John Cena makes his hotly anticipated return to Raw on Monday night weeks after his stunning heel turn at Elimination Chamber.
Cena hasn’t been seen in WWE since an epic storyline twist saw him turn heel – become a villain – for the first time in decades.
Having played the hero to fans around the world for years, the veteran got to roll back the clock with a dastardly turn on present-day hero and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
At the climax of the event, he attacked the American Nightmare and aligned with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson ahead of Cena’s challenge for the world title at WrestleMania later in the Spring.
He’ll confront his foe on Raw from Brussels, Belgium on Monday night in his first showing since that all unfolded.
WWE has been praised for the subtlety of its long-term storytelling in recent years, with feuds and rivalries now equipped with multiple layers and plenty of ‘hidden’ easter eggs and callbacks.
As such, and as shocking as the Elimination Chamber finale was, some are convinced they’ve traced its roots all the way back to 2021.
Cena was, back then, feuding with, among others, Rock’s cousin, Roman Reigns, who is almost certain to feature in this saga again before all is said and done.
Re-sharing a clip from one SmackDown episode, the 16-time former world champion can be seen mouthing off to Reigns counting to three on his fingers before making a throat-slashing gesture.
The Rock, appearing at Bad Blood last year in his first appearance since WrestleMania XL, mysteriously stood on the ramp, confronting Reigns, and also counted to three before cutting across his throat with his fingers. The Hollywood star then repeated the throat slash at the Chamber.
The clips are, indeed, eerily similar and are enough for at least some to be convinced they’re connected.
“John Cena and The Rock teaming up was the plan since 2021,” asserted one fan, the clip having since amassed almost 850k views.
“Long-term booking at its finest,” said another fan, while a third wrote: “This is cinema, absolute cinema.”
Some were adamant Cena’s 1-2-3 was relevant to his match with Reigns at the time and had no resemblance to what Rock is doing now, only for another counter to insist: “They wouldn’t have announced the Retirement Tour nearly a year ago, if it wasn’t planned well in advance.”
Another fan, convinced, followed up: “How did no one pick up on this after Bad Blood??” while another called it ‘eerie in hindsight.”
The Belgium Raw is the latest event in a huge European tour for WWE.
Last Friday’s Smackdown was held in front of a raucous crowd in Barcelona, Spain, as a packed fanbase serenaded stars like Rhodes and Randy Orton.
The UK is treated to the live action in the coming days after SmackDown airs from Italy on Friday.
London’s O2 Arena stages next week’s Raw and SmackDown before the 24th March Raw comes from Glasgow and the OVO Hydro, site of Clash at the Castle: Scotland.
Other European events include non-televised live events in Belfast, Ireland and Nottingham, England on March 22nd and 23rd respectively.
The Raw and SmackDown episodes will be of particular interest to fans on this side of the pond – they’ll be able to watch them all at the far more sociable time of 7pm UK time rather than having to wait to watch live in the early hours of the morning in keeping with US time.
Brits can watch Raw and SmackDown live on Netflix along with all other current WWE programming.
