John Cena returns to WWE this Friday night on SmackDown in a massive main event, teaming up with Kevin Owens against The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn.
In order to truly appreciate the magnitude of this match, let’s take a trip back to 2015, when each of their stories first began to intersect.
The concept of a weekly Open Challenge might be commonplace now, but when Cena won the United States Championship and started giving out weekly opportunities for anyone to challenge him, it was new and unique.
For the first time in years, WWE’s top star wasn’t just wrestling against main eventers, he was tearing it up in weekly bangers with the next generation of talent in WWE.
He was also elevating the importance of the U.S. title and showing naysayers that he could keep up with anyone willing to test him.
Enter Sami Zayn.
In May 2015, Sami Zayn was the most popular babyface in all of NXT and his transition to the main roster felt imminent.
Unfortunately, that transition didn’t go as smoothly as he would’ve liked, all because of an injury that took place before his Open Challenge match against John Cena — not days or hours before the match, but mere minutes, following an unforgettable introduction from WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart.
A fired up Sami Zayn hit the stage and threw up his hands so hard that it tore his shoulder and kept him out of action afterwards for months, which nearly derailed his WWE career before it could even begin.
As for Kevin Owens, his transition went much smoother.
Similar to Sami Zayn, KO arrived on the main roster the same month by answering an Open Challenge from John, only one that saw them wrestle for the first time weeks later at Elimination Chamber.
The Prizefighter then launched his career in a major way by defeating a future Hall of Famer in his first match on the main roster.
Owens and Cena would go on to have additional encounters on opposite sides of the ring, which helped Kevin to grow into one of WWE’s top stars. He’d go on to become a three-time United States champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, and of course, Universal Champion as well.
Sami finally made it to the main roster in 2016, albeit with much less momentum behind him, and it wasn’t until 2022 when he’d reach the same level of popularity again after joining Roman Reigns’ Bloodline.
Now, don’t forget, there’s also tons of history between Roman and John.
Reigns has been the heir apparent of Cena since the early days of The Shield, and after breaking off on his own, they tangled plenty of times.
The most memorable of their encounters, however, came after Roman reinvented himself as “The Head of The Table” and John returned last year looking to rehash their past problems.
This wasn’t the same man he had battled before, though, and things got tense before Roman put Cena down at SummerSlam.
That all brings us to this Friday night and the biggest SmackDown main event of the year — just before we ring in 2023.
John Cena and Kevin Owens: former adversaries teaming up to take on a common enemy in The Bloodline’s Roman Reigns.
Reigns and Sami Zayn: two of WWE’s biggest Superstars right now defending their Ucey Honor.
This is the only John Cena match you’ll see in 2022, and a rare opportunity to watch Roman Reigns wrestle live on SmackDown.
Tune in this Friday night on FOX to watch the whole thing live!
Don’t forget to follow all your favorite WWE Superstars and shows in the FOX Sports app to receive alerts on what they’re doing and more.
Ryan Satin is a WWE analyst for FOX Sports. Satin previously appeared on FS1’s “WWE Backstage” and founded Pro Wrestling Sheet, where he broke countless news stories as editor-in-chief.
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