10 Gimmicks Other Wrestlers HATED
2. Punk Also Dislikes What John Cena Represents
Back to that "pipebomb" for a sec.
During it, Punk said he didn't personally dislike John Cena, but he did hate "this idea that you're the best". Later, ex-WWE writer and actor Freddie Prinze Jr told fans tuning into his podcast that it was fairly common knowledge backstage how Punk felt - everyone knew he didn't dislike Cena as a guy, but did dislike "everything he represented".
In other words, Cena was WWE's poster boy and was always going to be a firm favourite go-to for Vince McMahon. Everyone else was a second priority to 'Big Match John', and it'd be that way until JC decided to step away from wrestling full-time. That was staring Punk in the face. He didn't like it.
Triple H told Prinze Jr that Punk only hated what Cena was doing because he knew he'd hoover up the acclaim in a similar spot. Most believed it was outright jealousy and nothing more. Whatever the case, it seems true that Punk wasn't fond of Cena's holier-than-thou babyface gimmick.