John Cena Appointed Guest Referee During WWE Payback Match
John Cena was not only the guest host of WWE Payback, but he also served as a referee for one of the big matches on the show.
At WWE Payback in Pittsburgh, John Cena was in the role of the host of the show. It’s something that doesn’t really have a defined role for an individual. Meanwhile, fans can wonder why this show has a guest host yet other WWE Premium LIve Events do not? The answer is it was just a way for WWE to tell fans that John Cena was going to be on this show.
During his promo at WWE Payback, Cena spoke about how he had many different roles in his WWE career over the last 21 years, but he had never been a guest host before. That led to an interruption from The Miz.
It was clear immediately that Cena and The Miz still had great chemistry on the microphone as two guys who worked together a lot, especially in the early 2010s and two WrestleMania matches.
The Miz had a great line when he said that at WrestleMania 39 when he was the host, he wore great suits while Cena is nearly 50 years old and still dresses like a Teletubby.
While The Miz didn’t seem to like it, Cena appointed himself as the special guest referee of the match between Miz and LA Knight. Cena wore a referee shirt during the match.
John Cena Put Over LA Knight After The Match
In his role as the referee, John Cena was fair and unbiased. At times, Cena admonished Miz for being too aggressive and he did it to LA Knight too.
The match was won by LA Knight hitting the Blount Force Trauma (BFT) for the pinfall victory.
After the match, Cena extended his hand for a shake. Knight said Cena almost cost him the match while Cena said you still won clean. Knight shook Cena’s hand and Cena raised Knight’s hand. The fans loved that. The announcers mentioned that it was as if Cena was endorsing LA Knight telling the fans that this guy is going to special.
In addition to his refereeing role, Cena also did a backstage interview talking to new WWE Tag Team Champions Damian Priest & Finn Balor. As you can see, Cena was sporting a unique look for the role.
Who is this? Wrong answers only.#WWEPaybackpic.twitter.com/gURrM0zb6m
— WWE (@WWE) September 3, 2023
As for what’s next, Cena is heading to India this Friday for the Superstar Spectacle show where he’ll team up with Seth Rollins against Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci. After that, Cena is scheduled for every Smackdown episode in September and October. It could lead to more matches for the 16-time WWE World Champion and his presence will certainly help the viewership numbers for Smackdown too.