John Cena is going to be around WWE for a bit longer. WWE previously announced that Cena would be returning to Friday Night SmackDown for this week’s episode and will be traveling with the company to team with Seth Rollins and face Imperium at the upcoming Superstar Spectacle event in India on Sept. 8. The company then followed up with another press release on Monday, stating Cena will be on every episode of SmackDwon for seven consecutive weeks beginning with the Sept. 15 episode at the Ball Arena in Denver. The announcement made no indication of whether or not Cena will wrestle during any of these appearances either onscreen or in dark matches.
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“Throughout his SmackDown return, Cena in partnership with Make-A-Wish will host children and their families in each of the eight cities to experience a WWE event in-person,” the announcement read. “For 40 years, WWE and Make-A-Wish have granted the wishes of children with life-threatening illnesses who desire to meet their favorite WWE Superstars. Cena is the most requested wish granter of all time, having granted more than 650 wishes for children across the globe.”
John Cena Reflects on His WrestleMania 39 Match
“I wish I was still there every day, it’s just my body can’t do it anymore and I don’t wanna give the consumer a bad product,” Cena said on Busted Open Radio in May when asked to reflect on his most recent match with Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39. “That’s another thing that I learned from those veterans. At the time, guys like Eddie (Guerrero) would just risk so much [just in the name of not] giving the consumer a bad product. I don’t care how I feel, I don’t care how I feel physically, I don’t care what baggage I have mentally, when I’m on, they paid good money and I’m gonna go out there and give everything I have and sometimes find it when it’s not there.
“I’m at a point where everything I have, in comparison to the bar that’s been set… what I have is what you saw at WrestleMania 39. That’s what I feel confident that I can deliver, and that’s really nice for here and there, but that’s not every day in WWE. Sports entertainment has raised the bar and I’m humble enough to say that’s awesome, because you’re supposed to leave it better than you found it,” he continued.
WWE Payback 2023 Card
- World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
- Women’s World Heavyweight Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Raquel Rodriguez
- United States Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Austin Theory
- Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus (Steel Cage Match)
- LA Knight vs. The Miz
- The Grayson Waller Effect w/ Cody Rhodes
