WWE has announced that CM Punk will respond to Kevin Owens’ return on Friday’s SmackDown, setting up the first on-screen exchange between the Undisputed WWE Champion and the man who just earned a shot at him.
The August 7 episode airs live from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia at 8 PM ET on USA Network. It marks Owens’ first television appearance since SummerSlam.
Owens returned on Night 2 of the two-night event in Minneapolis. Nick Aldis, back in his role as SmackDown general manager, added Gunther and then Owens to what had been advertised as Sami Zayn vs. Finn Balor for the number one contendership. Owens hit Zayn with a Stunner and pinned him to win the fatal four-way.
It was his first match in 519 days. Owens had been out since March 2025 with a neck injury that required surgery, and he told Big E on the SummerSlam post-show that clearance did not come until weeks before the event. “Up to a month ago, I was like, ‘This may be it,'” he said.
The History Behind Punk vs. Owens
WWE has never run Punk vs. Owens as a singles match. Their closest brush came in a January 2025 SmackDown segment where the two traded promos and went their separate ways.
Triple H raised the pairing unprompted on the SummerSlam post-show and pointed past the storyline, describing “a lot of history that is behind the scenes” between the two, per Fightful’s transcription. No date has been set for the title match.
Punk retained against Cody Rhodes on Night 1 after Randy Orton returned and attacked Rhodes, a finish that left the champion’s reign with an asterisk heading into Philadelphia. You can catch up on everything that went down across SummerSlam Night 2.
Charlotte Flair vs. Jade Cargill
The grudge match was made official after the July 31 SmackDown in Green Bay. Cargill jumped Tiffany Stratton during a tag match, and Flair hit the ring to go after Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin before Stratton and Chelsea Green joined the brawl.
In a digital exclusive posted afterward, Flair told acting general manager Adam Pearce that sharing a ladder match with Cargill was not enough and asked for a singles bout. Pearce granted it. Flair has been hunting Cargill since Cargill and the Baddies attacked and injured her tag partner, Alexa Bliss.
Chelsea Green’s First Appearance as Interim Champion
Green will appear as Interim WWE Women’s Champion for the first time on television since outlasting four opponents in the SummerSlam ladder match. Cargill, Flair, Stratton, and Lash Legend were the other participants.
WWE crowned an interim champion because Rhea Ripley is out following knee surgery with no return timeline announced. Green has already rejected the interim tag publicly, which gives Friday’s segment an obvious starting point.
