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Ex-WWE Star Ready To Cash In After John Cena Name Drop On SmackDown

By John Canton • Published Jun 23, 2025 18:30 EDT
John Cena WWE Wave

A former WWE superstar appreciated what John Cena said during a memorable promo on SmackDown.

In the main event of WWE SmackDown in Grand Rapids, the WWE Champion John Cena faced R-Truth in a match that Cena wanted no part of. Cena left the ring during the match, and Truth followed. Cena then hit him with the WWE Title, resulting in a disqualification.

After the match, Cena’s Night of Champions opponent, CM Punk, showed up to attack Cena, but it didn’t go well for Punk. When Punk tried an attack with the WWE Title, Cena hit Punk with a low blow kick. Cena followed up with two belt shots to the head. Cena also gave Punk an Attitude Adjustment through a table that Slim Jim sponsored.

The final ten minutes of the show featured Cena delivering a promo from the turnbuckle while Punk lay on the mat on the broken table for ten minutes.

During Cena’s promo, he recreated CM Punk’s infamous June 2011 promo that will forever be remembered as the “Pipebomb” promo, where Punk was given the freedom to vent and say what was really on his mind at the time.

For Cena, it fits his persona as a heel WWE Champion who says he is going to ruin wrestling and hates the idea that fans cheer a guy like Punk, who quit WWE over a decade ago, while Cena was booed while he was a top babyface in the company.

Matt Cardona Enjoyed The Reference By John Cena

At one point during his promo, John Cena gave a shoutout to former WWE superstars Claudio Castagnoli (Cesaro in WWE), Nic Nemeth (Dolph Ziggler in WWE), and Matt Cardona, who was Zack Ryder in WWE. Castagnoli works for AEW, while Nemeth works for TNA, and Cardona is a free agent who regularly appears in TNA.

“They chant for you (the fans chanted “CM Punk” on cue), hell when you come out they sing to you, but they don’t believe a god damn word you say. Because you change your values as much as I change my t-shirts. You are a loudmouth opportunist who will step on the necks of people who actually work hard if it gets you ahead. Where’s another camera? Hey Claudio Castagnoli. Hey Nic Nemeth. Hey Matt Cardona. How you guys doing?”

Hearing John Cena name-drop former WWE superstars drew a big reaction from the fans in the arena. Cardona also said “Hey John Cena” to Cena at a GCW show on the weekend.

Additionally, Cardona has released a shirt on PWTees featuring the “Hey Matt Cardona” phrase, suggesting that Cardona wants to capitalize on what John Cena said about him.

John Cena will defend the WWE Championship against CM Punk at WWE Night of Champions on June 28th.