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Overlooked Former WWE Champion Reacts To CM Punk’s SmackDown Promo: “Still Here”

By John Canton • Published Jul 11, 2026 17:00 EDT
CM Punk WWE Champion
CM Punk as WWE Champion on July 10th edition of SmackDown. Image via WWE.com

CM Punk mentioned several big names on WWE SmackDown, but one man not mentioned has a message for the WWE Champion.

It was a big week for CM Punk after returning to WWE television for the July 6th edition of Monday Night Raw as a replacement for an injured Cody Rhodes.

In a match against the 9-day WWE Champion Sami Zayn, CM Punk was able to put his opponent away with the GTS and became an 8-time WWE World Champion by winning the gold in his hometown of Chicago.

On WWE SmackDown in Oklahoma City, CM Punk spoke about talks to join the blue brand. When the WWE Title opportunity came up, he couldn’t say no, which led to his championship win.

During his SmackDown promo about being a fighting WWE Champion, Punk said he would take on all comers, naming some big stars on the SmackDown brand: Sami Zayn, Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest, Trick Williams…and that’s when former 3-time WWE Champion Cody Rhodes interrupted.

The discussion between Punk and Rhodes led to the two megastars agreeing to a WWE Championship match at SummerSlam on August 1 and 2 in Minneapolis.

Another WWE superstar, Matt Cardona, had a different reaction to what Punk said in the ring. The former United States Champion Cardona shared a photo with Punk from about 15 years ago when they were both champions and shared this message on X/Twitter:

“Everybody wants it…myself included.

STILL HERE.

ALWAYZ READY.

I’M NOT FINISHED.”

CM Punk Will Maintain A Full Schedule On WWE SmackDown

After being off WWE television for nearly three months following his epic WrestleMania 42 loss to Roman Reigns, CM Punk was off television, which led some to speculate that he might be a part-timer.

The part-timer label likely won’t apply to Punk because on his Instagram account, CM Punk listed all the non-televised WWE live events he plans to be at in July and August. All of those dates are in addition to regular appearances on SmackDown.

July 11  – Las Cruces, NM
July 12 – Albuquerque, NM
July 16 – Allentown, PA
July 25 – Stockton, CA
July 26 – Bakersfield, CA
July 30 – Springfield, IL
August 6 – Fairfax, VA
August 13 – Manchester, NH
August 20 – London, Ontario, Canada
August 22 – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
August 23 – Calgary, Alberta, Canada
August 29 – Savannah, GA
August 30 – North Charleston, SC

In addition to the SummerSlam match with Cody Rhodes, Punk will team with Rhodes on the July 18th edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event against Gunther and Sami Zayn.

WWE SummerSlam takes place on August 1 & 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Here’s the lineup so far:

  • WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins
  • Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk (c) vs. Cody Rhodes
  • Hell in a Cell Match: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
  • Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) vs. Iyo Sky

You can watch SummerSlam, a special two-night event STREAMING LIVE on Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited plan in the United States and on Netflix internationally.