Seth Rollins Beats CM Punk to Win WWE World Title in Return from Injury at SummerSlam

Seth Rollins shockingly cashed in his Money in the Bank contract after the World Heavyweight Championship match between Gunther and CM Punk on Night 1 of WWE SummerSlam on Saturday to win the world heavyweight title.

The Best in the World briefly won the title after hitting the GTS on Gunther twice. An emotional Punk then raised the belt in victory.

However, Punk could barely enjoy that moment thanks to Rollins.

Rollins' knee injury ended up being a ruse. He walked out on crutches and initially told the new champion to enjoy his belt for now.

However, he dropped the crutches, removed the knee brace, ran to the ring and attacked a tired Punk with the briefcase.

Rollins then cashed in his opportunity, hit the Stomp and quickly became the world heavyweight champion.

Rollins seemingly suffered a knee injury during a match against LA Knight at Saturday Night's Main Event last month, causing the bout to end abruptly.

The Visionary appeared on the Rich Eisen Show days later with crutches and a knee brace and said he would be "out for an extended period of time."

Rumors and speculation ran rampant that Rollins either wasn't hurt seriously or wasn't hurt at all, though, and his appearance at SummerSlam confirmed those rumors were correct.

The Gunther vs. Punk match was made official a few weeks ago on Raw when The Second City Saint won a Gauntlet match for the world heavyweight title, outlasting Bron Breakker, Penta, LA Knight and Jey Uso.

Before that, Gunther both recaptured and retained the World Heavyweight Championship in a pair of high-profile matches.

At WrestleMania 41, The Ring General's original, 259-day reign as world champ came to an end when he lost to Uso by submission.

The Austrian finally got his rematch on the June 9 edition of Raw, though, and he took advantage of the opportunity by beating Uso to become a two-time world heavyweight champ.

Gunther then put the title on the line against WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg at Saturday Night's Main Event on July 12 in the veteran's adopted hometown of Atlanta.

After being pushed to the limit, Gunther managed to beat Goldberg in his retirement match, ensuring he would carry the world title into SummerSlam.

Over the course of The Ring General's two world title reigns, Punk presented arguably his toughest test yet due to his track record of success and connection with the fans.

While Punk entered SummerSlam as a two-time WWE champion and three-time world heavyweight champion, he was still in search of his first title win since returning to WWE in November 2023.

Punk was in pursuit of gold at SummerSlam, but Rollins surprised him with one of the most impactful cash-ins in the history of the Money in the Bank contract.