Major Backstage Update On John Cena’s WWE Backlash Announcement
A few days earlier, John Cena confirmed that he would be making an appearance at Backlash.
Last month, the 17-time world champion hosted WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas across two nights on April 18 and 19. Cena kicked off both evenings and was later seen while announcing the attendance numbers.
Cena was also part of the segment where former WWE Women’s Champion Bianca Belair announced her pregnancy.
The 48-year-old retired last year at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, calling an end to his 23-year-long career with the Stamford promotion.
While making an appearance at a wrestling convention a couple of months ago, John Cena revealed that he had been working closely with WWE in a backstage role.
WWE Aggressively Promoting Membership Program
In the lead-up to Backlash, WWE has been promoting a membership program called Club WWE with John Cena as its face.
Cena lent his voiceover to a video, which usually ran during the break of a live Raw or SmackDown taping, explaining that the program is designed to enhance subscribers’ experience.
While the video was played regularly, its details were never really divulged, at least in terms of specific benefits. While promoting Club WWE, the commentators encouraged viewers to sign up and reserve their spot to get an exclusive invite to become a part of the experience.
This promotion page gives a brief insight into what one can expect by signing up, but there may be many other benefits associated with it.
When John Cena announced that he would be present at Backlash on May 9, many fans guessed that it was to promote Club WWE. Calling it historic, Cena wrote on Twitter that his announcement will be ‘history-making.’
It’s official! I’m headed to #WWEBacklash ! After months of planning and effort, I am SO excited to break some history-making news! I can’t promise it’ll be perfect but I can promise it will change the WWE experience for Superstars and fans! C U Live Saturday in Tampa or at home on the @espn app!
John Cena’s Appearance At Backlash May Not Be Limited To Club WWE
A John Cena appearance at any live WWE taping is welcome news for fans. No wonder his initial announcement about being present at Backlash generated quite the buzz.
Despite fans speculating that his presence might have something to do with promoting Club WWE, an update from WrestleVotes states that there could be something bigger at play.
Backstage at SmackDown last night, there was some internal hope that tonight’s ‘historic’ announcement from John Cena goes beyond anything Club WWE related. That said, according to one source, if that’s the direction, it’s been kept very quiet behind the scenes. [H/T: Ringside News]
Regardless of WWE fans having no clue about what Cena will talk about at Backlash, the announcement has kept everyone glued to their streaming platforms.
Meanwhile, here’s what the Backlash card looks like:
- Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu – World Heavyweight Championship match
- Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker – Singles match
- Asuka vs. Iyo Sky – Singles match
- Trick Williams (c) vs. Sami Zayn – United States Championship match
- The Miz & Kit Wilson vs. Danhausen & ???? – Tag Team Match