CM Punk took to the microphone at the latest stop on the ongoing 2026 WWE Summer Live Event Tour.
During the WWE live event on August 7 at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, Punk joined Cody Rhodes in taking on the team of Gunther and Ricky Saints, defeating the heel duo in the main event and final match of the evening.
Following the bout, “The Best in the World” grabbed the microphone to deliver a message to the fans in attendance, and to his partner for the evening, Cody Rhodes.
“Now, Cody, over the past couple of weeks, the road to SummerSlam has been a lot of ‘He said, she said’, accidents, on-purposes, a lot of talk about friendship,” said Punk (see video below). “To me, you’re not the champ until you beat the champ.”
He wasn’t done there.
“You’re somebody who has been the face of this company for over four years,” he continued. “You’ve done everything. You’ve said yes to everything, these people love you, and I love you. The way that SummerSlam went down, the way I won, it’s dirty. I don’t like it.”
The “dirty” conclusion to their match that Punk is referencing is the closing sequence, which saw Randy Orton make a surprise return and deliver a ‘RKO out of nowhere’ to Rhodes, leading to an unaware Punk finishing off Rhodes for the victory to retain his Undisputed WWE Championship in the WWE SummerSlam 2026 night one main event.
He then went on to make a promise to “The American Nightmare.”
“Now, I know that there’s a ton of guys in the back that want a shot at the champion,” Punk said. “There are number one contenders, there are superstars who deserve a shot based on the currency they have with the audience, but you my friend, you get a rematch any time you want.”
Kevin Owens also made a surprise return at WWE SummerSlam 2026, winning a four-way match to become the new No. 1 Contender and next challenger for CM Punk’s Undisputed WWE Championship.
For those interested, you can check out our complete WWE House Show Results From Fairfax, VA. 8/6/26 here at WrestlingHeadlines.com.
HEALED #CODYPUNKFOREVER #WWEFairfax pic.twitter.com/KFc8TKgZax
— victoria (@victoriaaze_) August 7, 2026
