By John Christopher Aquino
Undisputed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Champion John Cena has unleashed a scathing promo on “Friday Night Smackdown”, recreating CM Punk’s infamous “pipebomb” from 2011.
“The Last Real Champion” dropped the fiery promo after laying waste to Punk, who came out to attack Cena following his match with R-Truth.
“Punk, as you lay there in your most uncomfortable… Somebody’s afraid of what I’m going to say. I hope you can listen. I hope you can digest. Because before I leave here in six months with that WWE Championship, I got to get a whole lot of stuff off my chest,” Cena stated after slamming Punk through a table.
“First thing’s first, I don’t hate you, I don’t even dislike you… I hate this idea that you’re the best in the world, you’re not. I’m the greatest of all time,” the 16-time world champion said, as Cena himself was put through a table before Punk made his off-script speech 14 years ago.
Cena mocks Punk
Further on, Cena referenced more call backs to his opponent’s 2011 tirade, as well as going after Punk calling him a “loudmouth opportunist”, accusing him of going over hardworking people to get himself ahead.
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He then waved at the camera, greeting former WWE stars who are currently working at different wrestling promotions.
“Hey Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro). Hey Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler). Hey Matt Cardona (Zack Ryder),” Cena said as the fans were shocked with the name drops.
Cena continued his verbal attack, calling Punk a sell-out and no longer the “Voice of the Voiceless”.
“You’re promo potato salad, pal. Hey, you’re no longer the ‘Voice of the Voiceless,’ you’re a freaking millionaire. Despite yourself, you’re not punk, you’re a capitalist,” Cena said, as he is set to defend his championship against Punk at Saturday’s “King and Queen of the Ring” event in Saudi Arabia.
Fans praise Cena
Fans praised Cena’s verbal destruction of Punk, with some stating that it is his best work of his current heel run.
“John Cena really dropped one of the GREATEST promos of all time,” one fan stated on X.
“Gotta watch this one more time. This was a classic,” another fan said, as the segment now has over two million views on YouTube.
WWE legend Bully Ray called the promo a full circle moment, stating that it is “beautiful storytelling”.
“There’s zero to not like. He did it so f—ing well last Friday night that he kinda makes up for whatever you didn’t get the last couple of weeks,” the hall-of-famer said during a podcast.
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