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#5. Cody Rhodes’ WWE Title Reign has become mediocre
Cody Rhodes has been the WWE Champion for quite a while now. Aside from a transitional title reign that Drew McIntyre had when he won the belt off The American Nightmare in January, only to drop it right back to Cody a week after Elimination Chamber, Rhodes has been the WWE Champion. His title hasn’t received a serious threat since he won it back from John Cena during his retirement tour last year at SummerSlam. With the star power that CM Punk is capable of bringing to the table, he could be a worthy opponent for Rhodes, who will need to dig deep to try and face a man who has not only been a fighting champion, but also can take his opponents for a ride with scathing promos and mind games. All of this could inject some much-needed spice into Rhodes’ current reign as champion, and fans can renew their interest in the company’s top title.
#4. It’s the last thing CM Punk teased before taking a break from TV
After Punk lost his World Heavyweight Title to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42, he came face to face with the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes on Raw the following night, when Rhodes, who had retained his title against Randy Orton the previous night, interrupted the Second City Saint’s emotional promo. The two men displayed a mutual show of respect before Punk looked at Rhodes’ Title and signalled the possibility of having a top WWE title around his waist again. To this, Rhodes responded with “just say when”, potentially teasing a future match between these two megastars. CM Punk has been off TV since that promo, and it would be good to see him make a surprise return and deliver on this tease.
#3. It’s a completely fresh match
Although CM Punk and Cody Rhodes have been with the company for a long time, they have never faced each other in a major match before. Aside from a dark match between the pair way back in 2008 and other tag team matches, the last time the two stars competed in the ring together was at Survivor Series 2025 when they were both part of the same team of babyfaces. This means a one-on-one match, especially for the WWE Title, has more potential to succeed at a major event like SummerSlam and could serve as a major boost for WWE.
#2. The alternative is Jey Uso vs Cody Rhodes for SummerSlam 2026
WWE CCO Triple H has been known to push Jey Uso despite there being options to push other stars for singles runs. Uso went on a near year-long singles run after making Gunther tap out to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 41 last year. It wasn’t until the latter part of the year that he went back to teaming up with his brother Jimmy again in the tag team division. The Usos have recently been involved in the Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu feud and its aftermath, and Jey is still over with the fans and could end up winning the currently ongoing King of the Ring tournament. The winner of the tournament gets a title shot at SummerSlam, so if Rhodes keeps the title going into the event, which he likely would, it would be Jey Uso vs. Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2026, which seems like less of a mouth-watering idea than Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk.
#1. It could help get casual viewers to tune back in to WWE
Dream matches like these don’t happen often, and WWE has the opportunity to book this once-in-a-lifetime match to revive its current product, which has been getting criticised heavily by fans and analysts for being repetitive and stale. Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, who are arguably at the height of their stardom as wrestlers, could put on a great match followed by an intense feud that could be a breath of fresh air in WWE’s recent predictable programming. The casual viewer would be intrigued to see something fresh in the works and could tune in to see what happens, boosting WWE’s ratings in the process.
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