CM Punk's 'Unhealthy' Reaction To John Cena Retirement Match Claim is Spot on

Punk is of the opinion that, although some were understandably unhappy with the finish, the backlash it received was unnecessarily over the top. He said on the My Mom's Basement podcast:

"Some people maybe I don't think you understand what you're watching, but if you didn't like it, I can also understand that, but to overnight make it your entire personality and spend an unhealthy amount of time talking about it."

Cena decided to put Gunther over, and while many envisioned he'd do so, it was the manner in which he ended his career. But Punk feels that even if he had won the match, there would be criticism:

"Put it this way, if John won, they'd be mad about that too, but we wouldn't be talking about it anymore, and we're still talking about that finish. The smile, the tap, 'oh my God the guy that said don't give up just gave up', did he? "Everybody's an expert, I thought it was beautiful."

Punk's stance on it being a beautiful way for Cena to retire comes after the 48-year-old explained the meaning behind smiling and tapping out. He compared it to a person accepting death peacefully and fading out on their terms.

Gunther has received significant heat from fans since, and WWE are using this to further position him as a top heel with a carefree attitude. The response on the night was the main problem, given Cena was bidding farewell to wrestling, and instead, the main talking point was his retirement night being about a disliked booking decision.

John Cena and CM Punk's Rivalry Should Have Ended Better

While a large section of WWE's fanbase was infuriated by the Gunther defeat, what was worse was the manner in which Cena's feud with Punk ended. The pair locked horns in their final match against one another at Night of Champions in June 2025.

Cena defended the WWE Championship and won thanks to several interferences that tried to replicate the Avengers-like ending to WrestleMania 40. Seth Rollins, Bronson Reed, Bron Breakker, Sami Zayn and Penta all got involved in a messy finish.

While it was necessary to have Cena go over so he could drop the title back to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, the ending to his lengthy and iconic feud with Punk was disappointing. It should have been revisited at some stage before he retired on December 13th.

Punk had claimed before Cena's match against Gunther that, ideally, he would be his longtime rival's last match (via The Kay Adams on the Up & Adams Show):

“Who’s the perfect opponent that’s actually in the field? I mean, right now, I don’t know if it’s perfect, but it’s looking like Gunther because I’ve been in the ring with him, and I know what he can do, and I don’t know who else in that tournament can beat him right now."

This is an interesting opinion, although having the Greatest of All-Time put someone over as he did was the correct decision. But Punk could have got one final match without any outside interference against Cena at Madison Square Garden instead of the six-man tag, which was his final WWE RAW match.