John Cena eviscerated CM Punk with a ‘pipe bomb’ ahead of their clash at Night of Champions, but several other stars were also called out.
Cena parodied Punk’s most famous promo ahead of their final-ever WWE meeting on the 17-time champion’s retirement tour.
Punk and Cena controversially met in Saudi Arabia and the two WWE legends clashed in promo battles heading into the match.
The night before the event, Cena cut a ‘pipe bomb’ promo and named Matt Cardona, Claudio Castagnoli, and Nic Nemeth. Cardona has reacted to being named by the 17-time champion.
Matt Cardona was shocked by John Cena WWE promo
Cena broke the fourth wall during his ‘pipe bomb’ promo, saying hell and waving to fired WWE stars Cardona, Castagnoli, and Nemeth.
Cardona was surprised to be mentioned by his ‘friend’ Cena, but instantly saw it as a money-making scheme.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, the former Intercontinental Champion revealed: “Matt Cardona’s gonna milk this for all it’s worth.”
“I have a t-shirt right now, ‘Hey Matt Cardona’. Right away, that weekend at GCW, I said ‘Hey, John Cena.” Got that clip going viral on the internet,” explained Cardona about how he cashed in on the moment.
“I had no idea that was coming, no idea why he did it, I certainly appreciate it,” added Cardona. “John I consider a friend, so maybe he was throwing me a bone.”
Was John Cena’s WWE call out an AEW reference?
There was an outlandish theory about Cena subtly calling out Punk’s time in rival promotion AEW with his promo.
The names of the stars could be a subtle reference to Punk’s former best friend Colt Cabana, and his rivals, The Young Bucks.
Castagnoli shares the same initials as Cabana, while Nemeth and Cardona share the same first names as Matt and Nick Jackson.
It’s unlikely these names were plucked out of thin air, and there’s every chance Cena was throwing a bone to the hardcore fans.