Add as a preferred source on Google Cody Rhodes and CM Punk had to be separated following another heated incident ahead of their Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam.
The confrontation occurred during WWE’s live event on Thursday, July 30, at the Bank of Springfield Center in Springfield, Illinois. Rhodes and Punk teamed together in the main event, defeating GUNTHER and Sami Zayn.
Fan footage shared by @BrockLesnarGuy shows Rhodes catching Punk with an elbow after the match. Punk confronted his SummerSlam challenger immediately afterward, and the two men had to be separated. The footage does not make it clear whether Rhodes’ strike was accidental.
The incident continued the tension WWE has been building between Rhodes and Punk. Following their victory over GUNTHER and Zayn at Saturday Night’s Main Event on July 18, Punk appeared to accidentally strike Rhodes in the face with the WWE Championship.
That led to a backstage argument, with WWE later acknowledging that the two nearly came to blows both after the event and during the SummerSlam Kickoff.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Rhodes on the first night of SummerSlam on Saturday, August 1. It will be their first singles match against one another in nearly 18 years.