CM Punk Says Cody Rhodes Is Paranoid He’ll Stab Him In The Back: I Am Not John Cena Or Randy Orton

Ishaan SharmaJuly 19, 2026, 10:42 pm

CM Punk says Cody Rhodes is paranoid that he’s going to turn on him.

At Saturday Night’s Main Event, Cody Rhodes and CM Punk teamed up to take on Gunther and Sami Zayn. During the bout, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis returned to cost Gunther and Sami the match.

Following the match, as Punk was leaving the ring with his WWE Championship, he accidentally hit Cody in the face with the belt’s strap. Later, Cody went backstage to confront Punk about this.

During the SummerSlam 2026 kickoff show, both wrestlers were face-to-face again. Punk said that the backstage interaction at SNME was a regrettable incident and that they should both move on from it by apologizing. Cody said they’re not brothers, and he’s not apologizing for it.

The Cult of Personality responded to Cody, telling the audience he’s just paranoid that Punk is going to turn on him, as John Cena and Randy Orton did.

“Okay. You’re still mad about it. That’s your ego talking. I understand. No, listen, I understand. If you want to do it in public, we can do it in public. He’s paranoid, okay? John Cena stabbed him in the back. Randy Orton stabbed him in the back. You’re paranoid it’s going to happen again and again. You want the title? You got a title shot. We’ll find out who the best is at SummerSlam. But I’m not going to stab you in the back. I am not John Cena. I am not Randy Orton. This is your ego speaking.”

Cody said he doesn’t want to hear about ego from Punk.

“Guess what? Newsflash. I’m wearing purple pants. Clearly, I have an ego. It’s transparent. I learned later than you. I don’t know it all like you do, right? So I do have an ego, but you, there’s so much that’s unsaid between you and I. It is very hard to be your friend sometimes because don’t talk to me about ego. Last night, your mask slipped. That wasn’t an accident. So I don’t want to hear any of this ego bullshit.”