Former WWE Stars React To John Cena Name-Dropping Them In Pipe Bomb Promo

WWE

Former WWE stars who John Cena name-dropped during his pipebomb promo on SmackDown appear to have responded to these mentions.

After laying CM Punk out towards the end of the June 20 episode, John Cena cut a promo very reminiscent to Punk’s 2011 pipe bomb promo.

While Punk broke the fourth wall to wave hello to Colt Cabana in 2011, Cena instead said hello to three former WWE names, Matt Cardona, TNA Wrestling’s Nic Nemeth, and AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli.

These three stars all appear to have acknowledged this segment, with Matt Cardona’s message being the most straight-forward.

The former Zack Ryder took to Twitter and Instagram to write:

Hey @JohnCena

Nic Nemeth instead reacted with a GIF from the TV show Archer, reading:

Danger Zoneeeeee

Perhaps the cleverest nod was from AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli, who posted a photo of his coffee with the caption:

👊 ☕️

While this looks like an unrelated post at first glance, this comes after Seth Rollins recently revealing that he is in a coffee group chat with both John Cena and Claudio Castagnoli, where the trio recommend the best spots to each other.

Given that this post is the first coffee photo Castagnoli has posted that wasn’t an advert for his Claudio’s Cafe brand since October 2024, it does appear to be a nod to his coffee-loving friend, who happens to also be the WWE Champion.

John Cena will put his gold on the line against CM Punk at Night of Champions on June 28.

For the latest updates on John Cena amid his retirement tour, click here.

Hey @JohnCena

— Matt Cardona (@TheMattCardona) June 21, 2025

pic.twitter.com/lmwKMJU01e

— Nic Nemeth (@NicTNemeth) June 21, 2025

👊 ☕️ pic.twitter.com/sptOZdrKwS

— Swiss (@ClaudioCSRO) June 21, 2025

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• Nic Nemeth
• Claudio Castagnoli
• matt cardona
• John Cena
• wwe

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