CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes Reportedly Planned For WWE SummerSlam

WWE are reportedly planning CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes for SummerSlam.

On last night’s RAW, viewers were shocked when Cody Rhodes was taken out of his advertised WWE Championship match with Sami Zayn following GUNTHER’s attack backstage. In need of a new challenger, CM Punk emerged to take on ‘The Last Real Good Guy’ for the title, ultimately winning the gold for the first time since his 434-day reign which ended over 13 years ago. Now, an update has emerged on the direction for SummerSlam.

According to PWInsider Elite, it’s believed CM Punk is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam.

“The expectation backstage after Raw was that CM Punk will defend the WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at Summerslam next month, PWInsiderElite.com can confirm.”

-PWInsider Elite

The surprise title change harkened back to CM Punk’s appearance on the RAW after WrestleMania, when he gleefully told the audience that you never know when an opportunity was going to fall out of the sky. At the time, it was Cody Rhodes offering a future championship match to the Chicago-born star, but it now seems ‘The American Nightmare’ will be stepping up to Punk in just under four weeks time.

While focus is shifting towards SummerSlam, it’s worth noting that Sami Zayn’s nine-day stint is the shortest since The Miz held the WWE Championship for eight days in 2021. Since the turn of the millennium, only 10 reigns have ended in nine days or less, with eight of those lasting less than 24 hours.

On the topic of Punk vs. Rhodes, Cody recently revealed that facing ‘The Second City Saint’ is a dream match of his. You can read more about that here.

As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on WWE’s plans for SummerSlam as soon as we hear more.