John Cena Confronts Roman Reigns in Surprise Appearance at WWE Money in the Bank
July 19, 2021
John Cena is back in WWE, as the 16-time world champion appeared at Money in the Bank on Sunday night following Roman Reigns' victory over Edge.
Playing the role of spoiler in Reigns' post-match celebration, Cena—whose mere presence was enough to get fans buzzing—stepped in the ring and briefly went face-to-face with Reigns.
Cena also went on to address the crowd, promising fans that he would not be returning on a "one night only" basis:
It marked Cena's first live appearance on WWE programming since he fell to "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in the well-regarded Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36 in April 2020.
The 44-year-old is no longer a full-time wrestler because of his commitments in Hollywood, but he seemingly always finds a way to remain involved with WWE, especially around WrestleMania time.
His last high-profile match in front of fans came at WrestleMania 34 when he lost to The Undertaker. Cena didn't have a match at The Show of Shows in 2019, but he did interrupt a musical performance by Elias and dissed him in a rap before taking him out while portraying his Dr. of Thuganomics character.
The veteran's return to action as an active competitor came at WrestleMania 36. He returned shortly before the event, which led to The Fiend laying down a challenge.
The match likely would have been a more traditional one fought entirely inside the ring had WrestleMania occurred at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, with fans in attendance as originally planned, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced WWE to move it to its Performance Center with no crowd present.
However, that allowed WWE to get creative with the Firefly Fun House match. Although it was more of an experience and a story highlighting Cena's career and the history between him and Wyatt, it was entertaining nonetheless.
The Cenation Leader stepped away from WWE after that and returned to his acting commitments, but he resurfaced to some degree in January 2021 as part of the company's announcement for the next three WrestleManias.
The future Hall of Famer revealed that WrestleMania 39 in 2023 will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
This was significant since SoFi Stadium was supposed to host WrestleMania 37, but WWE did some shuffling amid the pandemic and decided to hold this year's event in Tampa instead.
WWE still turns to Cena in big moments and gets him involved whenever possible, and now that he has returned to the fold, a huge match with Reigns could be forthcoming at SummerSlam on August 21.
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