It's been widely reported in the last week that the WWE has big plans for SummerSlam 2021 and is hoping to stack its card with the best matches to ensure it fills Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. It's going to take some big star power to accomplish, as the event looks to pack a football stadium for the first time since its creation. Still, the rumored headline match definitely feels as though it could put some butts in seats. Now, it's only a matter of confirming whether it's true that John Cena will return to face Universal Champion Roman Reigns, which is easier said than done.
John Cena was recently asked about his plans for Saturday, August 21st during an interview for the upcoming F9. Check out the playful exchange between Cena and reporter Tara Hitchcock, who really tried to get a scoop from the former top guy in the WWE:
Interviewer: What will you be doing August 21st? Just out of curiousity.John Cena: Uh, you know, hopefully enjoying the summer? I don't know.Interviewer: You in Vegas perhaps?Cena: What's in Vegas?Interviewer: I heard there's something called SummerSlam?Cena: Oh [laughs]. That was a good way to do that! That was a good way to do that. I'm so sorry I'm in the middle of filming Peacemaker, I'm talking to a lot of folks today, my mind is a little bit scattered. . .you know to be able to bestow that gem upon you would be great, but there's a lot going on. I don't want to create expecations I can't manage.
John Cena's response was well done, and one that I think was an intentional act to dodge lying in an interview about any potential upcoming involvement with the WWE. I believe he may have originally not understood what the reporter was getting at with their question but, once he understood, why wouldn't he have just answered the question if the answer was no?
What's even more interesting about this exchange is that a clip of the video was shared by the WWE's official Twitter account for SmackDown, which is the home of Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Check out the post for yourself down below:
SummerSlam 2021 is still a couple of months away, but one would think that if John Cena was going to be involved in the proceedings, conversations would be in the works right now. Given the last part of Cena's statement, perhaps there are talks taking place right now to see what works within Cena's busy schedule and whether or not he can commit to the rumored plan for a match with Roman Reigns, which would be worthy of a massive pay-per-view event.
After all, John Cena is a busy Hollywood actor these days, with his hand in a few projects at the moment. Between press obligations for F9, his Peacemaker series, and upcoming press obligations for The Suicide Squad, it would be hard to also commit to appearances on SmackDown to hype the upcoming storyline. Plus, it's been about a year and a half since he last wrestled for the WWE, so there would be some potential rust to knock off before main eventing a big match like SummerSlam. It feels like Cena's appearance is possible, but it would to take some work to make it happen.
If John Cena is set to appear at SummerSlam, one would expect he'd make an appearance on SmackDown (which airs on Fox Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ET) in the coming months. Speaking of Cena and the WWE, check out what the Bella twins had to say about why they thanked the WWE Superstar in their hall of fame induction speeches.
