Cody Rhodes Loses Undisputed WWE Championship At Night Of Champions 2026

Published: 2 hours ago by Liam | Last Updated: 2 hours ago by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

A big title change has taken place at WWE Night of Champions as Cody Rhodes is no longer the Undisputed WWE Champion.

In the main event of the night, Rhodes put the title on the line in a three-way match against GUNTHER and Sami Zayn.

Ultimately, it was Zayn who emerged with the win and as the new Undisputed WWE Champion – Sami Zayn’s quest for a WWE world title has come to an end at the 10th time of trying.

While there are of course the previous lineages of the WWE Championship and Universal Championship, this exact version of the Undisputed WWE Title has now been held by five different men – Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes (three times), John Cena, Drew McIntyre and now Sami Zayn.

In other results tonight, Oba Femi defeated Jey Uso to win the King of the Ring tournament final, while IYO SKY won the Queen of the Ring final against Liv Morgan.

ADVERTISEMENT

Immediately after the match, SKY confirmed she’ll be challenging Morgan for the Women’s World Championship as her chosen world title match at SummerSlam.

What Next For Cody Rhodes After Losing The Undisputed WWE Championship

It has been a rare sight over the past couple of years to see Cody Rhodes without the Undisputed WWE Championship.

ADVERTISEMENT

Since WrestleMania 40 in April 2024, the only times he hasn’t held onto the title were the four months that John Cena held the title between Mania 41 and SummerSlam 2025 before Rhodes won it back, and then under two months earlier this year when Drew McIntyre won the title, before Rhodes won it back once again.

With that said, it might be time for WWE to remove Rhodes from the WWE Title situation for the time being, giving him a new issue to focus on before eventually going back to the championship picture.

That issue could come in the form of a returning CM Punk, who is reportedly set to return soon, specifically on the SmackDown brand, which would put him on the same show as Rhodes.

ADVERTISEMENT

Despite all their history, WWE has held back on a Punk vs Rhodes match, which was originally planned for WrestleMania 42, but is seemingly still planning to pull it off in the future.

While it may wait for a major event like WrestleMania 43, and could easily be the main WWE Championship program, Punk returning and challenging Rhodes’ spot as the top babyface on SmackDown could potentially lead to some unrest and a feud between the two in the coming months.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!

Get the latest wrestling news straight to your inbox

By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from WrestleTalk