CM Punk and Drew McIntyre have been embroiled in a bitter rivalry since last November. (Credit: … [+] WWE/Getty Images)
Drew McIntyre got the first leg up on CM Punk with a victory at WWE SummerSlam, but this one is not over yet—not by a long shot.
With Seth Rollins, a bitter rival of both stars, serving as the special guest referee in Cleveland Browns Stadium, it was Punk’s issue with Rollins—laid out by Punk with a GTS—that allowed McIntyre to hit a second Claymore kick to pick up the win on his longtime nemesis.
The long-awaited first fight between two of WWE’s biggest stars became less about the issues between McIntyre and Punk and more about Rollins, the X-factor and enemy of both stars. But this was always going to be the first of many more battles pitting the controversial Punk against the despised McIntyre.
And it’s wild to think that Punk vs. McIntyre was really just a pivot resulting from Punk’s injury on the road to WrestleMania 40.
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That, of course, resulted in McIntyre vs. Rollins at WrestleMania 40, with McIntyre beating Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship only to be screwed out of the title minutes later by Punk. When Punk attacked McIntyre and allowed Damian Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase and end McIntyre’s title run after just five minutes, that set off a chain of events that has resulted in what is far and away the best feud in wrestling in 2024.
Punk made it his mission to cost McIntyre every opportunity he had to become world champion, and most notably, he did exactly that at Money in the Bank, where he spoiled McIntyre’s cash-in attempt. Not only has Punk cost McIntyre the world title, but he also cost him a guaranteed world title shot and has been the proverbial thorn in McIntyre’s side for the better part of a year.
The loathed McIntyre has lost big matches time and time again—until SummerSlam, that is—and the two common demonitors in the equation have been Rollins and Punk. But as much of a pain as Rollins has been, the immediate beef here is between Punk and McIntyre, who appear destined to have one of those long-running rivalries filled with marquee pay-per-view matches for the rest of the year.
Perhaps the returning Bad Blood event, taking place on October 5th, will be the climax of the McIntyre vs. Punk feud, likely in a major gimmick match such as Hell in a Cell. That necessitates a number of big twists and turns en route to get there, the first of which came when Rollins counted the pin on Punk, moments after being hit with a GTS, as the special guest referee at SummerSlam.
WWE cannot just do a series of regular singles matches between Punk and McIntyre and expect it to work. Each match between the two stars must feel different, all while setting the stage for the seemingly inevitable clash between Punk and Rollins that could be on the cards for WrestleMania 41 after WWE missed out on for WrestleMania 40. at SummerSlam? Mission accomplished.
Rollins’ presence at SummerSlam was a nice layer to this multi-layered feud, and with WWE Bash in Berlin, Bad Blood and Crown Jewel all coming up within the next few months, WWE has a chance to make McIntyre vs. Punk one of the best rivalries in company history.
It’s already halfway there, and after Punk lostat SummerSlam, all signs point toward this feud going down as an all-timer when it’s all said and done—even if the SummerSlam match wasn’t exactly an in-ring classic.
