CM Punk’s apology for his infamous 2020 tweet about The Miz and Saudi Arabia caught everyone off guard—but now the internet’s buzzing with theories that the whole thing was carefully staged by WWE. So far, even those behind the scenes can’t seem to agree on what really went down.

The unexpected moment happened during the Night of Champions kickoff show, when a fan in the crowd asked Punk to apologize for the tweet he fired off six years ago. Instead of brushing it off, Punk leaned into the moment—and for once, ditched his usual sarcasm. Punk made it clear the tweet wasn’t about Saudi Arabia in the first place.

“This guy wants me to apologize for a mean tweet I wrote six years ago. Hey, listen, legitimately had nothing to do with Saudi Arabia. I woke up and I was crabby. I wrote a mean tweet to The Miz. I apologized to The Miz. And sir, what’s your name? Muhammad. Muhammad, I sincerely apologize to you. And I love Saudi Arabia.”

The apology had “experts” like Dave Meltzer questioning the authenticity of the moment. Meltzer openly suggested the fan interaction was staged by WWE to help polish Punk’s image, especially in Saudi Arabia.

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“Obviously… planted.” Meltzer said, implying the whole thing was part of WWE’s playbook to avoid controversy.

But according to a report from Fightful Select, WWE staff who were present backstage claimed they didn’t hear anything about the segment being set up in advance.

“For some reason, there were rumors of a ‘plant’ regarding CM Punk’s apology in Saudi Arabia. The staff we spoke to said that if that was the case, they hadn’t heard of it.”

That leaves the situation wide open for debate. Either WWE orchestrated the apology so quietly that most staff didn’t know, or Punk genuinely decided to own the moment on his own terms—and the conspiracy theories are just internet noise.

Regardless of the truth, Punk’s apology went viral, the Miz drama was buried (for now), and WWE’s Saudi partnership avoided any public headaches.

What’s your take? Do you think WWE set the whole thing up, or did CM Punk actually mean what he said? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.

Steve Carrier is the founder of Ringside News and has been reporting on pro wrestling since 1997. His stories have been featured on TMZ, Forbes, Bleacher Report, and more.

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