CM Punk replaced by WWE in a major update

At Backlash 2025, WWE announced the return of Night of Champions Premium Live Event, which will take place at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28. Surprisingly, the promo featured CM Punk, who had reservations about performing in the Gulf country.

Moreover, during an Instagram live session, when asked if he hated visiting Saudi Arabia, The Second City Saint said that’s not the case and that he never hated going to Saudi Arabia. However, WWE has now substituted CM Punk in the Night of Champions' official video package. Seth Rollins has replaced The Best in the World in the official promotional package uploaded by Riyadh Season on social media.

Watch the clip below:

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Currently, CM Punk is involved in a heated rivalry with Seth Rollins and his heel crew. WrestleMania 41 saw the betrayal of the century when Paul Heyman pulled a double heel turn on Punk and Roman Reigns, joining forces with The Visionary, who had the final laugh on Night One.

The Chicago native will team up with Sami Zayn to face Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker in a tag team bout at Saturday Night’s Main Event 2025.

WWE IC Champion Dominik Mysterio goes off on CM Punk

Dominik Mysterio and CM Punk have engaged in a back-and-forth feud since The Best in the World returned to the Stamford-based promotion.

In an interview on The Wrestling Classic, “Dirty” Dom unleashed brutal words on Punk and revealed that they mutually hate each other. Furthermore, The Judgment Day member mocked Punk's main eventing WrestleMania 41 story arc.

"I think we both mutually hate each other equally because I f***ing hate CM Punk. I don't know what it is about that guy because he looks like Eddie Munster, and I just want to kick him in the f***ing face, or the fact that, like, 'Oh, he finally did it.' He finally got his WrestleMania main event, like, good for you, old man. 60 years old, and it took you 45 years to accomplish your one goal, like, god***n, dude. It's about time," Dominik said.

It will be interesting to see if CM Punk will appear at WWE Night of Champions 2025 after being replaced in the promotional video.

About the author

Nayan is a WWE News and Features writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. After completing his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Poddar International, he began working as a YouTube script writer. Nayan then transitioned to Pinkvilla as a combat sports writer. He gained valuable experience there before finally coming under the banner of Sportskeeda.

Within 1.5 years, Nayan has written over 1,000 articles, interviewed MFN promotion owners, and conducted a Twitter campaign that gained over 50k retweets and more. He puts fact-checking and mindful journalism above everything by applying a three-check method, where he tries to verify reports from reliable sources and cross-check whether other major publications have covered them.

Looking back at his association with pro wrestling, Nayan recalls being hooked on the sport after watching Shawn Michael vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 24. Since then, the product has been an inseparable part of his life.

Apart from The Heartbreak Kid being Nayan's favorite wrestler for his confidence and charisma, he is also a fan of Brock Lesnar due to The Beast's "work speaks louder than words" attitude.

Nayan can be found performing mixed martial arts and reading true crime in his free time.

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Edited by Neda Ali