CM Punk and Cody Rhodes Nearly Come to Blows After SNME

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes were victorious at this weekend's WWE Saturday Night's Main Event show inside Madison Square Garden, but the tension remains scorching hot between the two SummerSlam opponents.
At Saturday Night's Main Event, Rhodes and Punk teamed up to take on the team of Gunther and Sami Zayn. The tag match had a special stipulation. If Gunther and Zayn were victorious, they would both get added to the already set Rhodes vs. Punk Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam.
The battle between both teams went back and forth with a handful of momentum shifts. In the end, Cody Rhodes was able to secure the pinfall on Gunther thanks to the help of SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis. Aldis pulled the referee out of the ring as he was about to count a pinfall win for Gunther. Both Gunther and Aldis have been at one another's throats since a physical altercation took place at Night of Champions.
After the match, Punk and Rhodes celebrated in the ring. Both men were respectful of the other, with Rhodes even raising Punk's arm. However, that's where the controversy began.
Rhodes raised Punk's arm up and then Punk flung his title belt over his shoulder. The back part of the belt smacked Rhodes in the face as Punk walked off and out of the ring. Rhodes was visibly annoyed by the move.
CM Punk and Cody Rhodes get in heated confrontation

Rhodes didn't let Punk forget it, interrupting Punk and Jackie Redmond in a special backstage interview before the two men got into a heated confrontation. Rhodes pushed Punk and questioned whether or not it was an accident. Punk said that it was and told Rhodes to calm down.
Rhodes wasn't having any of that. He kept pushing Punk and told Punk he was always the emotional one out there. Bobby Roode attempted to break up the argument, but both guys stayed in the face of the other. Rhodes and Punk continued to argue until Rhodes was talked down and walked away.
It won't be long before Punk and Rhodes can ease the tension between them with a fight. The two men will square off at SummerSlam in just two weeks' time. Punk's Undisputed WWE Championship will be on the line.
Cody Rhodes confronts CM Punk after Punk "accidentally" hits him in the eye with the Undisputed WWE Championship following the match, leading to a heated exchange between the two.
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WWE SummerSlam airs live on ESPN Unlimited and Netflix internationally on August 1 and August 2. WWE just revealed a special discount for tickets to the event, which is set to take place inside US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Announced matches for the event also include Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi inside Hell in a Cell.

Zack Heydorn has been covering the pro wrestling industry for a decade and writes news, features, and interviews for The Takedown On SI. He also hosts and cohosts a variety of WWE and AEW shows on YouTube. Heydorn is a former Assistant Editor of PWTorch and Managing Editor of SEScoops. Zack is also the author of the Hybrid Shoot book Stunning: The Wrestling Artistry of Steve Austin, which is available on Amazon. You can follow Zack on X and Bluesky.
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