John Cena Mentions AEW Legend During WWE SmackDown Taping
John Cena mentioned a well-known AEW name during a WWE SmackDown while issuing some comments about Solo Sikoa.
There were two episodes of WWE SmackDown in Milwaukee on Friday night. The October 27th episode of Smackdown aired on FS1 in the US while the November 3rd episode was taped right after due to the WWE roster flying to Saudi Arabia for Crown Jewel on November 4th.
On last night’s show, John Cena did a promo showing confidence about his Crown Jewel match against Solo Sikoa, but Cena was also emotional while wondering what would happen if he doesn’t win. After 21 years in WWE, Cena has nothing left to prove, but he wants to show the WWE Universe he can still be a top guy.
Cena’s promo was interrupted by Paul Heyman, who called Cena the best promo guy in wrestling history and Heyman said he wanted his kids to be more like Cena rather than himself. Heyman’s kind words were just a ploy leading to Solo Sikoa attacking Cena from behind. Solo dropped Cena with a Samoan Spike.
During the taping of the November 3rd episode, Cena did a promo toward Solo Sikoa, who is the cousin of the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. Cena decided to take a shot at the family while also mentioning ECW wrestling legend, WWE wrestler, WWE announcer, TNA announcer and now AEW announcer Taz (aka Tazz in WWE).
“We all know that the only reason you got a job here is because of your cousin. We all see you walking around thinking you’re some big badass enforcer when you’re nothing but a bargain basement Taz ripoff!”
You're nothing more then a bargain basement @OfficialTAZ ripoff- John Cena #SmackDownpic.twitter.com/Sjp17ThFDM
— Steven Radmer (@Steven_R) October 28, 2023
The Taz line was in reference to the fact that Taz was known as a tough, badass type of wrestler and Solo’s character is similar to that. Taz also had a towel around his neck like Solo often has. Taz has worked for AEW for the past four years and is a regular announcer on Dynamite.
John Cena facing Solo Sikoa is one of seven matches set to take place at WWE Crown Jewel
It was announced on Friday afternoon that John Cena will face Solo Sikoa in a singles match at WWE Crown Jewel. It will be Cena’s second televised singles match this year after losing to Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39 back in April.
That Cena-Sikoa was the sixth match announced for Crown Jewel. On Smackdown, they also announced IYO SKY defending the WWE Women’s Title against Bianca Belair, who shared the news during an in-ring promo.
The updated WWE Crown Jewel lineup can be seen below.
* Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. LA Knight
* World Heavyweight Championship: Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
* Women’s World Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Nia Jax vs. Raquel Rodriguez vs. Zoey Stark
* Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest
* John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa
* United States Championship: Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Logan Paul
* WWE Women’s Championship: IYO SKY (c) vs. Bianca Belair
WWE Crown Jewel airs on Saturday, November 4th, at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT, streaming live from Riyadh, exclusively on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.