As mentioned, a match between Cena and Punk doesn’t need to have anything at stake for it to feel special. It would be their first singles appearance in nearly twelve years, and much of the current WWE audience is aware of their exceptional matches from when Cena and Punk were at the physical peak of their careers.
The story basically sells itself. Cena wants to face the best the company has to offer to prove he hasn’t forgotten anything as he inches closer to retirement, while Punk looks to cement his dominance over his longtime rival once and for all.
The real winners in such a situation are the fans, as it almost doesn’t matter which of the two wins. Still, a clean win for Punk would be the stronger story.
Cena doesn’t need to win the most matches in his final run. He’ll go down as one of WWE’s “GOATs” no matter what his 2025 brings, but fighting from the bottom while hoping for one last world title shot would be compelling character development for someone who once had a reputation for always overcoming insurmountable odds (and now has yet to score a pay-per-view win this decade).
As for Punk, he should be one of the few favorites to win the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble match. Once he settles his rivalry with Drew McIntyre this fall, he should gain momentum and focus on the one accomplishment that has eluded him his entire career: headlining WrestleMania.
His road to WrestleMania was supposed to begin with a victory over Cena, ushering in the Netflix era of Monday Night Raw.
Graham Mirmina, also known as Graham “GSM” Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website WrestleRant and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.
