Huge Backstage Update On CM Punk's WWE Booking Plans, WrestleMania 43 Latest (WWE News)

Latest news on CM Punk's WWE return and future plans.

Jul 8, 2026 July 8th, 2026

With CM Punk making his WWE return on Monday night, defeating Sami Zayn to become the new WWE Champion in the process, there's now a little more information on this return and when it was mapped out.

Per False Finish, it was decided over a month ago that Punk would win the WWE Championship and head into SummerSlam as the defending champion, where he's expected to put that gold on the line against Cody Rhodes. This report also notes that it was originally set to be Punk vs. Rhodes at WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but WWE is now looking to make SummerSlam 2026 "better" than WrestleMania 42 was earlier this year.

If WWE does take the expected path of Cody Rhodes challenging for CM Punk's WWE Championship at SummerSlam, that's certainly one way to add some extra oomph to the company's patented Biggest Party of the Summer. While the two exchanged some mildly heated words on the Raw after WrestleMania 42, not to mention had a great back-and-forth as the final two of the 2024 men's Royal Rumble, they've yet to lock horns in a singles match since returning to WWE for their respective second runs.

To go back to the last time Rhodes and Punk wrestled prior to that Royal Rumble face-off - Cody winning that Rumble match - it was a 2013 live event where CM Punk teamed with Chris Jericho to face Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. For a singles match, you have to go all the way back to a 2008 episode of Raw, where the Second City Saint picked up a win over the future American Nightmare.

As for SummerSlam, while that CM Punk and Cody Rhodes match has yet to be made official, already announced for the two-day event over the weekend of August 1st and 2nd are Roman Reigns defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins, IYO SKY attempting to dethrone Liv Morgan as the Women's World Champion, Penta putting his Intercontinental Championship up against the winner of an upcoming gauntlet match, and Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar going to war in Hell in a Cell.

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Andrew Pollard

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.

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