WWE quietly called an audible during the June 20 episode of SmackDown after fans noticed CM Punk lying motionless in the ring for an awkwardly long time while John Cena cut his scathing pipe bomb promo.
During a recent Q&A session, WrestleVotes revealed that the scene wasnt originally supposed to play out that waybut someone backstage decided to tweak things mid-segment to make it feel more natural.
The entire segment saw Cena unleash a brutal promo on Punk, calling him Mr. TKO and name-dropping Claudio Castagnoli, Nic Nemeth, and Matt Cardona to stir the pot even more. The moment got a massive reaction, but Punks extended nap on the mat had some fans scratching their headsuntil the referee made the situation feel more believable.
The decision to adjust the scene on the fly turned out to be a smart one. Fans have since pointed out that without the referees involvement, the visual of Punk lying motionless for nearly 10 minutes couldve derailed an otherwise electric promo.
The tension between Cena and Punk is far from over. Cena is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Punk at Night of Champions on June 28, with Cena holding the upper hand after dismantling Punk verballyand physicallyon SmackDown.
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