Backstage Notes on CM Punk Going to Saudi Arabia for WWE Night of Champions 2025

– As previously reported, WWE announced that CM Punk will face John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia later this month. According to Dave Meltzer on today’s Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE had reportedly planned on Punk going to Saudi Arabia for a while, and it appears Punk raised no issues about going to Saudi Arabia for the premium live event.

Meltzer stated, “He was going months ago. I had already asked about that when, a couple of months ago, when the show was first talked about, and he was in the original promo package, and then he was taken out of the promo package.” Meltzer continued, “I asked, ‘Am I supposed to see when Seth Rollins replaced him in that promo package that he’s not going?’ And it’s like ‘Nope, he’s going.’ So it’s been known that he’s going for months, and probably all along.”

Meltzer noted that Punk has not voiced any issue about going to Saudi Arabia in months. In the past, Punk and The Miz got into it after Punk made his WWE TV return on WWE Backstage, where he said he’d “change the culture.” After The Miz took a dig at CM Punk online, Punk responded, “Go suck a blood money covered dick in Saudi Arabia you f***ing dork,” via social media. Punk later deleted the comments. Punk and Miz eventually buried the hatchet when they met in 2023 when Punk visited WWE Raw.

CM Punk vs. John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Title is scheduled for later this month. WWE Night of Champions 2025 is scheduled for Saturday, June 28 at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. It will air live on Peacock in the U.S. and on Netflix internationally.