CM Punk retained the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam. He did not get to close the show.
Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi went on last inside Hell in a Cell, sending Punk and Cody Rhodes into the semi-main slot despite ESPN and WWE having billed their title match as the Night 1 main event. Punk was asked about it at the post-show in Minneapolis.
Of course I had feelings, but I’m not one of these guys that has it in their contract that I HAVE to end the show.
He drew a distinction between the two things.
There’s a main event, then there’s the match that goes last. It ain’t for me to decide, I’m too old for that, I’m just gonna lace my boots up and beat somebody’s —-.
Then he closed the door on it.
Whether I’m first, whether I’m before intermission, I’m the popcorn match, semi-main, main, CM Punk is ALWAYS the main event.
The position is a shift from where he was a year ago. Ahead of SummerSlam 2025, Punk told ESPN MMA that him main eventing mattered for the title and that the championship should almost always be featured last.
The card gave WWE a reason to move things. Lesnar and Femi closed the trilogy in Lesnar’s home state, and Lesnar stayed behind afterwards to raise Femi’s hand and call him the future of the company.
Punk beat Rhodes after Randy Orton returned through the crowd and hit an RKO on the challenger. He won the title from Sami Zayn on July 6 in Chicago and is 1-0 as champion.
