One night after making a surprise return to the WWE during Sunday’s Money In The Bank pay-per-view event,16-time champion John Cena was back on Monday Night Raw. And it just so happened to be the first episode of the show with live fans in attendance since COVID began in March of 2020.

“Finally, we can come back and cheer together. And boo together. And make some noise and connect with people that love this,” Cena said to the energized crowd in Dallas, Texas.

And even though the actor side of Cena is quite busy with F9 already in theaters and The Suicide Squad coming on August 6, the now part-time wrestler side of him has officially made plans for the summer as well. After merely announcing his presence while cutting short the celebration of Roman Reigns at Money In The Bank, where Reigns defeated Edge to retain the Universal Championship belt, Cena officially explained his return to the WWE on Monday.

“What am I here for? The WWE Universal Championship,” Cena said. “When? About five weeks from now. A little event called SummerSlam.”

?????@JohnCena has laid down the challenge for #UniversalChampion@WWERomanReigns at #SummerSlam … and he'll be at #SmackDown this Friday to see The #HeadOfTheTable in person again! #WWERawpic.twitter.com/kyYSBbyxvw

— WWE (@WWE) July 20, 2021

So the 44-year-old will battle Reigns in the main event at SummerSlam on August 21 in Las Vegas. And there probably won’t be a lot of hugging or even smiling going on during the match, after Cena spent much of his appearance on Monday talking trash about future foe.

“Roman Reigns is an arrogant, self absorbed, over-hyped, over-protected, over-exposed gimmick,” Cena said. “And that, that is coming from me.”

Cena is no longer a full-time wrestler because of his rapidly growing career in Hollywood, so he hasn’t wrestled in a high-profile match in front of fans since WrestleMania 34 in 2018 when he lost to The Undertaker. But the occasional guest co-anchor on Today has made it clear that this is not a one-and-done appearance in the WWE. In fact, he plans on seeing Reigns again very soon.

“I'm telling you right now. I'm going to be at Smackdown on Friday,” Cena said, directing his comments toward Reigns. “And I can't wait to see you there.”

WWE Monday Night Raw airs Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on USA.

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