Do not Fall For WWE’s Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk WrestleMania 41 Entice

Within the closing moments of Monday’s Uncooked, CM Punk and Cody Rhodes electrified the followers, charming them with a verbal trade that was among the many finest issues the corporate has achieved creatively on this younger 2025.

Punk warned Rhodes that it was he, his pal, who was coming for the Undisputed WWE Championship after profitable the lads’s Royal Rumble match this Saturday in Indianapolis and that he would stab him within the entrance as a substitute of the again, like The American Nightmare’s different so-called “mates.”

Regardless of the clear setup for a WrestleMania important occasion and a social media response that prompt followers are able to see that matchup on the grandest stage, the WWE Universe mustn’t fall for this crimson herring.

Different Instructions

Way back to SmackDown earlier than Survivor Collection: WarGames, Punk and Roman Reigns have laid the groundwork for a rivalry that ought to culminate in a high-profile important occasion, probably at WrestleMania 41.

Whereas there may be nonetheless potential for The Authentic Tribal Chief to be busy with The Rock in Las Vegas come April 19-20, the Punk-Reigns match generated unbelievable social media curiosity, together with 1.4 million views on YouTube for his or her face-to-face confrontation and 6.8 million for a YouTube short of their interplay through the males’s WarGames match.

If Rock is unavailable and that dream match with The OTC is off the desk, the most important and most sensible match-up obtainable to WWE for its signature occasion is the battle between “Paul Heyman guys.”

Additionally obtainable for The Greatest within the World is a date with world heavyweight champion Gunther.

The Straight Edge Famous person gave his hometown followers in Chicago a style of what that match might appear like through the latest WWE Vacation Tour. He has additionally known as out The Ring Basic earlier than. The query is whether or not the corporate hierarchy believes the match is large enough to warrant prime billing on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

For Rhodes, there are a number of instructions to go in, together with a match with The Rock, with whom he planted the seeds for a contest on the Uncooked after final yr’s WrestleMania.

If that doesn’t come to fruition, an Undisputed WWE Championship match towards John Cena is another choice.

With The GOAT embarking on his retirement tour, he’ll search a historic seventeenth world title. What higher match to construct the most important present round than a battle between the heroic babyface of the earlier period and this period’s reply to him?

Punk laid out his reasoning for concentrating on Rhodes on Uncooked, and the corporate may simply construct round that popping out of Saturday’s present.

Nonetheless, there’s a precedent for not shopping for into the tense confrontation from this week’s Netflix broadcast that dates again to final yr’s go-home episode earlier than the Royal Rumble.

We Have Seen This Earlier than

One yr in the past, on the ultimate Uncooked earlier than the Rumble, Punk and Rhodes had a tense confrontation through which the previous talked in regards to the late Dusty Rhodes and claimed he was a greater consultant of the American Dream than Cody.

It ended with the opponents face-to-face, every jockeying for a WrestleMania important occasion and claiming to win the 2024 males’s Royal Rumble.

Whereas the primary faceoff featured two males chasing the identical objective, and the most recent noticed Punk seeking to take the WWE title that Rhodes received by way of his Rumble victory a yr in the past, it’s nonetheless not indicative of an impending showdown for the highest prize in skilled wrestling.

In any case, they have been an enormous a part of that go-home present in 2024, with no proof or expectation {that a} conflict between them was ever on the horizon.

Monday’s confrontation additionally served as a reminder from Punk to Rhodes that he’s burning the candle at each ends, resulting in him shedding the title, no matter whether or not it is The Greatest within the World or one other challenger.

It additionally put Punk able to “sustain,” as Rhodes famous. The Second Metropolis Saint has been sidelined by private vendettas with Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins since returning to the ring, preserving him out of title rivalry and taking his focus off of his finish objective of capturing a championship.

Will historical past repeat itself within the type of a program with Reigns that forestalls Punk from standing tall on the WrestleMania stage, with a championship held excessive overhead? It very properly may.

There’s undoubtedly cash to be produced from a Punk-Rhodes matchup. Their two verbal encounters have been electrical and left followers genuinely intrigued by what a program between the 2 of them might appear like.

As was the case a yr in the past, although, their most up-to-date altercation felt extra like WWE farming for a response whereas making certain this yr’s males’s Rumble is probably the most unpredictable of all time slightly than an trustworthy try to spotlight the feud that can main-event WrestleMania 41.

If not, and the pair do battle inside Allegiant Stadium in April, nice. They’ve earned that spot and supplied proof of their skill to captivate the viewers.

For now, although, it seems like a preview of issues nonetheless to return slightly than a match that’s in quick plans for this upcoming Street to WrestleMania.