CM Punk to dethrone John Cena, but immediately lose WWE Title at Night of Champions 2025? Possibility explored

WWE Superstars John Cena and CM Punk will trade blows at the upcoming 2025 Night of Champions for the Undisputed Championship. This would be The Second City Saint’s first-ever title match since his return to the company in November 2023. However, while Punk could manage to dethrone The Franchise Player, he stands a chance to lose the Undisputed Championship to Seth Rollins immediately after.

CM Punk and John Cena shared the ring for a promo on last week’s episode of RAW. After calling out The Last Real Champion’s tainted farewell tour, The Straight Edge Superstar asked for a title shot from Cena. Accepting the challenge, The Never Seen 17 declared that he would put his title on the line against his longtime rival at Night of Champions. While the crowd was still absorbing this news and celebrating it, Seth Rollins entered the arena.

The Visionary was accompanied by Paul Heyman, Bron Breakker, and ‘Big’ Bronson Reed. Instead of speaking a word, The Architect simply raised his MITB briefcase and taunted John Cena and CM Punk in the ring. This could be a sign that Rollins is targeting the Undisputed gold.

Notably, The Revolutionary is attempting to save the business of professional wrestling, and his agenda involves preventing part-timers from holding world titles in WWE. This instantly makes John Cena a target for The Visionary, who will just make 17 more appearances with over six months left in the calendar year. Moreover, the Franchise Player openly threatens to ruin pro wrestling forever.

However, while Seth Rollins would love to see Cena drop the Undisputed Championship, he may not want to see CM Punk holding the belt either. Especially when The Second City Saint is his biggest enemy. Thus, with the aid of Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker, The Architect could strike Punk if he becomes the new champ.

He could then cash in his Money in the Bank contract to immediately dethrone Punk moments after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship. While this is a big possibility, especially considering how Punk did the same to Drew McIntyre last year and made him drop the World Heavyweight Championship to Damian Priest, all of this is speculation so far.

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John Cena could probably be exiting Night of Champions with the Undisputed Championship

As mentioned earlier, John Cena still has 17 appearances left in his retirement tour, which will conclude by the end of 2025. Thus, there is a chance that WWE may choose not to make him lose to CM Punk at Night of Champions, since that would leave him with several appearances. An early title loss in this case would completely render Cena’s heel turn and his threats to ruin pro wrestling meaningless.

Thus, The Franchise Player may retain the title in Saudi Arabia and defeat The Second City Saint by resorting to unfair means, like he defeated Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, and R-Truth. While this protects his record-setting seventeen WWE world title run from ending on June 28, 2025, Cena may find himself in trouble at SummerSlam.

Cody Rhodes has reached the semifinal of the King of the Ring Tournament. Chances are that while John Cena will exit Night of Champions with his title, The American Nightmare may exit the premium live event as the number one contender for Cena’s belt. Thus, Rhodes will face The Never Seen Seventeen in a title match at SummerSlam.

This would be dangerous territory for The Franchise Player, as his number of appearances would be significantly less at SummerSlam, which takes place on August 2 and 3. Thus, Cody Rhodes, who had pinned The Last Real Champion at MITB, could win the belt back after dropping it to Cena at WrestleMania 41.

Moreover, Seth Rollins could also make use of this opportunity to cash in his MITB contract and execute yet another “Heist of the Century.” After all, The Biggest Party in the Summer has been The Architect’s most rewarding and successful PLE throughout his career. It would be interesting to see how long John Cena will be able to hold onto the Undisputed Championship.

Edited by Angana Roy