WWE confirms John Cena for a special event days after his blockbuster title defense against Randy Orton at Backlash

After walking into the Randy Orton territory on May 10, John Cena will head to Tampa for Saturday Night's Main Event.

WWE confirms John Cena for a special event days after his blockbuster title defense against Randy Orton at Backlash

John Cena on Raw (via- WWE)

It seems like the John Cena farewell tour has truly picked up steam of late. As the fans know, a week from this Saturday, The Cenation Leader will defend his Undisputed WWE Championship against Randy Orton at Backlash. While that’s going to be a must-see encounter, the Peacemaker actor has been announced for a date two weeks after that.

WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque has unveiled a brand-new poster for Saturday Night’s Main Event. The NBC special will air nationwide on May 24, which falls on the Memorial Day weekend. As one can see below, Cena is the cover star. It’d be interesting to see if the 48-year-old will just be there for an appearance or if he’d actually wrestle.

One thing’s for sure, and that would be Cena throwing the kitchen sink at his career-long rival Orton in his hometown of St. Louis. These two haven’t had a singles match since 2017. Moreover, in an unprecedented setting, The Viper will be steaming into Backlash as the red-hot crowd favorite against a man who’s hellbent on ruining wrestling. In the couple of interactions they’ve had since WrestleMania 41, The Apex Predator has dropped the WWE Champ with RKOs on both occasions.

On SmackDown last Friday, Orton told Cena that he should consider having kids after the kind of ego-maniac he’s become since turning heel. The Franchise Player clapped back, saying he was getting parent-shamed. Cena later lashed out at a kid in the crowd who had just flipped off the WWE legend. This might be the last time these two industry veterans are going to square off one-on-one.

How does John Cena’s ESPN-predicted WWE stint look like?

With the clock ticking down on John Cena’s remaining time as an active performer in WWE, the fans couldn’t help but fantasy-book. In fact, ESPN has listed what it believes is going to be the rest of Cena’s in-ring future. The outlet is predicting that he’ll retain the WWE title against Randy Orton at Backlash.

Cody Rhodes and John Cena
Cody Rhodes and John Cena (via WWE)

Next, at the Money in the Bank PLE, The Babe Ruth of Pro Wrestling is projected to lose a Champion vs. Champion match against Jey Uso. Moving on to the subsequent Saturday Night’s Main Event iteration of July, Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect is believed to retain his title against CM Punk.

Now that’s a match the fans would want to see at a much bigger stage, preferably SummerSlam. Speaking of SummerSlam, ESPN projects a tag team showdown with Travis Scott in Cena’s corner against Cody Rhodes and Bad Bunny. Next, a DQ loss is in the cards for the WWE great against Joe Hendry at TNA Victory Road.

The Cenation Leader is also being backed to successfully go past Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple-threat title defense at Crown Jewel in November. Last, but certainly not least, those at ESPN predict that Cena will drop the world title back to The American Nightmare at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December.

The Rock gives reasoning behind not helping John Cena at WrestleMania 41

John Cena‘s heel turn at Elimination Chamber received rave reviews from the WWE Universe. It was even hailed as the most shocking one since Hulk Hogan joined the nWo in 1996. The Franchise Player sold out to The Rock, who was expected to play a major role in Cena’s then-ongoing feud with Cody Rhodes.

The Rock, Travis Scott, and John Cena
The Rock, Travis Scott, and John Cena (via- WWE)

However, weeks passed, and there were no signs of The Final Boss on WWE programming. On a night when he was expected to show up, WrestleMania Sunday, Rock’s music never hit. Instead, Travis Scott took a long stroll down that aisle to lend his support to the Matchbox actor. Even though Cena ended up winning his seventeenth world title, it felt incomplete without Rock standing by his side, as he was the one who initiated the evil arc of WWE’s biggest babyface.

In his defense, Dwayne Johnson said that he didn’t want to step into the spotlight that belonged to his former rival. Apart from that, some rumors floating on the internet claim that Johnson skipped WrestleMania due to his alleged creative rift with Triple H.

Also Read: