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In the main event of the night one of the first-ever two-night WWE SummerSlam Premium Live Event (PLE), Seth Rollins pulled off “the ruse of the century”, shockingly cashing in his Money in the Bank (MITB) contract on CM Punk, to win the World Heavyweight Championship. The massive turn of events at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, happened just after CM Punk managed to defeat Gunther, to clinch his first world title in over 12 years.
Gunther, who began the main event of SummerSlam 2025 as the World Heavyweight Champion, defended the title against CM Punk, who had earned the opportunity to challenge him after winning a Gauntlet Match on WWE Raw last month. The world title match was a back and forth battle between Gunther and CM Punk, and they had multiple near falls to get close to a win and walk out as the champion.
The latter stages of the match saw CM Punk trip Gunther, who was posing with the World Heavyweight Championship belt on the Spanish announce table. It led to Gunther coming out under the announce table wearing the crimson mask before getting inside the ring and putting CM Punk in the Gojira Clutch, but the challenger managed to escape in the nick of time prior to delivering two Go To Sleep (GTS), to pin him and become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Seth Rollins successfully cashed in MITB contract for the second-time in his WWE career
After an outpouring of emotion from the win, CM Punk finally noticed the referee Rod Zapata beside him, who presented him with the World Heavyweight Championship belt. Moments later, the music of Seth Rollins hit before he arrived at the entrance ramp on crutches with his right knee under a brace, in company of Paul Heyman, The Oracle, who was holding his MITB briefcase.
Following an intended warning, Seth Rollins turned around and hobbled a few steps before he threw his crutches aside and took off the braces, to the surprise of the fans inside the MetLife Stadium and commentators on the live broadcast. Following that, he made his way inside the ring before CM Punk came at him, but the Visionary grounded the new champion and used the MITB briefcase as a weapon prior to cashing it in with the referee Jessica Carr making the call.
A stomp later, Seth Rollins became the World Heavyweight Champion, screwing over CM Punk once again, and commentator Michael Cole called the whole segment “the ruse of the century”.
