CM Punk Chose to Work WWE’s Saudi Show Despite Past Controversy

CM Punk is headed to Saudi Arabia for WWE’s Night of Champions on June 28, where he’ll challenge John Cena for the Undisputed WWE Championship in Riyadh. But this move isn’t without controversy—especially considering Punk once slammed WWE’s partnership with the country in a now-deleted 2020 tweet, telling The Miz to “go suck a blood money covered d**k in Saudi Arabia.”

Now, fans are accusing Punk of hypocrisy—but according to Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer, the most important detail is this: Punk had the choice not to go. He just didn’t take it.

“Punk is big enough to where they wouldn’t even do that with him. There’s no way. He’s too big of a star. He actually is a money mover, a ratings mover. Although I guess, I guess right now he doesn’t—maybe he doesn’t have the leverage, but the crowd reactions are big, and he’s still a merch guy. So yeah, he’s still got the power where if he didn’t want to go, he didn’t have to go.”

Meltzer made it clear—this wasn’t a case of WWE forcing Punk’s hand. He could’ve opted out like John Cena famously did in 2018. Instead, he committed early and has stayed on course for the match.

“He could not go to Saudi Arabia/Night of Champions/ if he really wanted to not go. He was going months ago. I had already asked about that a couple of months ago when the show was first talked about, and he was in the original promo package, and then he was taken out of the promo package. And I asked, am I supposed to see when Seth Rollins replaced him in that promo package that he’s not going, and it’s like, ‘Nope, he’s going.’”

While some fans hoped Punk would take a stand, Meltzer wasn’t surprised.

“But, you know, he made his decision. If you want to call it hypocritical—and you read back what he said years ago—he wouldn’t be in WWE either, if you think about it, right? You know, with everything that he said. It’s just what it is. It’s just wrestling. I’m not surprised by it. If you want your top wrestling stars to stand up for good at all times, you’re going to be disappointed a lot. So I don’t have that expectation of anyone, just because in real life, it doesn’t work that way.”

Meltzer wrapped up the discussion by pointing out that Punk’s return to WWE was already a contradiction for many fans, based on his past criticism of the company—and that expecting anyone in wrestling to hold their line forever is unrealistic.

“It’s like, yeah, if you read back what he said years ago… I mean, that was part of the problem with him going to WWE in the first place—people said, ‘Well, how can he do that after everything he said?’ But that’s wrestling. Everyone comes back. If he was really going to stand on principle, he wouldn’t be there at all.”

With Punk now locked in for the main event in Riyadh, the debate over principle versus paycheck is back on the table. He could’ve stayed home. He didn’t. Now, fans will be watching to see not just how he performs—but how he addresses the noise around it.

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