Latest on CM Punk's Absence Following WrestleMania

CM Punk isn't expected at WWE Raw tonight

According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, not only was CM Punk not present backstage at Backlash on Saturday night, but he's not expected to be at the Food City Center in Knoxville, Tennessee, for WWE Raw tonight either.

After tonight, there are only two more episodes of Raw before Clash in Italy at the end of the month, which greatly decreases the odds that we'll see Punk back in time for that premium live event.

Following that, only Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27 remains before the road to SummerSlam begins. While Punk should certainly be back by then, his absence following the company's biggest show of the year is certainly looming large over the red brand right now.

CM Punk's absence following WrestleMania makes his argument against Reigns seem hypocritical

On the road to WrestleMania 42, CM Punk made countless shots against Roman Reigns for being a part-timer. Declaring he was there every week because he wanted to be there for the WWE Universe.

While Punk's statements seemed sincere at the time, his actions following WWE's biggest show of the year paint the former champion as a hypocrite rather than someone justified in his beliefs. If the plan was always for Punk to take some time off following WrestleMania, they probably shouldn't have made one of Punk's biggest arguments against Reigns about showing up to work.

It's really easy to appear weekly during WWE's hottest period of the year. However, when you disappear from programming without any explanation following the company's biggest show of the year, when WWE typically enters its down period for a few months heading into SummerSlam, it's not a good look.

At the end of the day, actions speak louder than words.