Roman Reigns Accepts Finn Balor’s Universal Championship Challenge, Says No To John Cena
Roman Reigns has chosen his next challenger.
At Money in the Bank, John Cena made his return to the company for the first time since WrestleMania 36. The following night on Raw, he made his intention to challenge Roman Reigns at SummerSlam known. On the July 23 episode of SmackDown, he called out The Head of The Table, but Paul Heyman informed Cena that Roman would answer him before the end of the night.
“Tonight, you WILL get an answer to your challenge.”#SmackDown @HeymanHustle @WWERomanReigns @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/6XaMnR2zqd
— WWE (@WWE) July 24, 2021
Reigns came out to close the show and berated Cena. He thought Hollywood would have made him over, but instead, we’re seeing the same guy from 2005. He then proceeded to decline Cena’s SummerSlam challenge. Finn Balor’s music hit immediately afterwards. He came to the ring and told Reigns, “If you’re not interested in John Cena’s challenge, maybe you’ll be interested in mine.”
“If you’re not interested in @JohnCena‘s challenge, maybe you’re interested in mine?” — #SmackDown@FinnBalor @WWERomanReigns @HeymanHustle pic.twitter.com/ZUpJGozayq
— WWE (@WWE) July 24, 2021
After consulting with Paul Heyman, SmackDown ended with Roman accepting Balor’s challenge.
The inaugural Universal Champion returned to SmackDown last week after a two-year stint in NXT. He competed this evening, defeating Sami Zayn in singles competition.
WWE has yet to confirm the match between Reigns and Balor and clarify whether or not it will take place at SummerSlam.
Keep up to date with everything happening on WWE SmackDown by checking out Fightful’s live coverage. Also, you can watch our post-show review by clicking here.
