The final episode of Friday Night SmackDown before the 2023 Payback is officially over as they witnessed John Cena’s return. It was a relief for fans that he will finally become busily available in the WWE schedule for this month. Before this week’s SmackDown, there was speculation that “Cenation Leader” might appear at Payback. Now, the superstar has officially announced that on September 2, he will host a Premium Live Event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, however, he hasn’t made a Premium Live Appearance since Money in the Bank on July 1, 2023, in London.
Before the program began, Cena did an interview with a WWE reporter in which he assured the audience that he would be hosting the Payback show no matter what. In that interview, he addressed some questions regarding LA Knight-The Miz [Face to Face], where John Cena seems to be a fan of LA Knight.
John Cena offers high praise to LA Knight
The 16-time world champion is a fan favorite and usually receives lovely shoutouts whenever he makes an appearance. In interviews leading up to his hosting of Payback on September 2, he was questioned about his recent return to the ring, and he expressed his gratitude at being welcomed back into the WWE family as a regular member after an absence of two to three years. He claimed, that fans were crucial in making this happen for him. And he wanted that admiration from supporters worldwide.
#SmackDown EXCLUSIVE: Hear from the host of #WWEPayback, @JohnCena! 👋@peacock pic.twitter.com/IWXq1U0kvj
— WWE (@WWE) September 2, 2023
In addition, Cathy Kelly probed the GOAT for his thoughts on the confrontation between LA Knight and The Miz in Payback. He didn’t change his mind about either celebrity, but he seemed like a big fan while talking about Knight.
John said, “I have a tremendous amount of respect for LA Knight because his trajectory is that of persistence, you wanna talk about somebody never giving up, I have it on a shirt and I try to live it every day, he walks that talk and he does it with his own style and he’s not afraid to be who he is in here [in his heart] and speaking from someone who started as the doctor of thuganomics, I have a lot of respect for that.”
John Cena took some time to praise LA Knight 🔥🔥🔥
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for LA Knight because his trajectory is that of persistence, you wanna talk about somebody never giving up, I have it on a shirt and I try to live it everyday, he walks that talk and he… pic.twitter.com/iXeMprNRfq
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) September 2, 2023
John Cena set to host WWE Payback
John Cena was interviewed by Cathy Kelley after his September 1st WWE SmackDown performance. Among the many subjects they discussed was Cena’s hosting of the following night’s premium live event, WWE Payback, which was revealed during the broadcast.
John Cena set to host Tomorrow night’s WWE Payback PLE
POP pic.twitter.com/gheT6Rx1An
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) September 2, 2023
After thanking WWE officials and his fans for supporting and respecting him for throughout his 20-year career, the Megastar said, “I just found this out right before I ran down here,’ he told the fans during a passionate speech. ‘You have given me the opportunity to host Payback tomorrow night!”
What are your thoughts after watching your favorite celebrity so busy after all these years? Leave a comment below to share your feelings.
