CM Punk and John Cena face off on SmackDown in Saudi Arabia.
John Cena faced CM Punk at WWE Night of Champions 2025, presumably for the last time, as WWE embarked in a bold storyline where CM Punk—like every human being who ever lived—had to confront his hypocrisy. In CM Punk’s case, Punk faced the “hypocrisy” of criticizing Saudi Arabia’s human rights issues while still competing in a Saudi Arabian PLE.
Is that hypocrisy?
That doesn’t seem any more hypocritical with an American criticizing the United States for the human rights violations that built this country, only to continue living in America. But I digress.
CM Punk apologized to a Saudi fan for an old tweet after being booed during Friday’s kickoff event, and it seemed to work as Punk was massively over with fans at Night of Champions.
Cena seemed to join CM Punk in turning babyface for this crowd. First, Cena declined using the belt as a weapon after fans begged him not to with chants of “No!” Then Cena stopped a Money in the Bank cash-in, only to be attacked by Seth Rollins’ goons. Both Cena and Punk fought them off. The match ending, however, suggested otherwise.
Everything That Happened With John Cena Vs. CM Punk
Fans unanimously cheered CM Punk and sang his theme music. He received a mixed reaction during the ring introductions. Saudi chanted “John Cena sucks!” as Cena marched toward the ring. Fans said Cena’s intro, line for line, along with Mark Nash and he was cheered.
There was a lot of posturing early on with Cena and Punk exchanging holds. Fans broke into “Ole” chants, which seems to be a chant in appreciation for a main event-level match. This was the case during the opener between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes.
Punk enveloped Cena in a Black Widow hold, shades of AJ Lee, who was mentioned on commentary.
The pace quickened a bit as Cena hit his signature comeback, punctuated by a Five Knuckle Shuffle. Punk cut Cena off before he could hit an AA and hit a comeback of his own with a running knee and a flying elbow. Cena fought out of the GTS and locked in an STF.
Punk fought out of the Attitude Adjustment but ate a GTS for his troubles. Punk kicked out, planted Cena with a DDT and slapped on an STF of his own. After a second running knee, Cena countered the bulldog with a side slam and a second AA for a nearfall.
Cena countered a cross body from Punk and hit a third AA for another nearfall. A desperate John Cena grabbed the WWE Championship belt in a familiar scene. Cena prepared to strike CM Punk with the belt as fans chanted “No!” Cena tossed the belt to the side and went for the AA. Punk countered with a GTS for the nearall. Heel Cena going babyface for Saudi Arabia and almost losing because of it was certainly a choice. Michael Cole suggested Cena allowed the fans to get to him.
Cena and Punk went back and forth with strikes, and Riyadh cheered for both. Cena accidentally took out the referee Dan Engler, leading to a GTS and a visual pinfall by Punk. Punk called for another referee, but he got Seth Rollins and his unnamed faction.
Rollins sicced Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman against CM Punk. The pair hit an ugly double-spinebuster on the Arabic announce table. Fans chanted “OTC” as Rollins called for an official. As Robinson sprinted down the ramp, he was pounced by John Cena, who continued to act like a babyface and was cheered for it. Cena hit the AA on Rollins as Breakker and Reed attacked John. This brought out Penta and Sami Zayn to even the odds.
Both Cena and Punk fought off Rollins’ goons as they had no choice but to attack the heels to prevent Rollins from cashing in. Cena was basically a full babyface at this point.
Cena and Punk embraced in the ring, but Cena reverted to his heel ways and kicked Punk in the groin. Rollins hit the ring with a Stomp and Cena stole the pin for the win.