Cody Rhodes & CM Punk Get Heated On WWE Raw

As the Royal Rumble draws ever nearer, friendships are out the window in WWE as Cody Rhodes and CM Punk showed on Raw.

CM Punk shocked the world when he returned to WWE at Survivor Series almost ten years after he infamously walked out of the company. Punk’s last televised match in the company remains the 2014 Royal Rumble bout and it looks like his first one since returning will be the men’s Royal Rumble taking place on January 27th.

Standing in his way will be another 29 WWE Superstars and chief among them is Cody Rhodes who is looking to win his second Rumble match in succession and finally finish his story at WrestleMania 40.

CM Punk & Cody Rhodes Come Face To Face On WWE Raw

On the 1,600th edition of Monday Night Raw, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes came face-to-face, each making clear that they’d go through the other to claim a Royal Rumble victory.

Things started respectfully enough with Punk recalling being asked by The American Dream Dusty Rhodes to keep an eye out for Cody in OVW in 2007. Punk admitted he’s proud of what Rhodes has achieved but says at the Royal Rumble he feels like he’ll have to break his promise to Dusty as he’ll be looking for Cody in the Rumble match.

Rhodes then called the confrontation bittersweet due to his friendship with Punk and then they reflected on the very different paths they took to get to the top. Punk got personal as he told Rhodes that he didn’t have a famous dad and that his own father was a blue-collar electrician which makes Punk more of The American Dream than Cody is.

Who won the battle on the mic tonight on #WWERaw? pic.twitter.com/ptGPHkCXr9

— WWE (@WWE) January 23, 2024

Rhodes harked back to his final AEW promo when he again noted that while Punk laid out his vision in his revered “pipebomb” promo, Cody Rhodes was the one who actually went and did those things which makes him more CM Punk than Punk is.

As Cody Rhodes was leaving the ring, the two bumped shoulders leading to a tense nose-to-nose confrontation but things stopped short of getting physical.