CM Punk’s Path Back to Gold Could Run Through Old Rivals

CM Punk’s run atop SmackDown as Undisputed WWE Champion has ended, but the Second City Saint is already positioning himself back into title contention — and the road there is littered with familiar faces. Punk has feuded with nearly every major star to pass through WWE since 2005, and as he resets as a contender rather than a titleholder, several long-running rivalries look primed to reignite.

Cody Rhodes stands out as the most obvious candidate. The two only had their first-ever singles match this past summer, when Punk retained the Undisputed WWE Championship over Rhodes at SummerSlam with an assist from Randy Orton’s interference. Punk later told Rhodes at a house show that he could have a rematch whenever he wanted, acknowledging how murky that finish was. Now that both men are chasing the same title rather than one holding it over the other, a proper rematch feels less like a possibility and more like a formality.

Seth Rollins is another name hanging over Punk’s next chapter. Their feud was singled out by WWE itself as one of the promotion’s nastiest rivalries of the decade, and while the two haven’t had a clean one-on-one match since Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract at SummerSlam 2025, they’ve crossed paths repeatedly since — from a multi-man World Heavyweight Championship match at Clash in Paris to a mixed tag pairing Punk and AJ Lee against Rollins and Becky Lynch at Wrestlepalooza. With Rollins reportedly back working house shows, it may not be long before he and Punk are sharing a ring again, this time with real stakes.

Then there’s Drew McIntyre, WWE’s other pick for nastiest rivalry of the 2020s alongside the Rollins feud. Punk and McIntyre seemingly closed the book on their issues with a Hell in a Cell match at Bad Blood 2024, but McIntyre’s own 55-day reign as Undisputed WWE Champion earlier this year — sandwiched between title runs from Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn — keeps him tethered to the same championship picture Punk is now re-entering. McIntyre has been off WWE television since WrestleMania 42 while working on outside film projects, but a return to the title conversation would almost certainly put him back in Punk’s orbit.

None of these programs are confirmed, but the logic behind each is hard to ignore. WWE has spent the better part of three years mining Punk’s history for compelling television, and with the Undisputed WWE Championship now up for grabs again, it would be surprising if the company didn’t lean on at least one of these pre-existing rivalries to fill out the chase. Rhodes feels like the most immediate option given the unresolved nature of their SummerSlam finish, while Rollins and McIntyre both offer built-in drama the moment either resurfaces in a title-adjacent role.

Whichever direction WWE goes, Punk’s next feud is likely to feel less like a fresh start and more like unfinished business. Given how deep his WWE ledger runs, that’s probably by design.