WWE aired a video package on "WWE SmackDown" highlighting the years-long rivalry between Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena and his Night of Champions opponent, CM Punk, but one portion of Punk's infamous "pipe bomb" promo from June 2011 was cut out. The company edited out a small portion of the promo where Punk mentioned Vince McMahon, removing the disgraced former chairman's name from the video.
In the original promo, Punk told Cena there was one thing he was better at than him, and that was "kissing Vince McMahon's a**." In the video that aired on Friday, WWE's small re-write of history had Punk telling Cena he was better at "kissing a**," with a noticeable cut removing McMahon's name. McMahon played a big part of the feud between Punk and Cena in 2011, which culminated in Punk winning the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank and walking out of the company, in storyline, with the title after blowing a kiss to a stunned McMahon on his way out.
McMahon's name has not been used much at all on WWE programming since he stepped down from the company, for the second time, in January 2024 amidst a sex trafficking scandal and lawsuit involving former WWE employee Janel Grant.McMahon first announced his retirement from WWE in July 2022, but worked his way back into the company prior to its sale to Endeavor.
