John Cena Returning To WWE, Joining Team Smackdown At Survivor Series; Cena Responds
If WWE TLC’s last minute changes proved anything to WWE, it’s that making late changes to a WWE PPV isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
16-time world champion “free agent” John Cena is back, and will join Team Smackdown Live on the upcoming WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view. The announcement was made by WWE Smackdown Commisioner Shane McMahon Wednesday morning, filling up his team.
In addition, WWE’s website posted the following.
The battle lines have been drawn and the teams finalized, and the biggest names and most prominent rising stars in sports-entertainment will clash for brand supremacy at Survivor Series, the one night a year where Raw and SmackDown LIVE go head-to-head.
The final pick for that monumental showdown is perhaps the biggest yet, as SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon has announced that WWE’s resident free agent John Cena will return to action as a member of Team SmackDown!
At the helm of Team Raw will be the red brand’s General Manager Kurt Angle, who made his in-ring return at WWE TLC, battling alongside Dean Ambrose & Seth Rollins. The Olympic Gold Medalist exploded back into competition and looked like he hadn’t lost a step, though his back will truly be against the wall in the Nov. 19 showdown.
Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon made it clear that Angle’s position with Monday Night Raw will be in jeopardy if he doesn’t completely show up the blue brand, and The Olympic Hero went accordingly big in picking his backup. Braun Strowman’s destruction of The Miz earned him the first slot, Finn Bálor and Samoa Joe followed suit after Angle was impressed with their intensity towards each other, and for the final selection, The Olympic Hero picked a Superstar he knew he could trust: his son, Jason Jordan.
After Randy Orton defeated Sami Zayn to become SmackDown’s first member, Shinsuke Nakamura vanquished Kevin Owens, and Bobby Roode outlasted Dolph Ziggler in a 2-out-of-3-Falls Match to win their way onto the squad as well. Shane-O-Mac then named himself captain after his sister appointed Angle to the helm of Team Red, and for the final member, The Prodigal Son has now selected none other than The Leader of the Cenation to once again represent SmackDown LIVE and round out his team.
Cena was last seen on Raw at No Mercy where he was defeated by Roman Reigns, and appeared to give his latest farewell to WWE. Cena appears in a new movie, “Daddy’s Home 2,” which releases this week.
Cena posted the following on Twitter in regards to the news:
Thus far, other major stars like The Shield, New Day, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn and Jinder Mahal don’t have matches booked for the show. Fightful.com will have full, live coverage of the show, which takes place Sunday, November 19 from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.
