CM Punk & John Cena’s Relationship Explored

CM Punk vs John Cena

Take a deep look into the infamous feud between John Cena and CM Punk, two wrestlers who brought out the best of the decade in wrestling. Here, the author focuses on their great bouts, such as the ‘Summer of Punk,’ and notes that the rivals have a healthy appreciation for each other away from the wrestling arena. However, Cena and Punk, two top wrestlers, are rivals in WWE, yet they are friends in reality. This is quite inspiring and hints at what more can be expected from the two in future WWE matches.

John Cena and CM Punk

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A Decade of Memorable Matches

John Cena and CM Punk both had many classic bouts during their time in WWE. Their rivalry in 2010 was one of the best examples of their compatibility. 2011 was a significant year characterized by what was referred to as the ‘Summer of Punk.’ This led to Punk finally defeating Cena to become the WWE Champion at Money in the Bank.

This match is described as one of the best of their wrestling careers, and Dave Meltzer, a wrestling journalist and analyst, rated it as a 5-star classic. The risks were very high – if Punk were to win the title and had intentions of leaving WWE, it would be a significant loss to the company.

WWE later organized a tournament to determine the new champion where Rey Mysterio was crowned. However, the turn of events happened later that night when John Cena won the WWE Championship. This brought back Punk and paved the way for another showdown at SummerSlam for the showdown for the WWE championship.

CM Punk rose to the occasion once again and came out on top. Until now, the competition between them was nothing short of phenomenal, and Punk was already a name that could rock wrestling. But the tide changed when Kevin Nash came back.

Beyond the Rivalry: Mutual Support

Although Meltzer has criticized John Cena’s record in WWE title bouts, CM Punk has given the fans a different perspective of Cena. During an interview at Starrcast III, Punk disclosed that Cena did not cage him and seldom restricted him from doing new things in the wrestling ring as most wrestlers had. Punk enjoyed this aspect of freedom, pointing out that Cena appeared somewhat relieved to finally be sharing the limelight.

“I always enjoyed working with John because it was always a piece of cake,” Punk stated. “John was glad that someone else could take the lead; he did not need to be the one to coordinate everything,” he said, “I could do whatever I wanted. I think he was happy, so we complemented each other.”

Though CM Punk was unhappy with WWE’s bias towards Cena, he respected him. They were each other’s fiercest competitors, which Punk has admitted in many interviews, including the Money in the Bank 2024 press conference. It is a bitter rivalry that the two share not only in the wrestling ring but also outside of it.

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