Making the Case for CM Punk to Beat John Cena for the Title at WWE Night of Champions

WWE might have a pretty unique opportunity on its hands at the upcoming Night of Champions to have impeccable storytelling meet a shock result that goes down beloved by fans in history. 

No hyperbole, either…CM Punk just needs to beat John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship and end Cena’s heel run in the process.  

It’s no big secret that Cena’s heel turn has been a flop. There were some good ideas in there, like ruining pro wrestling, not giving fans what they want, an over-the-hill legend resorting to cheating because he can’t keep up anymore, etc.

But the heel turn has been as messy as all that sounds, poorly acted and featured poor actors, like Rock dipping in and out and, well, Travis Scott. 

It’s also no big secret that Cena and Punk have a history, to say the very least. So this wouldn’t be a shock just for the sake of a shock. His other major rivals are off in AEW (Edge), don’t need a win just yet and/or can wait (Randy Orton) or otherwise. 

Punk needs the win because, frankly, he’s getting up there in age and has more than done enough in feuds with the likes of Drew McIntyre to earn one last major title moment. And how fitting would it be if, after infamously escaping through the crowd by ending a Cena’s reign of terror all those years ago at a Money in the Bank show, he does it again? 

Much of this idea stems from mic work. Who is going to talk Cena off the heel ledge here? R-Truth, revamped? None of Cena’s other rivals come close to Punk on the mic and in promos, which isn’t even really fair to say because he’s arguably the GOAT in those areas. 

If WWE really wants to strive for those narrative, must-see highs of the Bloodline saga (which fittingly included Punk ally Paul Heyman), the story will slowly be Punk picking apart Cena’s reasons for his heelish turn and bringing him back to the light.

It almost sounds corny, sure. But Cena has shown slight, little flashes of regret here and there. A verbal dissection or two at the hands of Punk, who can deliver it well, could really make for great storytelling. It helps that it comes from a place of authenticity, too, given Punk’s experiences leaving pro wrestling, going to AEW and all the drama there, then finally coming back home. 

The idea puts down important groundwork for the future, too. Punk beating Cena would mean the former goes to SummerSlam a champion for another dream match while he gets up there in age, perhaps against Cody Rhodes. The latter could shift to babyface and start setting up his goodbye match, where he presumably gets retired by a great, or perhaps even goes out on his back for an up-and-coming star. 

Call it a gentle rug pull out of the Cena heel turn. Everyone expected he’d ultimately go back to the good side for at least a few months to really enjoy the last of his retirement tour. If all could collectively pretend the miserable hiccups of the journey along the way didn't happen, courtesy of Punk providing a high-quality off-ramp, things will look much better in hindsight. 

What stinks, obviously, is that Night of Champions takes place in Saudi Arabia. It’s not a big PLE and the time zone difference means a major moment would happen at some awkward time like 4 p.m. ET in the United States, risking a bulk of fans have to catch it on a replay while probably having it spoiled by social media and mobile notifications. 

This whole idea probably would have worked better at Money in the Bank, especially given their history at that particular PLE. Punk also pretty infamously has negative ideas about shows in Saudi Arabia as a whole, although that could make his promos even better (ie going over there to pull you back to reality while I win a title theme). 

Since WWE seems intent on throwing out the one-last-time match between Cena and Punk all these years later at an overseas show, the bookers might as well make it as special as it deserves to be with this sort of shocking finish, too. 

Perhaps it’s not even a one-off, either, depending on the pace of the story and how fans react to it. That’s the nice thing about listening to fans, as proper investment in something like this could lead to something really special that stretches beyond one show. 

Really zooming out, there are only a few things that feel capable of actually pulling Cena back from the heel side and ending his career the right way. If seeing upset kids in the crowd isn’t one of them, a verbal beatdown splashed with a lot of reality from a guy like Punk sure might do the trick. 

Maybe it’s fitting things have played out this way, though. The possibly final Punk-Cena encounter deserves to be more than a one-off on a lesser PLE. It arrives at just the right time to fix things for one of the most important heel turns ever, with Punk more capable than most of making it work.