Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk spoke with Dave LaGreca on WWE Radio about various topics, including his upcoming match against “The American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2026.
Punk said, “I’m very psyched for the match. There’s a huge part of me that — and I think of all wrestlers, maybe in men — maybe it’s a male trait. They don’t want to seem weak. Cody might not want to admit that at some point in time, maybe even currently, he has looked up to me. I have no problem admitting, no shame in saying like, ‘Damn, I’m proud of where he came from, because I think he’s surpassed what I did.’
On Rhodes’ accomplishments:
“When he came in, I was already here. I got to here, he was here. He did the same thing I did. He left, and he came back a bigger star for it, and then he accomplished things that I never did at that point, and it’s fun to see. It really is. It really makes me feel like I’m that old fourth liner on an NHL team now that was like the star captain center (at the) beginning of my career and I’m still on the team and I still can contribute but, the new kid comes in and you make room for him, and you can help guide him and all that but, ultimately, we’re gonna find out who the better man is at SummerSlam and I’m very, very excited about it. This is gonna be a lot of fun for me.”
(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
