At SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk finally faced off for the first time since both men’s return to WWE after years of teases during promo segments.
The match ended with CM Punk retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship over Cody Rhodes after Randy Orton made his return to attack Cody, leading to Punk retaining the title.
The ending seemed to be setting up the potential for a rematch between the two men, likely at WrestleMania 43, however it turns out that is not currently planned for the show.
In today’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was noted that Cody vs. Punk is not the currently planned match for WrestleMania 43.
If that doesn’t end up being the Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 43, what will be?
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
Since he returned to WWE after over a year away back at SummerSlam, Kevin Owens has continued to chase the WWE Championship, which is held by his best friend/better enemy Sami Zayn.
With Sami himself becoming a two time WWE Champion this year, now more than ever it seems as though Owens could finally get his hands on another World Title after almost a decade.
The singles match between Owens and Sami has yet to happen, with it clearly being saved for something down the line, which could be at WrestleMania.
Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton
This year’s WrestleMania main event between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton was incredibly underwhelming through no fault of either of the two wrestlers involved.
The match that fans had wanted to see ever since Cody returned to WWE was overbooked with interferences from Pat McAfee and Jelly Roll, which led to a largely forgettable WrestleMania main event.
With Cody and Randy’s story picking back up since SummerSlam, WWE may run the match back next year to ‘make amends’ for last year’s botched execution, this time ending with a double turn and Cody Punting Orton to parallel this year’s ending.
CM Punk vs. Bron Breakker
CM Punk defended his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Bron Breakker in the main event of the first WWE Raw of 2026
With Oba Femi seemingly set to receive his crowning moment at WrestleMania next year against Roman Reigns, WWE has the chance to truly plant it’s flag for the future.
Bron Breakker and Oba Femi have continued to have issues over who truly is the future of the company, with their match going to a non-finish and issues still being unresolved.
At WrestleMania 21 and WrestleMania 37, WWE crowned it’s two new world champions that would lead their respective divisions into the future, and we could see a very similar situation this year, with Breakker finally getting the title from CM Punk after Punk defeated Bron on the first Raw of 2026.
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