Friday night on Smackdown, as CM Punk continues chasing history, Kevin Owens has an opportunity to change it.
At SummerSlam, Punk entered the event separated from Cody Rhodes by a single point in the WrestleMania Era's all-time rankings. Forty years of WWE history had somehow produced two modern stars whose careers, according to the WrestleMania Era Model, were separated by almost nothing. As such, the historical stakes went well beyond the WWE Championship.
Punk won the match, positioning himself well down the final third of the year. Now, the climb continues. Entering his title defense against Owens, Punk sits #2 in the 2026 All-WWE standings. He's currently the #1 ranked Performer in WWE and tied for #1 in the race for the company’s top champion of the year.
More importantly, another big-time year is beginning to reshape Punk's historical standing.
As we explored before SummerSlam in History Beckons: Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, and the One Point That Separates Them, Punk entered the summer within striking distance of one of the most exclusive statistical thresholds in modern WWE history: The 100 Club.
Only sixteen wrestlers in the WrestleMania Era have accumulated 100 career points according to the WME model. Punk is closing in fast. If he can hold the WWE Championship while continuing the kind of performance season he's already having, he will likely finish ahead of Cody Rhodes in 2026 and could finally cross that threshold, joining and perhaps surpassing his generational contemporary, Daniel Bryan, for 16th all-time.
Of course, KO couldn't care less about any of that. He is climbing an historical ladder of his own.
Kevin Owens Is Closer Than You Think
KO currently sits ten positions behind CM Punk in the WrestleMania Era's all-time rankings. In terms of historical points, the distance between them is admittedly considerable, as one might expect when they closely examine both men’s careers. Roughly thirty points separate them, and with the season Punk is having, that gap could continue to grow.
Accordingly, Owens isn't knocking on the door of the 100 Club any time soon. Maybe someday.
Right now, he's climbing a different mountain:
The Top 25.
Owens currently sits just outside that group, only seven historical points behind the man occupying the #25 position: Drew McIntyre.
The Scottish Warrior is, of course, not finished building his own résumé, which makes Owens' pursuit considerably more interesting. The fact that KO is this close at all tells us something about what has quietly happened to his own historical standing over the past several years.
He’s been climbing.
In fact, KO’s place in WWE history may be considerably stronger than many fans realize.
He was First Team All-WWE in both 2015 and 2016, establishing himself almost immediately as one of WWE's most important performers. He followed that with a Second Team All-WWE selection in 2017.
Those seasons established the foundation, but it was his more recent resurgence that changed the trajectory of his all-time bona fides. In 2023, he returned to First Team All-WWE status, one year after he’d main-evented WrestleMania with Stone Cold Steve Austin. Then, he followed it with a Second Team All-WWE finish in 2024.
It changed where Kevin Owens belongs historically. His recent run has vaulted him ahead of names including The Ultimate Warrior, Ted DiBiase, and Owen Hart in the WrestleMania Era rankings.
Now the Top 25 is within reach. A major title match against one of WWE's biggest stars matters in the Headlining. The quality of the match itself creates an opportunity to establish himself in the yearly Performance rankings. Owens can also play spoiler. In winning the title, KO would interrupt Punk's march toward the 100 Club while simultaneously creating exactly the kind of opportunity Owens needs to accelerate his own historical climb. That's the beauty of a match like this within the WrestleMania Era Model. One night can affect all three pillars.
And when a wrestler is seven points away from the Top 25, these opportunities matter.
That's one of the fascinating things about studying wrestling history while it is still happening. Careers aren't finished being historical until they're finished, obviously, but Punk has now proven in back to back months that often these quietly huge moments are happening that shape how we remember conversations about greatness.
Much like last month, this isn’t simply about the WWE Championship.
Punk has history to make. Owens has ground to gain. Friday night, each man has an opportunity to alter the trajectory of both.