CM Punk and Real Winners and Losers From WWE Bash in Berlin 2024 Match Card

WWE came to Bash in Berlin with a clear focus: establishing the top stars in the company.

Cody Rhodes, Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, CM Punk, Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest and Gunther all stood tall at the Uber Arena in the German capital.

It was a great night for those stars and included some strong wrestling across the whole card.

However, it may have also been a night with the clearest losses for talent in WWE in 2024.

Big promises were made, but each match for the show had to have a loser. Kevin Owens, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, Drew McIntyre, Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio as well as Randy Orton fell short.

The following are the real winners and losers from an important night for WWE.

Kevin Owens has not been world champion since 2017 and had a chance to finally reach the top again, but he held back. This was the major story of his battle with Cody Rhodes.

At every turn, The Prizefighter lacked the killer instinct to take out The American Nightmare, and it cost him the ultimate prize.

The match was great, helped by the steady pace and consistent storytelling from both men. KO relied too much on the Stunner over his powerbomb.

In the buildup to this fight, Owens made clear he did not feel he had earned his shot. After this loss, he will certainly fall to the back of the line.

This puts Owens in a tough spot. He will either have to turn heel or earn his way back up the card for months to come.

Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn may have had the biggest moment of their career at Clash at the Castle, but it was at Bash in Berlin where they had their biggest performance.

The synergy of the team stood out in a big way. Fyre and Dawn looked nearly unstoppable until the home stretch, but that was all it took for Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair to capture the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.

This was supposed to be when The Unholy Union showed that the win in Glasgow was not a fluke, but the loss makes their entire reign almost pointless. It lasted just 77 days in an era when title reigns typically last more than half a year.

Throughout history, WWE has not shown a clear commitment to the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships, but putting the titles on a dominant team like Belair and Cargill might finally change that.

That is no consolation to The Unholy Union. Hopefully, WWE saw the talent of both Fyre and Dawn and will find a new angle to keep them on TV.

CM Punk has finally conquered his first demon since his return to WWE by defeating Drew McIntyre in dominant fashion.

The Best in the World ran over his rival, surviving the Scot's best shots before overwhelming him.

It was a cathartic moment for Punk fans, finally seeing him win his first match in WWE since returning last year.

In addition, he looked much better in the ring than he did at SummerSlam, working faster and more consistently throughout.

It was a good sign that Punk is ready to rise in the rankings and likely go after Gunther sooner than later, especially with his next biggest rival, Seth Rollins, out injured.

Has anyone in WWE lost more in 2024 than Drew McIntyre? For each time he has taken a step forward, he has fallen further, all thanks to CM Punk.

He won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40 only to lose it within minutes...due to The Best in the World.

He won Money in the Bank and cashed it on the same night, but he lost that title match because of Punk.

He won big at SummerSlam by defeating The Second City Saint, only to follow up with one of the most devastating losses of his career at the hands of Punk.

At Bash in Berlin, McIntyre was forced to tap out until he passed out to The Best in the World's Sharpshooter and then took a series of Go To Sleeps. The final GTS was especially excessive.

Punk emphatically went over McIntyre after taking so much from him in 2024. Despite the expected Hell in a Cell match on the horizon, the Scot may need to walk away from this feud now to save face.

While Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest both emerged victorious at the Bash in Berlin, it was Mami who earned true retribution.

The Australian looked unstoppable in her pursuit of revenge and wiped out Dominik Mysterio in the biggest pop of the night.

She then pinned Liv Morgan clean in the center of the ring after overcoming attempts from the rest of The Judgment Day to ruin her moment.

In addition, the mixed tag team match wildly outperformed its position on the card and delivered some of the best action of the night.

This was a cathartic moment for Ripley and should set the stage for Priest to get his revenge against Finn Bálor sooner rather than later.

The energy in the Uber Arena for Gunther vs. Randy Orton was special. It was the absolute main event of the night, and the German crowd was all-in on the physical battle.

The Ring General earned this opportunity. While he has always been good, he was special on Saturday night. He came off as the true top world champion.

Orton pushed him to his limit, coming off as the most dangerous man he has ever fought, yet the Austrian conquered him and won by decisive knockout.

In multiple ways, this was a level-up moment that will hopefully carry over to week-to-week programming back in the United States.