In a rather shocking twist at SummerSlam 2026, WWE legend Randy Orton made a massive return after months to cost his best friend in the co-main event of the night.
CM Punk is still the WWE Champion after the co-main event of SummerSlam. That’s right – Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk didn’t actually headline SummerSlam Night One. That honor went to Oba Femi vs Brock Lesnar and their Hell in a Cell match. Many fans felt that the build-up to Cody vs Punk was underwhelming considering how big they are as superstars. Cody, Punk, and Roman Reigns are the undisputed three top stars of modern WWE. That’s why many thought that the WWE Championship would logically headline SummerSlam Saturday. However, that wasn’t actually the case.
Either way, the war ended in a bizarre way at SummerSlam. The Viper, Randy Orton, made a shocking return for the first time since WrestleMania 42 in April – three-and-a-half months ago. He hit the RKO on Cody Rhodes while the referee wasn’t looking and CM Punk was outuside the ring. Punk swooped in and hit the GTS, getting a slow three-count from Charles Robinson, but enough to retain his WWE Championship.
Orton was last seen over three months ago, when he lost in the main event of WrestleMania 42 Night One, and turned on Pat McAfee. The Orton-McAfee alliance is something that fans like to actively forget, and from the look of things, McAfee wasn’t feeling the response either, which is why he reportedly pulled out voluntarily, as did Jelly Roll.
Randy Orton ended the night by hitting a punt on Cody Rhodes and lifting the WWE Championship up in the air to signal that he was still in the rivalry, but he had vanished right after that, leaving everyone utterly confused about the storyline.
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Edited by Rohit Nath
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