Top WWE Stars Get Into Altercation At Live Event Before SummerSlam 2026

WWE

A pair of top WWE stars had a physical altercation at last night’s live event in Springfield, IL ahead of their match at SummerSlam 2026.

With SummerSlam weekend almost set to kick off at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday, WWE rolled into Springfield, IL for their July 30 live event – with the show headlined by a tag team match involving Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and Cody Rhodes.

Ahead of the SummerSlam Night One main event encounter, Punk and Rhodes teamed up to take on GUNTHER and Sami Zayn, and much like they did at the July 18 Saturday Night’s Main Event in Madison Square Garden, ‘The Best in the World’ and ‘The American Nightmare’ pulled off the win.

However, similarly to that match, there was an incident between Punk and Rhodes after the bell, another that at least appeared to be accidental, but many would argue it was not.

As can be seen below, in footage captured by brocklesnarguy on Instagram, Punk approached Rhodes from behind to celebrate their win, but Rhodes – seemingly unknowingly – lashed out with an elbow to Punk before he turned around.

After spending some time on the ground, Punk got back to his feet and got in Cody’s face. The pair would then be kept apart by WWE officials as they exchanged words in a fiery manner.

Shortly after Cody was led out of the ring he would return to the apron and throw his shirt at Punk, leading to officials such as Petey Williams once again stepping between the SummerSlam opponents.

Cody Rhodes ELBOWED CM Punk after their tag team match together at WWE Springfield and they had to be kept apart by officials 👀

(📸brocklesnarguy on IG)pic.twitter.com/zChthKML2b

— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) July 31, 2026

Personal History Between Characters Replaces The Babyface Vs. Heel Dynamic At SummerSlam

WWE SummerSlam’s two main event matches: Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins and CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes are, noticeably babyface vs. babyface battles – something that has become fairly common this year in WWE’s main event scene.

Rather than having one clear good guy and one bad guy, Reigns vs. Rollins and Punk vs. Rhodes are built upon the shared history of the men involved – as well as star power.

While there is perhaps more positive sentiment towards Reigns over Rollins and Punk over Rhodes, Reigns, Punk and Cody are arguably too popular to fully turn heel – with only Rollins able to fully get the fans against him during his run leading The Vision last year.

Punk admitted whilst talking to WWE Radio that fans likely wouldn’t boo him if he attempted to turn heel, something that plagued Randy Orton’s heel run heading into WrestleMania 42 – some stars’ legacy outweighs any dastardly deeds they can attempt to do.

In the absence of a true heel, Rhodes especially has at least as shown more edge to his character – something that is certainly appreciated, and necessary if the feud is to work long-term.

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