John Cena blew the roof off The O2 arena when he made a surprise appearance at the Money In The Bank Premium Live Event. Cena brought crowd members to their feet and had an entertaining segment with up-and-comer Grayson Waller, but does this mean we’ll soon be seeing him at future live events with our Peacock Premium subscriptions? A new report has addressed Cena’s future with the WWE going forward, though it’s probably not the answer many hoped for.
It would appear that, for the time being, John Cena’s appearance at Money In The Bank was a one-and-done affair. Fightful Select reported that the 16-time world champion’s appearance was a tightly kept secret, but that it wasn’t meant to set up any future events (via Sportskeeda). Which is to say there are no creative plans for John Cena at the moment, but the door is technically still open for him to return, should he have any availability in his schedule.
Fans may have hypothesized that John Cena’s appearance may set up a match against Grayson Waller at SummerSlam. Waller came out to antagonize Cena in front of the crowd and was rewarded with an Attitude Adjustment by the veteran wrestler. SummerSlam is one of the WWE’s biggest events of the year, so the timing for Cena’s return was very interesting, and seemed like it was done to set something up.
It’s something of a missed opportunity not to have John Cena for SummerSlam, especially after seeing how special his return was for the UK audience. Cena earned one of the biggest reactions of the night, and couldn’t hide his shock that the crowd sang his theme song as opposed to the infamous “John Cena sucks” chant.
Cena later revealed his reason for appearing was out of respect for the London fans and to make a request to the WWE. Cena said that he felt that London deserved to host a future WrestleMania, which received a stellar ovation from the audience. Check out the full segment, which the WWE uploaded to YouTube after the live event:
John Cena’s appearance at Money In The Bank was his first in-ring appearance since wrestling United States Champion Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39. Cena lost the match, but there was a bit of chatter online following the match saying that the veteran didn’t put on a quality performance at quite the level he usually does. It would be shocking if Cena chooses that as his last match to wrestle in the WWE, so even if he isn’t coming back soon, one would think he’ll be back eventually.
Should his schedule feature an opening, I’d imagine the WWE will try to lock down Cena for the historic WrestleMania 40. I would imagine this Grayson Waller interaction would hold for them to have a match then, though there’s not really anyone on the roster that couldn’t be used for a match with Cena. As mentioned, it’s going to depend on what the superstar has on his plate in terms of upcoming roles in shows and movies, so we’ll see what happens as we get closer to 2024.
WWE’s Money In The Bank was a night full of surprises and even mild disappointment after L.A. Knight fell short of winning the men’s briefcase match. CinemaBlend’s Mack Rawden had a unique perspective on the match and talked out the argument of Damian Priest winning versus the rising superstar. Check out his thoughts, and get ready for some awkward Judgment Day moments as we see how Finn Bálor reacts to Priest’s win.