One of the bigger stories coming out of the Raw After WrestleMania centered on the promo confrontation between Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, teasing a future title match between them. Fast forward to last week and, first, Punk made a surprise return, taking the WWE Championship off Sami Zayn on Raw, then Rhodes and Punk cut another promo opposite one another, setting up a collision at SummerSlam.
At the moment there are no guarantees fans are looking at anything more than a one-off dream match, babyface vs. babyface, to headline the second biggest show of the year. But what if there’s much more at stake as WWE, instead, launches its next blockbuster long-term rivalry?
CM Punk Is WWE’s Best Beef Machine
CM Punk is one of the most polarizing major stars in pro wrestling today and with fair reason. His departures from WWE in 2014 and AEW in 2023 were each as messy as could be. Moreover, the blurred lines between his real life personality and skilled promo work leave fans with mixed impressions. Add onto that that even his in-ring performances draw deeply mixed reviews, with some fans considering him an all-time great who can still go, while others think he’s well past his prime and was overrated in the first place.
Everyone has an opinion on CM Punk, regardless of where they might fall on the love-hate spectrum. That’s a major contributor to his ability to create white-hot feuds. He did it in AEW, particularly working with MJF, Eddie Kingston, and Hangman Adam Page. More directly applicable: Punk’s done it in WWE. Whether fans were behind him or vehemently against him, it’s hard to deny his months-long beefs with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins were among the best feuds WWE has featured since in the last three years.
Punk vs. Cody Rhodes has all the makings of Punk’s next great rivalry. While it has started out rooted in mutual respect and professional competition, there’s every potential for things to escalate between the two.
CM Punk Vs. Cody Rhodes Will Deliver In The Ring And On The Mic
CM Punk and Cody Rhodes are justifiably among WWE’s biggest stars today as two of the company’s most dependably good-to-great in ring workers and talkers on the mic. These are the kinds of qualities that can be used to carry the load, lifting their respective dance partners to greater heights because Punk and Rhodes are each capable of doing more than their share to make a match or segment work.
They’re also the kinds of qualities that achieve their greatest success when two workers of comparable ability work together and complement one another. So it is that Punk and Rhodes may well collaborate on some truly great matches in the months ahead and quite possibly have even more potential to deliver on the mic cutting promos against one another.
Better yet, Punk and Rhodes stand to benefit from a genuine lack of predictability. Indeed, The American Nightmare, in particular, has seen his world championship reigns suffer from a crippling sense of inevitability. Fans just couldn’t see AJ Styles, Solo Sikoa, Kevin Owens, or Gunther taking the title off him, regardless of how good the stories or matches at hand were.
Indeed, while it was surprising for Drew McIntyre and Sami Zayn to relieve Rhodes of the WWE Championship, these losses also felt a bit forced to serve short-term goals around transitional champs.
Rhodes and Punks are veritable equals on today’s WWE landscape, each controversial among hardcore fans, each credible main eventers who have spent much of the last year as world champions. Though the younger Rhodes may be the favorite to prevail over Punk, it’s no foregone conclusion that he’ll win in the end and all the less so at any given step along the way. When each match feels like a toss up, it inherently makes the bouts more exciting.
A CM Punk Heel Turn May Be In The Offing
Cody Rhodes has been very vocal about rejecting the idea of a heel turn any time soon. Indeed, there may be a lot of potential in him embracing the dark side if or when that day eventually comes, but he’s also an unproven commodity in that vein. Since elevating to top guy status in WWE, he’s always played the good guy.
CM Punk, by contrast, has spent significant portions of his career as a heel. Given how much of his superstar status rests with his mic game, it’s easy to imagine him thriving as a villain again and that dynamic adding a lot of heat to his storyline with Rhodes.
In a lot of ways, a Punk heel turn feels overdue. While fans were organically excited to cheer him when he returned, the top of the card is crowded with star babyfaces in Rhodes, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Punk, not to mention Oba Femi skewing babyface during his feud with Brock Lesnar.
Punk going rogue, and especially as champion, could freshen things up for both this angle with Rhodes and well beyond.
CM Punk And Cody Rhodes Could See Other Friends, Enemies, And Even Spouses Get Involved
One of Triple H’s greatest strengths in booking the main roster has been his ability to weave interconnected stories. Someone might have a primary feud but also other issues on the horizon, allowing angles to weave in and out and invite organic new angles.
Yes, CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes is the feud at the forefront. Sami Zayn and Gunther each have legitimate claims to be in the title picture too, though, for Zayn abruptly dropping his newly won title to an impromptu challenger and Gunther never losing decisively in his most recent title matches. These performers getting involved can add length and complexity to the Punk-Rhodes feud.
There’s also the matter of spouses. 2025 saw Punk’s wife, AJ Lee, make her return to WWE and though she’s away now, there’s every reason to expect her to appear again before long. Meanwhile, Rhodes is married to Brandi—also a past wrestler and someone the fans demonstrated they remember well at WrestleMania 40. While there may be a ceiling on the long-term potential for a mixed tag feud, bringing them in for one leg of story may well extend the feud with a novel chapter.
CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes may deliver the match of SummerSlam weekend. The best part of their story, though, is that it has potential to thrive for months beyond. These two men’s talents and interconnected stories may well electrify the WWE main event scene straight through WrestleMania 43.