Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk was always SummerSlam 2026’s plan, according to Dave Meltzer.
WWE SummerSlam takes place in Minnesota this year between August 1 and 2. Several matches have been confirmed for the event so far.
One of them will be a singles match between Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi, the third match in their feud. Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan will also face each other for the WWE Women’s World Championship. On top of this, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns will revisit their storyline in a World Heavyweight Championship match. There is another match that was originally discussed for the show.
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WWE Wanted Cody Rhodes To Face CM Punk At SummerSlam 2026
After CM Punk lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, he had a segment with Rhodes where they both teased a future match. Punk has been absent from WWE programming since then, and there have been rumors of him returning to the SmackDown brand where Rhodes works.
As for Cody Rhodes, he recently lost his WWE Championship to Sami Zayn at WWE Night of Champions. Zayn had been unsuccessful in his World Title attempts on the main roster until then, but it all changed when WWE surprised fans in Riyadh.
Now he’s got the WWE Championship, so there’s a chance that Rhodes vs. Punk may no longer take place.
Before you continue reading, note that the rest of the article discusses a spoiler that took place on an upcoming edition of WWE SmackDown. If you don’t wish to see it, don’t read the rest of the article.
This is what Dave Meltzer said on Wrestling Observer Radio recently about this.
“The plan for SummerSlam was always Cody Rhodes and CM Punk for the championship. Now, does that mean he’s winning the title on Monday or they changed plans? That I don’t know… Punk and Cody for the championship from the day he did that interview the day after WrestleMania, all through the disappearing act and everything like that, that was always the main event for one of the two nights of SummerSlam.”
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On the upcoming SmackDown, Cody Rhodes will defeat Jey Uso to earn himself a WWE Championship match against Zayn on the July 6 episode of WWE Raw. There’s a chance Cody could end Sami’s reign right there and go on to face Punk at SummerSlam. But we don’t know that for sure.
Do you want to see Punk vs. Rhodes this year?
For more on Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, SummerSlam and pro wrestling (WWE, AEW, etc.), you can check out this page. If you’re new to watching wrestling, check out our WWE streaming guide, which is updated for 2026.
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Wrestling news reporter.