Despite returning to WWE at Survivor Series 2023, a combination of injuries and Drew McIntyre making his life a living hell kept CM Punk away from John Cena until the 2025 Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event. They were the last two men left in the Elimination Chamber match, but for the first time in a long time, they were able to share a ring together, with pair of them telling each other that they missed one another. Cena would emerge victorious, but after Punk had left the ring, Cena turned heel for the first time in over two decades with the help The Rock and Travis Scott.

Cena would dethrone Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, defeat Randy Orton at Backlash, and dispose of R-Truth at “Saturday Night’s Main Event,” leading to Punk confronting him on the June 9 episode of “Raw.” Punk vowed to stop Cena from ruining wrestling and take the Undisputed WWE Championship for himself and the fans, but Cena had a trick up his sleeve. Knowing Punk’s stated opinions on Saudi Arabia and WWE’s events there, Cena said Punk could have a shot, but only if it took place in Saudi Arabia, to which Punk accepted.

In the weeks that followed on “WWE SmackDown,” the interactions between Cena and Punk have been eerily similar to their original feud in 2011, only this time the roles have been reversed. Punk is fighting for the fans and the good of the company, vowing to put an end to Cena’s reign of terror as Cena wants to leave the company at the end of the year with the title. The June 20 edition of “SmackDown” even saw Punk laid out in a table while Cena cut his own version of the “Pipebomb” in an almost mirror image of what happened 14 years ago.

This time, however, it was Punk with a trick up his sleeve. On the June 27 episode of “SmackDown,” the actual 14 year anniversary of the “Pipebomb,” he decided to flip the script on Cena by coming out as “The Doctor of Punkanomics,” complete with Cena’s old entrance music, “Word Life.” While the bars he spat won’t make Kendrick Lamar lose any sleep, the message was clear: Punk is ready to put an end to Cena’s title reign at Night of Champions.