangerous Alliance in WCW–his post-match Tsunami sets up a legitimate reason why Punk could be out of action. But if one Tsunami wasn’t enough, another upcoming attack from Reed, featuring multiple Tsunamis, would certainly keep Punk off the Night of Champions card in Saudi.

Clearly, Reed’s feud with Rollins is a distant memory. Making his first appearance since suffering an injury at Survivor Series in November, Reed made an instant impact. He will be the muscle for Rollins and Breakker, and he’ll benefit greatly from having Heyman as his mouthpiece. While a turn from Sami Zayn would still make a lot of sense, Reed is now in a spot that should allow him to thrive.

An important part of the show took place when El Hijo Del Vikingo vs. Chad Gable was announced for Worlds Collide on June 7. As WWE introduces AAA to a new audience, putting a potential match of the year candidate like Gable-Vikingo on the card is an outstanding choice. Another key moment came during a promo during SNME, with WWE announcing that Evolution 2 will take place on July 13¹.

Here are the results from Saturday Night’s Main Event:

• Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker defeated CM Punk and Sami Zayn

• United States Champion Zelina Vega defeated Chelsea Green

• WWE Champion John Cena defeated R-Truth in a non-title match

• Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre in a steel cage match

• World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso defeated Logan Paul

The card also featured WWE Champion John Cena in action against R-Truth. Like the Zelina Vega-Chelsea Green match before it, this was up against the clock. A five-match card–with a preposterous amount of commercial breaks–is an ambitious goal, especially when there are three-hour episodes of Raw with less wrestling.

Cena’s title wasn’t on the line, but he won the match. It was effectively filler for the show (which isn’t what you want to say about any segment featuring the world champion), finishing up in just over four minutes. For those keeping track, Cena’s winning combination was a kick beneath the waist and an AA–and his heel run continues to lose its luster.

Later in the show, Cena ran into Jey Uso backstage, setting up a feud between the two. Cena interfered in the main event, nearly costing Uso the match. But a returning Cody Rhodes made the save, allowing Uso to retain the title. Rhodes grabbed a microphone and challenged Cena/Paul against himself and Uso for Money in the Bank, and his return allowed the show to end on a strong note.

But the commercials disrupted any chance of building continuity, especially in the main event.