John Cena says C.M. Punk wrestling in Saudi Arabia made him cry

John Cena was moved to tears after wrestling C.M. Punk at the WWE Night of Champions PLE on June 25.

“Gosh, one of the moments in sports entertainment that’s larger than sports entertainment is Phil Brooks (C.M. Punk) going to Saudi Arabia,” Cena said during his appearance on the Dec. 9 edition of Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “That s— made me cry… like, awesome, awesome. Accountability, vulnerability, apology, forgiveness. Cultures melding into each other and then he comes out and does my gimmick. Like, how do you follow what I did? He came up with this crazy idea. I’m like, ‘Dude, you have to do that’ and he crushed it. He absolutely just crushed it.

Cena was asked what his favorite career moment was and he said it was wrestling Punk at Night of Champions. He also told Van Vliet that Punk is his “wrestling soulmate” when discussing why their match in Saudi Arabia was so meaningful to him.

Punk appeared at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia after being critical of the WWE relationship in the past. He ended up apologizing for a tweet he posted in 2021 when he wrote to The Miz that said he should “go suck a blood money covered d— in Saudi Arabia.”

Punk ended up apologizing for his comments directed at The Miz at the Night of Champions kickoff event ahead of the PLE when he was booed by the fans in attendance. One fan near Punk asked him to apologize and Punk said, “I sincerely apologize to you and all of Saudi Arabia.” Punk blamed the tweet on being in a bad mood when he sent it.

WWE has strengthened its business ties with Saudi Arabia since forming a relationship with the country in 2018. WWE is hosting two of its big four PLE’s in Saudi Arabia in the next couple of years. Saudi Arabia will host the Royal Rumble on Jan. 31, 2026. WWE recently announced that Saudi Arabia will host WrestleMania 2027 in Riyadh.