Overview
- The storyline shifted when CM Punk won the Undisputed WWE Championship and a singles match with Cody Rhodes was booked for SummerSlam, a sequence WWE tightened after Saturday Night’s Main Event to keep the matchup one‑on‑one.
- During the SNME tag that followed Punk’s title win, Punk flipped the WWE Championship and the strap hit Rhodes in the left eye on camera, a clip WWE posted to its social feeds.
- Rhodes confronted Punk backstage at Madison Square Garden over the belt incident and the two had to be pulled apart by Robert Roode and Trick Williams while both angrily told the cameraperson to stop filming; WWE also posted that footage.
- The tension carried to WWE’s SummerSlam Kickoff stage where Punk downplayed Rhodes’s concerns and accused him of paranoia about being betrayed, while Rhodes refused to apologize and pressed that Punk’s actions were not accidental.
- WWE appears to be deliberately escalating physical and verbal beats to create clearer animus between two top babyfaces, a creative move meant to build heat before August’s SummerSlam and one that could lead to a character turn or clearer antagonist role.