In the main event of SummerSlam 2021, Roman Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the Universal Championship. On the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, Cena revealed the original plan for this match:
“In the last moment, we had a surprise guest booked, he came out after the match was over. Brock (Lesnar). They didn’t secure Brock until 5 PM that day. I was going to win 17. We were going to have someone come out and restart the match, Roman was going to take it back. Then, we secure Brock.
[Someone from WWE Talent Relations] comes and says, ‘I need to see you. We’re switching the finish.’ ‘To what?’ ‘Roman over. Clean.’ ‘Okay. Let me talk to Roman and Paul.’
I said, ‘One spear. That’s it. Whatever match you want to have, that’s fine. You beat me with your finish once.’ I love Paul. Paul Heyman has been a great mentor. He gets it and he recognizes somebody who sees it’s not about them, it’s about the story. This is going to make Roman better.
It switched. Right there. An hour before. It happens to everyone. I didn’t flip out. It happens all the time. I was supposed to win 17 that night.”
John Cena Reveals His Originally Planned Opponent For Crown Jewel 2025
Cena also revealed during this podcast that he was originally scheduled to face Drew McIntyre at Crown Jewel 2025. However, after the Brock Lesnar match at Wrestlepalooza received negative fan reaction, WWE needed a feel good moment in the retirement tour.
Because of that, the decision was made to have Cena face AJ Styles instead of McIntyre. Here’s what the 17-time World Champion said:
“AJ was supposed to be Drew. We pivoted. You want to have a feel good moment because they were listening to the data points. They do. It’s real. You have the Brock moment — people are pi$$ed off. You have the AJ moment and things are great.”
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