Roman Reigns, CM Punk Rise To The Top Of WWE & AEW Merchandise Sales
Ever since Wrestlenomics kicked off their weekly merchandise report on April 14, there have been two consistent leaders in the clubhouse. With the exception of a single week, WWE merch sales have been dominated by Bad Bunny and the Latino World Order, and while AEW has seen a bit more flux at the top, reigning AEW World Tag Team Champions FTR have topped the last two weeks just as they topped the very first report. Both groups, however, have now been displaced by their respective company's most prominent singles stars — Roman Reigns will celebrate 1000 days as Universal Champion from the #1 position on the merchandise ranks for WWE, while strong sales of CM Punk shirts this week indicate that AEW fans are taking his rumored return to the company as a given.
Reigns' rise to the top of WWE's merch sales is easy to explain, as the champ himself wore his new "Life's Not Fair" shirt during a recent appearance on "WWE SmackDown" — the shirt was by far the #1 item this week on WWEShop, with Rhea Ripley's "She's My Mami" shirt coming in second. Punk's place on the AEW list is even more easily explained, as the former AEW World Champion's name has been everywhere the last couple of weeks as his unseen presence hangs over the imminent debut of "AEW Collision" in Chicago. It should be noted that Punk merchandise was outsold on ShopAEW this week by general AEW merchandise, with replica AEW world title belts in the #1 spot, but Punk and his "Best in the World" shirt was a strong #2 and outpaced any other specific AEW act.
Meanwhile, the LWO has fallen out of WWE's top ten completely this week, though Bad Bunny is still there. Interestingly, Bunny's recent Backlash opponent, Damian Priest, his shot past him into the top five, as has Sami Zayn.