Add as a preferred source on Google CM Punk will main event night one of SummerSlam exactly 20 years to the day after his WWE television debut.
Punk defends the Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes on Saturday, August 1, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, in the top spot on the first of the two-night show. It was August 1, 2006, that Punk beat Justin Credible on ECW on Sci-Fi in his first televised WWE match, shortly after being brought up to the relaunched ECW brand.
Punk brought the anniversary up during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, and made it clear he doesn’t view it as a lead-in to a send-off.
“I do believe August 1st, Saturday, first night of SummerSlam, the show that I’m wrestling on, will be my 20th anniversary of debuting in the WWE, and what keeps me going is the fact that everyone kind of looks at that like, ‘Oh, you’re finishing up. You’re getting ready to say goodbye,’ and I look to older athletes that have been in that same position and I’m talking LeBron (James), Tom Brady, people who are extraordinary at what they do when they necessarily shouldn’t be that good and that kind of feeds the drive and the ego a little bit. I like proving people wrong.”
That tracks with what Punk told Busted Open Radio on the recently launched WWE Radio, where he said he isn’t putting a date on his retirement. It won’t come down to a contract or a set number of matches, but to his health, and he said he’s never felt better and plans to go until the wheels fall off.
SummerSlam will also be the first singles match between Punk and Rhodes in nearly 18 years. They last worked a singles match on the December 29, 2008 episode of RAW, which Rhodes won by count-out.
The circumstances are considerably different this time. Punk goes in as champion, having beaten Sami Zayn for the title on the July 6 RAW in Chicago after Gunther took Rhodes out backstage and left him unable to work his scheduled rematch. Zayn had won the belt off Rhodes in a triple threat with Gunther at Night of Champions nine days before that, and Rhodes is finally getting his shot at it here.