CM Punk and Kevin Owens are set to headline one of the biggest WWE SmackDown shows of the year, and the ticket sales prove it. As of this writing, the long-awaited first-time matchup between CM Punk and Kevin Owens has sold over 14,500 tickets in the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON Canada. Their feud heated up in short order this month, and their first singles match will be competed for the WWE Championship. Punk has been WWE champion for a little over a month after shocking Owens’ frienemy Sami Zayn in his hometown of Chicago.

Punk and Owens were fixtures on the independent circuit where they became top stars in ROH, but it was their abilities on the microphone that set them apart from their high-workrate, low-ceiling contemporaries such as Low Ki and Claudio Castagnoli.

CM Punk Vs. Kevin Owens Thrives On Backstage Heat

Owens made his surprise return at WWE SummerSlam to clinch a title shot against CM Punk. The near-unanimous consensus among the monolithic Internet Wrestling Community was how incredible Punk and Owens’ promos were about to be given their near two decades of history. This history was front-and-center in a pair of brilliant, if not inside-baseball, promo battles between the top stars.

“I don’t like you for a lot of reasons," said Owens to Punk in their most recent showdown in Boston. "The way you’ve treated people I care about. Good friends of mine…”

“Which ones?” Said a cheeky Punk, trying to goad Owens into saying the Elite’s names on camera knowing he couldn’t due to their AEW ties. Punk notoriously flamed out of AEW after a biblical shoot promo at the 2022 AEW All Out Media Scrum. Punk exploded in front of a handful of scared-to-death dirtsheet reporters who were out of their league, mimicking a helpless Tony Khan. Punk’s tirade targeted Hangman Adam Page, Colt Cabana and the Young Bucks, the latter three of whom are real-life friends of Owens.

“Every friend I have in this industry hates you,” Owens retorted.

“Being hated by losers is the price I pay for not being one of them,” Punk clapped back to a loud pop. CM Punk is the greatest of all time at getting fans to believe that there is real heat between him and his opponent in any given feud. Nobody in wrestling matches Punk’s believability, including Owens, but Owens’ top-tier talking has helped to make this an early contender for feud of the year.

Punk has a Hall-of-Fame-caliber of worked-shoot feuds with the likes of Jeff Hardy, Triple H, The Rock, Eddie Kingston, Hangman Adam Page, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Roman Reigns, Pat McAfee and now Kevin Owens. Punk is a lightning rod with the rare ability to convince modern-day wrestling fans that his scripted rivalries are a shoot.

And that’s why the Scotiabank Arena is sold out. Because personal issues draw money.

It’s more likely than not that CM Punk and Kevin Owens are cordial behind the scenes. Punk’s jump to WWE came with a lot of mended fences, and there have been little-to-no significant stories about Punk’s backstage issues in a WWE locker room since his 2023 return.

Wrestlers having legitimate issues backstage has led to multiple feuds that people-pleasing AEW President Tony Khan could not control. A Twitter spat between Andrade and Sammy Guevara devolved into a backstage brawl. Guevera also reportedly came to blows with Eddie Kingston in 2022, leading to Kingston’s suspension. AEW’s two biggest implosions—and one of pro wrestling’s biggest backstage blowups—came in 2022 and 2023 when Punk got into fist-fights with the Elite and Jack Perry, respectively.

Punk’s past issues with Kevin Owens have not come anywhere near an implosion in WWE, which has far more authority over its talent and is therefore in better position to monetize backstage beef.

CM Punk and Kevin Owens’ sudden first match on SmackDown suggests this feud is not just a one-off. WWE is set to air Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta in September and WWE Money in the Bank in October. A CM Punk vs. Kevin Owens rematch and/or title change during that timeframe is very possible.