John Cena kept things sharp and heartfelt during a word-association game on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, offering a striking description of long-time rival CM Punk. Asked to sum him up in a single sentence, Cena didn’t hesitate.

“My wrestling soul mate,” he said.

Their history stretches back to their landmark 2011 rivalry, including the famed Money in the Bank showdown in Chicago. They crossed paths again in 2025 during Cena’s farewell tour, but it was a moment overseas that left the deepest mark.

The Saudi Arabia Moment
Cena revealed that Punk’s trip to Saudi Arabia for a Premium Live Event produced not just his favorite moment of 2025, but possibly of his entire career. Watching the pre-show left him emotional.

“That moment with Punk and Saudi that transcends wrestling,” Cena said. “To see cultures bridged, to see genuine forgiveness, like I’m watching that pre show bawling”.

He expanded on why it struck him so deeply. “Because man unfolding before our eyes is accountability and genuine forgiveness and like the bridging of cultural gaps people who might not know a lot about each other understand each other, getting along in harmony through this one thing that we dig wrestling like what a global conduit to peace, excitement, happiness”.

Cena also highlighted the difficulty of Punk making that trip given their complicated past. “He made that trip, knowing it was going to be uneasy, and knowing he was going to have to be accountable, and just leaned in, man and like, in a moment, people were like, Oh, I’m heard yes, I’m ready to forgive , astonishing, astonishing”.

Cena couldn’t resist laughing about Punk lifting his signature “Five Moves of Doom” mid-match.

“He comes out and does my gimmick… I’m like, dude, you have to do that. And he crushed it. He absolutely just crushed it”.

And one off-the-cuff comment almost broke his composure. “He’s the one that almost got me to break because in between one of his lines, he said, ‘I miss you already.’ And I, man, I almost lost it right in front of it”.

Cena also offered quick, pointed one-word or one-line impressions of several stars he worked with this year:

• Cody Rhodes: “Resilient”.
• Randy Orton: “Smooth”.
• R-Truth: “Beautiful. He makes everybody smile. On camera, off camera”.
• Logan Paul: “Underrated”.
• Drew McIntyre: “Glad I wasn’t on the other side of that kick. I again, a story of resilience”.
• Sami Zayn: “Underdog”.
• Brock Lesnar: “The best… Brock is a once in a genre. There will be one Brock Lesnar in wrestling, and that’s from like carnival time to the time we shut the lights out”.
• AJ Styles: “Best to ever do it. Shawn’s gonna be pissed. And, man, God, did Shawn ever take care of me. Man, there’s not a lot he can’t do like and he can’t make it look easy. He makes difficult look easy”.
• Sheamus: “This is way inside baseball, and only he’s gonna get it. The world’s tallest wrestler”.
• Rey Mysterio: “A mentor and someone who allowed me to be part of their family when they didn’t need to”.