CM Punk was aware of potential backlash from WWE fans in Saudi Arabia during Night of Champions 2025: Report

The 2025 edition of Night of Champions emanated from Riyadh!

‘The Second City Saint’ CM Punk arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last week. He was set to face John Cena for the Undisputed title in the main event at Night of Champions 2025 last Saturday, the show emanated from the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

However, Punk was greeted with a lot of boos and hostility during the kick off show during his appearance at the show. Punk, though, quickly addressed WWE fans in the building and tried to clear the air.

What Happened?

CM Punk‘s infamous tweet where he was publicly critical of The Miz tweeting,  “go suck a blood money covered d*ck in Saudi Arabia you f*cking dork” on X (Twitter) in early 2020, gained a lot of traction. Punk ended up deleting his tweet, but the damage was done.

During the Night of Champions Kickoff show, Punk’s name was booed by Saudi fans while they cheered for John Cena. However, Punk during his appearance didn’t shy away from the controversy and took it head-on by addressing a fan who wanted him to apologize for the tweet.

The Second City Saint stated that the tweet had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia, it was just a mean tweet to The Miz, and he apologized for it. He also apologized to the Saudi fans, who responded by showering him with love, seemingly offering their forgiveness. Punk even went into the crowd to embrace the fan.

“Legitimately had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. I woke up crabby and I wrote a mean tweet to The Miz and I apologised to The Miz…and I sincerely apologise to all of Saudi Arabia. I’m not perfect by any means, sometimes as human beings we screw up.

The beautiful thing is everything is a lesson learned, and now here I am and you’ve invited me into your country and I’m grateful to be here. Thank you very much!”

Also Read: All champions in WWE following Night of Champions 2025

Triple H commended CM Punk’s growth during the NOC post-show presser

Speaking during the NOC post-show presser with Byron Saxton and Jackie Redmond, Triple H reflected on Punk’s evolution as both a performer and a person. When asked about the match with John Cena and the surrounding story, he chose to focus on the emotional maturity Punk displayed.

“I was privileged to watch him grow as a human being, to step out here and apologize to the people of Saudi, to just cherish where he is at in life and his career and the things that he gets to do and the opportunities that he has, And I was incredibly proud of him.”

The Game acknowledged how far both Punk and Cena have come since their explosive rivalry fifteen years ago and praised the tone of mutual respect in their latest chapter. Cena edged out a win in the main event despite interferences from Seth Rollins and company, which unintentionally helped him retain the Undisputed WWE title.

CM Punk was aware of potential backlash from fans in Saudi Arabia

According to Fightful Select, there was no specific pressure on CM Punk to apologize to fans for the controversial tweet. However, the Second City Saint was himself aware of the fact that he was going to Saudi Arabia and would have to address it.

Those within WWE expected Punk to take this approach. Fightful also noted that the Second City Saint is likely to appear there multiple times going forward, given WWE’s profitable agreement to host two shows annually in the country.

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