CM Punk successfully retained the Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes at WWE SummerSlam 2026, but the match has quickly become one of the most divisive talking points coming out of the weekend.
While the bout generated significant discussion across social media, longtime wrestling analyst Bryan Alvarez was far less impressed.
Speaking after the event, Alvarez described the championship clash as one of the weakest major WWE title matches in recent memory, criticizing everything from the pacing to the crowd’s lack of engagement.
Bryan Alvarez Criticizes Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk
Alvarez argued that the match never found its rhythm and compared it unfavorably to some of John Cena’s recent heel-era championship defenses.
I thought this CM Punk-Cody Rhodes match was very bad. I thought this was the worst match involving a major championship since John Cena had that run where he was a heel and all of his matches were bad.
One moment in particular stood out to him: CM Punk’s attempted moonsault. Alvarez labeled it one of the worst he’d seen in a WWE main event, saying it took away from the overall presentation of the match.
Like, this match was so slow. The crowd was dead until, like, the last five minutes or so. CM Punk, for reasons I cannot explain, just like Brock Lesnar, like 30 seconds in, this guy’s purple.
And then he decides, ‘I’m going to do some crazy sh*t.’ He did, I’m pretty sure, the worst moonsault I have ever seen in a main event match on the main roster from any company. I mean, it was so horrible. And don’t yell at me. This is just on the internet. They have determined CM stands for ‘Cannot Moonsault.’
Beyond individual spots, he felt the contest lacked energy for long stretches, noting that the live audience appeared largely quiet until the closing moments.
Dude, I just can’t. I cannot sit here and say that this match was good. I cannot do that with a clear conscience.
Although Rhodes fell short against Punk at SummerSlam, his place near the top of WWE remains firmly established.
For now, the spotlight remains on the SummerSlam bout itself, a match that produced a successful title defense for CM Punk, but one that has sparked sharply divided reactions from fans and wrestling analysts.
