Will WWE Book John Cena vs. CM Punk in 2025?

From the moment John Cena announced his upcoming in-ring retirement tour for 2025, fans immediately started speculating who his final matches should come against.

Working with the talent of tomorrow was always the most obvious option, but mixing it up with a few familiar faces along the way would only add to the excitement.

For many, CM Punk led the list of potential opponents and with good reason. The Second City Saint is widely considered to be among Cena's greatest rivals of all-time.

The mere discussion of the two ever rekindling their rivalry would have been unfathomable even a year ago. Cena's WWE TV appearances were infrequent and Punk appeared to have burned a bridge with the company that was long thought to be beyond repair.

However, the wrestling landscape has changed drastically since then and now Cena vs. Punk is a stronger possibility than it has been in over a decade. If next year will indeed mark the end of an illustrious career for Cena in WWE, it's imperative Punk is involved at one point or another.

Let's look at why WWE must book the bout during Cena's last hurrah in 2025, when would make the most sense, who would win, and more.

Cena and Punk first clashed in singles competition on the Thanksgiving week edition of Raw in 2009, a bout decisively won by Cena. Their incomparable chemistry was evident in all of their one-off matches in the years that followed, but it wasn't until the summer of 2011 that they finally engaged in a full-fledged feud over the WWE Championship heading into the Money in the Bank pay-per-view.

Punk publicly declaring his pending exit from WWE and vowing to capture the company's prestigious prize on the way out turned what would have been a great rivalry regardless into an unforgettable one. Punk was white-hot coming off his epic "pipe bomb" promo and the corporate Cena was the perfect foil for him.

Punk's hometown of Chicago provided one of the most electric atmospheres of all-time for their instant classic at Money in the Bank, culminating The Second City Saint stole the win and the coveted title.

They made magic every time they collided from that point forward, including at SummerSlam 2011 and on Raw's historic 1,000th episode in July 2012. Their last-ever outing occurred on the Feb. 25, 2013 edition of Raw where Cena emerged victorious to retain his title shot at WrestleMania 29, and it was arguably bell-to-bell the best installment in their series.

Punk quitting the company the subsequent year—and the bad blood surrounding it—seemed the cement the idea that they'd never face off again.

At Money in the Bank 2024, the same show where Cena and Punk contested one of the greatest matches in WWE history 13 years prior, both icons returned, albeit in different forms.

Punk resurfaced to cost Drew McIntyre his Money in the Bank cash-in, while Cena's comeback consisted of him establishing that he intends to wrap up his wrestling career by the end of 2025.

The two traded pleasantries during that night's post-show press conference, but nothing was set in stone regarding a future face-off between them. If Cena is simply going to be wrestling random opponents throughout the year with a possible championship chase thrown in, there's no reason for them not to renew hostilities at some stage of The Cenation Leader's retirement tour.

Surely it's a match they'd want to have again, and if WWE has truly become a company of and for the people, the powers that be should give the audience what they want to see. Cena vs. Punk is a total attraction in itself and wouldn't need anything at stake in order to make storyline sense.

Retirement may not be on the radar for Punk, but WWE should also be looking to have him wrestle all of the top names during this run of his. That includes Cena, someone who played a pivotal role in making The Straight Edge Superstar the world-renowned sensation he is today.

Cena has since confirmed with Collider (h/t Fightful) that he plans to wrestle around 36 dates for WWE from January to December in 2025. In other words, there will be plenty of opportunities for WWE to make the match happen—provided both men stay healthy and don't suffer any serious setbacks.

Amazingly, for the amount of matches they had from 2009 through 2013, the storied rivals never had a singles match at WrestleMania. It likely won't be in the cards for WrestleMania 41, either, if Punk vs. Seth Rollins have the 'Mania match they were robbed of this past year.

SummerSlam is a worthy stage of such an anticipated encounter, but it might be best to book it on the sooner side to ensure other circumstances (conflicting schedules and storylines, potential injuries, etc.) don't prevent it from happening.

As a result, Cena vs. Punk should be the first match as part of Cena's retirement tour, ideally on the premiere episode of Raw on Netflix in January 2025.

It's a massive match for what will be a monumental occasion that's treated like a mini pay-per-view. That alone will garner buzz for the big night and set the tone for the remainder of Cena's in-ring run.

As previously noted, nothing needs to be at stake in a Cena vs. Punk match for it to feel special. It would mark their first singles outing in nearly a dozen years, and a majority of WWE's current audience is aware of their exceptional wars from when Cena and Punk were in their physical prime.

The story essentially sells itself. Cena wants to battle the best the company has to offer to prove he hasn't lost a step as he inches closer and closer toward retirement, while Punk strives to solidify his superiority over his longtime rival once and for all.

The real winners in such a situation are the fans, as it's almost irrelevant who goes over between the two. That said, Punk emerging victorious in clean fashion would make for the stronger story.

Cena doesn't need to win most of the matches he has during his final run. He will go down as one of WWE's "G.O.A.T.s" regardless of what his 2025 entails, but fighting from underneath as he eyes one last world championship win would be a compelling character arc for someone who once had a reputation for always overcoming insurmountable odds (and now has yet to win on pay-per-view this decade).

As for Punk, he should be among the few favorites to win the 2025 men's Royal Rumble match. Once he wraps up his rivalry with Drew McIntyre this fall, he should begin building momentum and setting his sights on achieving the one accomplishment that has alluded him his entire career: headlining WrestleMania.

His road to WrestleMania should start with a win over Cena to kick off the Netflix era of Monday Night Raw.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.