Randy Orton Returns and Costs Cody Rhodes the Undisputed WWE Championship

CM Punk is still the Undisputed WWE Champion.

Punk defeated Rhodes at SummerSlam and the victory featured the return of a familiar Cody Rhodes rival.

The match occupied the co-main event slot on SummerSlam Saturday and felt like an old-school encounter from the minute the bell rang. Both guys slowly worked to get the upper hand in the early parts of the match, but then they each focused on specific body parts.

Punk started. He saw that he had injured Rhodes' shoulder and then targeted his attack on the injury for the rest of the match. Later in the match, Rhodes sensed an injury to Punk's knee and did the exact same thing.

The Best in the World RETAINS ⭐️@CMPunk defeats Cody Rhodes after the interference by Randy Orton. pic.twitter.com/3t2j9MoFZR
— WWE (@WWE) August 2, 2026

Both men were compromised because of the injuries, but continued on. Rhodes was able to secure some momentum from Punk and got a near fall after a Cody Cutter. Soon after, Punk attempted a GTS, but Cody countered it into a leg submission on the same leg that was hurt.

The battle continued and included Punk locking Rhodes in the Anaconda Vice submission. Punk also hit a moonsault from the top rope and kicked out of Cross Rhodes. Rhodes maintained pace with Punk and kicked out of the GTS.

Randy Orton returns to WWE at SummerSlam

Near the end of the match, Randy Orton made his return. Orton ran into the ring while Rhodes was in it and the referee was down with Punk on the outside of the ring and hit Rhodes with an RKO. Orton hadn't been seen in WWE since WrestleMania 42.

After that, Punk rolled back into the ring, connected with a GTS, and made the cover for the win. Punk celebrated in the ring with the title and the audience.

Punk wasn't the only champion to retain his title at SummerSlam on Saturday night. In the opening contest of the show, Liv Morgan defeated Iyo Sky to keep her hands on the WWE Women's World Heavyweight Championship. Sky countered Oblivion, but was then tagged with a Codebreaker right after. Morgan was then able to hit Oblivion for the win.

RANDY ORTON IS BACK 😱😱😱

RKO TO CODY RHODES!!!! pic.twitter.com/3IK4QrUHSL
— WWE (@WWE) August 2, 2026

Night two of SummerSlam is on Sunday. In the main event, Seth Rollins will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Rollins is attempting to re-secure the title he never lost and Reigns is trying to get his first definitive win over Rollins since their days together in The Shield.

Other announced matches for night two include Chad Gable vs. Penta for the WWE Men's Intercontinental Championship and a ladder match to crown an interim WWE Women's Champion.

Add us as a preferred source on Google