As we previously reported here on eWn, WWE has officially announced that CM Punk will face John Cena for the WWE Undisputed Championship at Night of Champions 2025, taking place later this month in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

According to a report from Dave Meltzer on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE had been planning for Punk to be part of the Saudi event for some time, and there have been no indications that Punk raised any concerns about participating in the show.

“He was going months ago,” Meltzer stated. “I asked about it when the event was first being discussed. He was originally in the promo package and later removed, so I asked if that meant he was off the show. I was told, ‘Nope, he’s going.’ So it’s been known for months, probably all along, that he was part of the plan.”

Punk has not expressed any objections about traveling to Saudi Arabia in recent months. This comes despite his past criticism of WWE’s Saudi events. Notably, after returning to WWE television on WWE Backstage, Punk exchanged heated words online with The Miz. In response to a jab from The Miz, Punk posted a now-deleted tweet saying, “Go suck a blood money covered d*ck in Saudi Arabia you f***ing dork.” The two later reconciled when they crossed paths backstage at WWE RAW in 2023.

CM Punk vs. John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship is set for WWE Night of Champions 2025, which will be held on Saturday, June 28, at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh. The event will stream live on Peacock in the United States and on Netflix for international viewers.

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