4 Former WWE Superstars referenced by John Cena and Roman Reigns in their SmackDown promo
John Cena and Roman Reigns kicked off this week's episode of WWE SmackDown in the best possible way. Ahead of the show, there were rumors that the build-up to the match had been lackluster and the company was looking to step up their game.
Cena kicked off the show by calling out Reigns when he used several profanities to get his point over. Reigns then made comments about the former Champion's breakup before there were blatant references toward former WWE Superstars from Cena.
#4 Former WWE Superstar Ric Flair
Ric Flair is a former 16-time WWE Champion and the man who is currently tied for the record alongside John Cena. Flair was released from his WWE contract earlier this month and it appears that his name is now being omitted from WWE TV.
As part of the promo on SmackDown earlier tonight, Cena discussed how he could become the most decorated superstar in WWE history with a win at SummerSlam but failed to mention the fact that Ric Flair holds the record with him.
The former 16-time Champion has recently been linked to AEW, so that could be the reason for this omission, but the talk of Championships was definitely a reference towards The Nature Boy and his name should have been added to the conversation.
#3 Former WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose
Dean Ambrose was once one-third of The Shield alongside Roman Reigns but opted against renewing his contract in 2019 and has instead gone on to make a name for himself in AEW.
John Cena referred to the former WWE star when talking to Roman Reigns about how he had been protected throughout his WWE career.
"You've been protected Roman, you've been protected by The Shield, hell you almost ruined Seth Rollins, you ran Dean Ambrose out of WWE."
#2 Former WWE Superstar CM Punk
It's been more than seven years since CM Punk was in a WWE ring but fans have made it clear that he's a star that they would like back regularly.
The self-proclaimed "Best in the World" has recently been linked with AEW, but tonight on SmackDown, he was referenced by John Cena. The former 16-time World Champion talked about how he would celebrate his victory over Reigns at SummerSlam and noted that he would jump the barrier and may even blow a kiss at Reigns before leaving The Allegiant Arena.
This is how Punk celebrated when he defeated Cena back in 2011, before exiting the arena and the WWE Universe believed that he wouldn't return.
#1. Former WWE Superstar Nikki Bella
It's been a long time since Nikki Bella has been a part of WWE, and more than two years since she was in John Cena's life. The former Divas Champion and Cena opted to end their relationship back in 2018 after six years, but she was still used as an insult directed at Cena earlier tonight.
Roman Reigns brought up how boring Cena was and referenced Nikki Bella alongside his signature analogy to make a point.
"20 years of missionary was good enough for you, but it wasn't good enough for Nikki Bella," said Roman Reigns.