WWE has officially announced that CM Punk will face John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Championship, with their long-awaited showdown to come at Night of Champions. The match has sparked a discussion about Punk’s involvement, given his past criticisms about WWE’s partnership with Saudi Arabia.
WWE has been planning for Punk to be part of the Saudi event for some time, Dave Meltzer reports. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that despite WWE removing Punk from a promo package for the event, the response from WWE sources was “he’s going.”
Punk has not shared any issues with going to Saudi Arabia in recent months, despite his past criticism of Saudi events. In an infamous, now-deleted tweet from 2020, Punk told The Miz to “Go suck a blood money covered d**k in Saudi Arabia you f**ing dork” when Miz made a comment on WWE Backstage Punk saw as a swipe at him. The two later reconciled when they crossed paths backstage at WWE RAW in 2023.
WWE Night of Champions will be held on Saturday, June 28, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It remains to be seen if Punk can be the one to save WWE from the ‘Unseen Seventeen.’