John Cena is on the run of a lifetime as a heel and has now crossed paths with one of his greatest rivals, CM Punk. Last week, WWE officially announced that The Franchise Player would defend his title against Punk at the Night of Champions PLE in Saudi Arabia. This week, Cena delivered a message that will forever haunt The Best in the World like a nightmare.
On the latest episode of SmackDown, Cena wrestled against a newly changed Ron Killings. After the Doctor of Thuganomics defeated the former R-Truth, he got the upper hand against Punk as well. He clocked his old rival with the title and destroyed him with an AA on the Slim Jim table. As Punk lay on the broken table, the 17-time World Champion took the mic and gave a reality check to him.
John Cena opened by claiming he didn’t dislike Punk—on the contrary, he liked him more than anyone Punk had ever shared a locker room with. But despite Punk’s self-appointed title as “Best in the World,” Cena argued that there’s only one thing Punk truly excels at: being the “best bullsh*tter in the world.” Cena didn’t hold back, accusing Punk of changing his values more often than he changed his T-shirts.
The Bumblebee actor called him a loudmouth opportunist who would step on the necks of people who worked harder than him. Cena then took the names of former WWE stars Claudio Castagnoli, Nic Nemeth, and Matt Cardona as victims of Punk’s ambition. Closing the promo, the Leader of Cenation blew a kiss to the camera, just like Punk did after winning the WWE title in 2011.
Former WWE Superstars Matt Cardona and Nic Nemeth Reacted to John Cena’s Pipebomb Promo on SmackDown
During Cena’s pipebomb promo, he name-dropped Claudio Castagnoli, Nic Nemeth, and Matt Cardona. These three were wrestlers who had a lot of potential but were unable to become main eventers. The 17-time World Champion accused Punk of crushing them as competitors and snatching the spotlight from them. After the show was over, Nemeth and Cardona reacted to the segment on social media.
While the Indy God took to X and said hello back by tagging Cena’s account, Nemeth shared a funny meme. It was a GIF where a man was seen saying “danger zone.” For those unaware, all three wrestlers are very good friends of Cena in real life. Castagnoli, fka Cesaro, was considered one of the strongest wrestlers ever in WWE. Unfortunately, despite winning a few tag titles and the U.S. Title in his career, he left the company three years ago.
Meanwhile, Cardona, fka Zack Ryder, rose to fame in 2011. He became the most trending superstar of that year and was pretty popular among fans. However, nothing much worked for him in his WWE career. He was released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nemeth, fka Dolph Ziggler, was the most successful out of the three, even winning the World Heavyweight Championship in 2012.