WWE Bash in Berlin continued this afternoon with a huge grudge match between Drew McIntyre and CM Punk. After Punk lost his return match at SummerSlam earlier this month, it seemed like the feud was far from over. McIntyre has continued to torment Punk with his bracelet which features the names of his wife, AJ Mendez (former WWE star AJ Lee) and their dog Larry. Naturally, the only acceptable route for their rematch was a huge stipulation: a Strap match. It’s a rare wrestling stipulation and ever more rare in WWE, yet both men have previously participated in a Strap match in their WWE careers.
Punk has been in three prior matches, two while in Ohio Valley Wrestling and once against the late Umaga in his final WWE match. Punk has never lost a Strap match in his career, looking to add the fourth win under his belt. As for McIntyre, this is his second. He was defeated by Karrion Kross back in 2022.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In a four-corner Strap match, opponents are tied to a 13 foot leather strap. There are no pin falls or submissions. In order to win, one of the wrestlers in the ring must touch all four corners un-interrupted and in succession.
McIntyre catches Punk off guard and beats him down around the ring. The match hasn’t even begun because neither of them have the strap around their wrists. McIntyre whips him with the strap as Punk screams in pain. “The Scottish Warrior” helps him out and puts it around his opponent’s wrist, forcing the referee to ring the bell to start things off.
McIntyre touched the first corner of the match and the light turned green. Thus far, Punk has gotten no offense. He tries to turn things around by hitting the GTS, forcing the light to turn off the light because he stopped the momentum with a physical move. Punk refuses to touch the turnbuckles. Instead, he decides to get payback and whip McIntyre. They fight on the outside of the ring and onto the announce table where McIntyre goes for the Future Shock DDT.
Punk reverses it, slamming McIntyre’s back straight to the table. After some more brutal back and forth, McIntyre gets a ton of momentum, getting three green lights on. Punk thwarts the fourth, turning all of McIntyre’s green lights to red and turning them green himself. As he goes for the fourth, McIntyre stops him this time, sending him through a table.
McIntyre lifts Punk over his shoulders and walks around the ring to hit the lights. What McIntyre can’t see is Punk also hitting them. They both get super close to the final light but McIntyre is forced to reset so Punk doesn’t get the win. They send each other down to the mat with kicks. Punk hits two more GTS’ and goes for the buckles yet again. He gets two, but throws Drew up for a FOURTH GTS, hitting the third light. He hobbles to the fourth corner, grabbing McIntyre for a fifth GTS. Punk grabs the bracelet off his wrist and hits the fourth buckle to win the match.
WWE Bash in Berlin
- Undisputed WWE Championship Match: Cody Rhodes (c) def. Kevin Owens
- Women’s Tag Team Title Match: Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill def. The Unholy Union (c)
- Strap Match: CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre
- Mixed Tag Team Match: Damian Priest & Rhea Ripley vs. Dominik Mysterio & Liv Morgan
- World Heavyweight Championship Match: Gunther (c) vs. Randy Orton
Stay tuned to ComicBook for news and updates on WWE.
