‘You Don’t Need To Big Brother Me Anymore, I Grew Up’ – WWE Star Addresses CM Punk Relationship Change

WWE

Cody Rhodes has opened up about how his “big brother/little brother” relationship with CM Punk in WWE has changed over time.

With the two set to face off at WWE SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes recently reflected on his relationship with CM Punk during an appearance on The Tonight Show, saying:

“I feel like we never faced each other, because 18 years ago I had come to WWE and my dad – which was unbeknownst to me, and often in pro wrestling, the fact and the fiction is hard to figure out – Punk had said to me in the ring, when we did a promo together recently: ‘Your dad told me to look out for you, he told me to watch out.’ And I know that to be sincere, so he’s filled in a very big brother way this whole time.”

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CM Punk defeated CM Punk on the September 22, 2008, episode of WWE Raw, with the pair having previously teamed together in OVW in a victory over Shawn Spears and Jay Bradley the previous June.

Exploring their relationship further, Rhodes would comment on his current run as The American Nightmare and how that impacts his feelings towards Punk, stating:

“But to me – American Nightmare, the Best in the World CM Punk and current WWE Champion – we’ve never really had a match. So what we’re doing at US Bank, Minnesota, SummerSlam, the main event, that’s really a first-time ever for me. With a big brother, little brother situation, also I’m 41, you don’t need to big brother me anymore. I grew up. ‘Hey buddy, I’m grown up now.’ I’m gonna show him what’s what now, and I think we both want to find out.

“All respect in the world, CM Punk, even though, just down the street, recently Madison Square Garden, big good guy tag team, end the match with a big high five, yeah all that. Dude goes to put the title on – this is The Garden, you can’t get embarrassed in The Garden – he flips it, and it hit me right in the eye.”

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Jimmy Fallon would state that he thought the injury from the title flip was an accident, however, after replaying the footage, he would take back this belief, with Rhodes going on to say:

“It’s clearly not an accident. But this isn’t – God bless, this isn’t Des Moines, Iowa; this was Madison Square Garden, New York City. This is New York City; that’s not how you want it to go.

“So, in the wrestling game, we have a thing called a receipt… He’s got a receipt coming. You gotta tag him back, brother style. He got me, and this one, I’ll be at least looking at him for it.”

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Addressing the upcoming match at WWE SummerSlam, Triple H would note that it is “years in the making… and the time is now!”

The Singles Matches Of Cody Rhodes & CM Punk

Despite respective runs in WWE and AEW, the paths of CM Punk and Cody Rhodes have rarely crossed when it comes to singles action.

The September 2008 match on WWE Raw would be followed by multiple tag team matches, including Punk and Kofi Kingston defeating Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase for the World Tag Team Championship.

They wouldn’t see singles action again until December 29, 2008, with Rhodes being victorious, albeit via countout.

Since that encounter, the rest of their time in WWE would be spent in tag team or multi-man encounters, right up to the Royal Rumble in January 2014, with no matches together when they were both on the AEW roster.

Royal Rumble 2024 would see both men in a WWE ring once again, with their first televised match being at Survivor Series WarGames in November the following year, teaming up with Roman Reigns & The Usos in a loss to Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre & The Vision (Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed & Logan Paul).

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• SummerSlam
• Cody Rhodes
• wwe
• cm punk

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