American pro-wrestling would not be the product we see today without the fundamental contribution of a character like John Cena. The 16-time world champion was the symbolic face of WWE for many years, becoming an authentic icon both inside and outside the ring, alongside sacred names such as those of Hulk Hogan, The Undertaker or Ric Flair as important.
The Boston champion has moved away from wrestling in recent years, thanks to advancing age and the desire to make it into the cinema. Following in the footsteps of the legendary The Rock, the leader of the ‘Cenation’ didn’t take long to become one of the most popular actors in Hollywood and American TV series.
His last appearance in the WWE rings was in Summerslam 2021, where he showed a strong performance against ‘Tribal Chief’ Roman Reigns. As everyone knows by now, John is back in this night’s Monday Night Raw episode to celebrate the 20th anniversary of his debut in the company and many colleagues wanted to connect for the occasion, to dedicate two words.
Chris Jericho is all set to face Orange Cassidy in this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. If Cassidy loses, he will owe Chris Jericho $7000.
Chris Jericho appeared on Raw
Among the many names of WWE Superstars such as Randy Orton or ChairWoman Stephanie McMahon, who took part in these dedications for Cena, there also appeared great names who have recently moved away from WWE a bit, such as Kurt Angle or Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The most sensational person to appear on the WWE giant screen, however, was undoubtedly Chris Jericho, former WWE world champion but also former AEW world champion, who’s still currently working in the rings of the Khan family-owned company.
It is very unusual for WWE to show some characters who are no longer part of its staff, with numerous athletes who are in fact “hidden” by WWE, some videos or other content, just because they are part of another roster of another company.
During his recent Saturday Night Special, Chris Jericho spoke about some of the differences between WWE and AEW: “That’s one thing I really like about what we have going with AEW, it isn’t typical wrestling. It’s not like WWE wrestling and nor are we trying to be.