WWE Raw: John Cena celebrates 20-year anniversary
By Ryan Satin
FOX Sports WWE Analyst
John Cena returned to Monday Night Raw this week to celebrate his 20-year anniversary.
John Cena welcomed back to Monday Night Raw
Here’s a quick recap of the match results:
- Riddle won a 20-man "Last Chance" battle royal for a spot in the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match
- Montez Ford defeated Jey Uso via pinfall with a frog splash
- AJ Styles defeated The Miz via count-out after his opponent walked to the back to intentionally end the match
The Miz walks out on AJ Styles on Monday Night Raw
- Liv Morgan defeated Alexa Bliss via roll-up pinfall
- Bobby Lashley defeated Alpha Academy via the Hurt Lock submission
- Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Baszler, Xia Li, Doudrop, Nikki A.S.H. and Tamina in a "Last Chance" qualifier for Money in the Bank
Moment of the night: John Cena speaks from the heart
Vince McMahon introduces John Cena on his 20th WWE anniversary
Rather than this being the start of some long-term program or a battle with a top heel on the microphone, it was nice to see another side of Cena as he reflected on his 20-year milestone.
We don’t often see that type of emotion from the "Peacemaker" star, but it made all the sense in the world here.
Hearing John say he doesn’t know when he’ll be back in the ring again was another interesting takeaway from his speech, but it would also explain why there wasn’t more of an encounter with Theory.
In fact, it was smart how Cena didn’t address him in their backstage face-to-face. He clearly wanted to save his ammo for another day.
Additionally, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan (aka Bryan Danielson) and Paul Wight (aka The Big Show) sending in video messages was a great surprise. All three played a role in his story, so seeing them briefly was a nice treat.
Additional highlights:
Cody Rhodes made an interesting comment about Seth Rollins while being interviewed about his absence at Money in the Bank.
"If Seth takes the win [at Money in the Bank], I think I’ll be the first to congratulate him," he said. Does this mean we might see Cody on Saturday?
The Miz teased another team-up with Logan Paul at SummerSlam, despite turning on him after their last match together.
I’m guessing it’ll be Logan Paul vs. The Miz instead.
For a segment-by-segment breakdown of the show with more of my thoughts, listen to the Raw Roundup podcast in the "Out of Character" feed on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
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