The final moments of this past week’s WWE SmackDown saw John Cena deliver a methodical physical and verbal dismantling of his Night of Champions opponent, CM Punk. After putting Punk through a table, Cena usurped his rival’s most iconic moment, delivering a caustic parody of the famous 2011 “pipebomb” promo to escalate their feud for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
With Punk laid out amidst the wreckage of a table, Cena sat on the turnbuckle and began his verbal assault. It has been revealed that Cena is writing his own promotional material for this storyline, and he twisted Punk’s own words against him. He labeled Punk the “best bullshitter in the world” and no longer the “Voice of the Voiceless,” but rather a “millionaire,” a “capitalist,” and “Mr. TKO.” In a direct mockery of Punk’s own shoutout to Colt Cabana years ago, Cena name-dropped former WWE talents Claudio Castagnoli, Nic Nemeth, and Matt Cardona. Cena concluded by stating that while Punk may have been the “Best in the World” for seven minutes 14 years ago, he himself is the “greatest of all time.”
The promo served as the punctuation mark on a brutal beatdown. The confrontation ignited after Cena intentionally lost his main event match against R-Truth via disqualification. When Punk ran to the ring to confront the champion, Cena quickly neutralized him with a low blow and a shot from the title belt. He then methodically set up a table in the center of the ring and drove Punk through it with an Attitude Adjustment.
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This entire segment has been praised as some of the most compelling work of Cena’s current run. As the show went off the air, unseen camera footage captured the aftermath of the attack, showing a visibly defeated and shattered CM Punk walking away from the ring, selling the impact of both the physical and verbal assault ahead of their championship clash on June 28.
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