Spoilers for WWE’s Plans for Possible Title Match at SummerSlam

Author’s Note: This article contains spoilers for this week’s WWE SmackDown, so please be forewarned.

During the TV tapings for WWE SmackDown following last night’s WWE Raw, Cody Rhodes faced off against Jey Uso in a No. 1 Contenders Match for the WWE Undisputed Title, with the winner moving on to challenge Sami Zayn for the title on Monday Night Raw next week. Dave Meltzer offered more insight on how this could likely play out to set up a WWE Championship match at this year’s SummerSlam on today’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

At the SmackDown taping, Rhodes defeated Jey Uso, earning a future WWE Title shot against Zayn, which will take place at next Monday’s WWE Raw in Chicago, Illinois. Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez spoke about how this could be setting up the WWE Undisputed Title bout for SummerSlam 2026. Meltzer noted that Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk for the title was “always” the plan for SummerSlam. However, he’s unsure if Zayn’s title victory at Night of Champions has caused those plans to change.

Meltzer stated, “The plan for SummerSlam was always Cody Rhodes and CM Punk for the championship. Now, does that mean they’re changing the title on Monday, or they changed plans? I don’t know.”

However, Meltzer indicated that ever since Punk’s segment with Cody Rhodes following WrestleMania 42, and Punk’s subsequent “disappearing act” from TV following the April premium live event, the plan was to always have Punk come back, setting up one of the main event bout with Cody Rhodes at Summerslam. Melzter explained, “Punk and Cody for the championship, from the day he did that interview, the day after WrestleMania, all through the disappearing, that was always the main event for one of the two nights at SummerSlam.”

Meltzer added that the other two big matches planned for the event were also Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi. Both matches were made official during last night’s WWE Raw.

Will CM Punk Challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Undisputed Title at SummerSlam 2026?

CM Punk is rumored to be making his WWE TV return at next week’s Monday Night Raw, which is being held in his hometown of Chicago at the Allstate Arena. Meltzer speculated that Punk will “theoretically” appear at the show, setting up a move to the SmackDown roster and his likely main event title match at SummerSlam, which, based on WWE’s earlier plans, is the Cody Rhodes title match.

That would suggest that Sami Zayn will have a very short run with the WWE Title, losing it eight days after winning it for the first time in his career at WWE Night of Champions. WWE has not announced that Punk will be returning next week.

WWE SummerSlam 2026 takes place on August 1-2 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Both nights will air live on the ESPN App domestically and on Netflix internationally.

You can read the full, detailed spoiler results of this week’s WWE SmackDown RIGHT HERE

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Wrestling Observer Radio with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.