On Friday Night SmackDown this week, John Cena was saved from The Bloodline’s attack by none other than LA Knight, who signed the contract and is now officially Cena’s tag team partner for Fastlane. After SmackDown went off-air, The Cenation Leader issued an open challenge, which was answered by a top NXT Champion.
After a weekly show like Monday Night RAW or Friday Night SmackDown goes off-air, dark matches usually take place. These are the kind of matches where no championship title is put on the line, and the babyfaces usually get the win to send the crowd home happy.
John Cena faced Dominik Mysterio in dark match after SmackDown
After SmackDown went off-air last night, there were two dark matches that took place. In the first match, John Cena issued an open challenge, which was surprisingly answered by NXT North American Champion Dominik Mysterio. Fresh off a victory over Dragon Lee on RAW this week, ‘Dirty’ Dom came out to tell Cena that only champions can issue an open challenge. This led to the Judgement Day member being booed as he made his way to the ring.
As if Seth Rollins vs Gunther wasn't enough, John Cena vs Dominik Mysterio also took place after #SmackDown:pic.twitter.com/5FQKkfB3nr
— WrestleTalk (@WrestleTalk_TV) September 30, 2023
It was actually non-title match that took place between the two superstars. Usually in dark matches, champions do not defend their championships, as the dark matches are normally designed so that the babyfaces can pick up a win and send the crowd home satisfied. With John Cena being one of the biggest babyfaces, he naturally won the match, which definitely made the crowd happy.
SETH ROLLINS VS GUNTHER IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/ABHuAU9s9a
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) September 30, 2023
On the other hand, a dream match took place in the second dark match of the night, which was between Seth Rollins and Gunther. According to the fans in audience, although the match itself was pretty good, it ended in disqualification. This would have been probably the best possible way to end the match, so that Gunther wouldn’t have his first loss since becoming the IC Champ in a dark match.
Cena beat Rey Mysterio for WWE title match in 2011
2011 was definitely an interesting time for WWE. After defeating John Cena and winning the WWE Championship, CM Punk seemingly walked out of the company along with the championship title. This resulted in WWE holding a tournament to crown a new champion.
The Miz and Rey Mysterio advanced to the finals of the tournament. The Master of 619 eventually beat The A-Lister on the July 25th edition of RAW to become the new WWE Champion. However, in a move that shocked everyone, WWE had John Cena face Rey Mysterio on the same night for the championship, which led to Cena shockingly pinning Mysterio and becoming the new WWE Champion of the red brand.
John Cena’s return to WWE has been great so far, with him scheduled to team up with LA Knight and facing Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa at Fastlane. Fans are grateful to have The Cenation Leader back in the ring, and hope to see more of him in the coming few weeks.
