Randy Orton returns at SummerSlam, costs Cody Rhodes title match against CM Punk

Night 1 of SummerSlam didn’t pull any punches and drastically changed the landscape of the WWE Universe.Generational talent Randy Orton made a stunning return, while another WWE legend seemingly said goodbye to in-ring competition.Let’s recap all the mayhem from SummerSlam Night 1.The Viper Strikes Cody RhodesOn paper, Cody Rhodes versus CM Punk for the WWE […] The post WWE SummerSlam Night 1 Results: Randy Orton Returns, Brock Lesnar Retires appeared first on HEAVY.

Popular WWE superstar Randy Orton returned to WWE for the first time in months at SummerSlam 2026 to interfere in the Cody Rhodes vs CM Punk match. Both stars took part in a star-studded match for the WWE Undisputed Championship. However, Orton returned at the end to cost Rhodes the match when the referee was […] The post Randy Orton Makes Shocking WWE Return At SummerSlam 2026 appeared first on HEAVY.

Randy Orton returns at SummerSlam to shock the wrestling world.

Randy Orton returned to cost Cody Rhodes the WWE Championship against CM Punk at SummerSlam Saturday.

Randy Orton returned at WWE SummerSlam 2026, hitting Cody Rhodes with an RKO to cost him his title match against CM Punk.

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes have spent the past couple months telling us all about how they’ve been such great friends for so many years but they’re going to put that aside for the sake of greatness. They both agreed — being WWE champion is more important than being friends with each other. So they got together at tonight’s (Sat., Aug. 1, 2026) SummerSlam premium live event at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the title on the line. This just one night after they finally had a big pull apart brawl on Friday Night SmackDown. There was chatter among the rumor mongers that something could be afoot, or at least hints of something. Well… RANDY ORTON IS BACK 😱😱😱 RKO TO CODY RHODES!!!! pic.twitter.com/3IK4QrUHSL — WWE (@WWE) August 2, 2026 Sure enough, Randy Orton made his big return to WWE television, hitting the scene after a referee bump late in the match and hitting an RKO OUTTA NOWHERE to leave Rhodes laid out in the middle of the ring. Before that, they put together a classic Triple H epic style match, with lots of selling and plenty of should be finishes. Punk sold a bad knee for much of the encounter but he had enough in him to hit the GTS when it mattered. It’s worth pointing out that Punk had rolled out of the ring, and was never actually witness to Orton running in and putting Rhodes down for him. They made mention of as much on commentary too. We’ll see what happens with that from here. For now, though, Punk remains the WWE champion, friendship be damned. Get complete SummerSlam results and coverage of every match on the night on card by clicking here.

WWE SummerSlam 2026 results as Randy Orton returns and costs Cody Rhodes the WWE Title against CM Punk.