John Cena and CM Punk ran it back one last time at WWE Night of Champions 2025, and it was “The Champ” who reigned surpreme in a chaotic main event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

At WWE’s latest overseas spectacle, Cena put his WWE Championship on the line against arguably his greatest rival of all-time for the first time in more than a decade. As expected, the two bitter foes battled back-and-forth in a spectacular match, reminding WWE fans why they are each other’s best dance partner.

On more than one occasion, it looked like Punk would best Cena and win the WWE Championship for the first time since 2013. But Cena had other plans, and after a slew of interference from stars like Penta and Seth Rollins, Cena was able to retain his WWE Championship.

Some of the key highlights of Cena vs. Punk at WWE Night of Champions 2025 were:

ForbesWWE Night Of Champions 2025 Results As Jade Cargill Wins Queen Of The Ring

The climax of Cena vs. Punk at WWE Night of Champions came when Cena teased a babyface turn, only to attempt a low blow on Punk and take advantage of Rollins’ interference to pick up the win.

That capped off what was the latest stellar encounter between Cena and Punk, who are past their prime and certainly a step slower but are still able to create magical moments that matter. In front of a red hot crowd in Riyadh, Cena and Punk were able to put on a show that reestablished their all-time great rivalry and hinted at a future babyface turn for Cena.

Of course, WWE ensured that Punk was protected even in defeat, with Cena only winning after a ton of outside interference, including a thwarted cash-in by Rollins. That marked the third consecutive major title match in which Cena walked out as WWE Champion without a clean victory.

Yes, it was more of the same for heel Cena, who eked out a win over Randy Orton at Backlash and did exactly that against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. That is perfectly fitting of Cena’s heel character that is striving to “ruin wrestling,” but it’s becoming incredibly tiresome.

Cena continues to retain the WWE Championship through nefarious means just as he did at WWE Night of Champions 2025, and he will eventually need to get his comeuppance. But the teases of a face turn in Riyadh may prevent that from happening.

At WWE Night of Champions 2025, the creative team laid the framework for a major SummerSlam match: John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes II.

Anyone who was paid close attention to Triple H’s booking over the past few years could see that Cena’s win over Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 was ultimately going to lead to a rematch between the two stars. Cena’s WrestleMania victory was all about getting that record-breaking 17th world title win, and now that he has it, there’s no reason to keep the title on him for too long.

During his run in the King of the Ring tournament, Rhodes defeated both Jey Uso and Randy Orton, giving “The American Nightmare” a pair of marquee victories over two of WWE’s biggest and most beloved stars. Surely, that wasn’t a mere coincidence.

Rhodes getting those two victories has set up a blockbuster rematch between Rhodes and Cena that gives the two stars a re-do after their disastrous WrestleMania 41 match. And if WWE’s creative team has any idea what it’s doing, Rhodes will leave SummerSlam as world champion as Cena transitions back to his natural face role.