Top SmackDown Rumors: July 17, 2021

#2. John Cena is set to return on SmackDown

WWE may be planning SmackDown's Universal Champion taking on The Rock at WrestleMania next year, but he has to get through John Cena first. As per multiple reports, John Cena is set to return to SmackDown soon to start the build-up for his SummerSlam match against Roman Reigns.

Look who just shut down all of Tony Khan's critics! More HERE.

These plans ran into some roadblocks when it was revealed that John Cena has some prior commitments in August. Dave Meltzer of WON has revealed that the match between Reigns and Cena will still be taking place:

''It’s Cena’s first weekly TV series as an actor (not including the game show host stuff) and debuts on HBO Max in December. Cena plays the superhero character lead, described as a douchey version of Captain America. At press time the belief was that everything necessary to make the match happen has been worked out.''

John Cena has been absent from SmackDown since his feud with Bray Wyatt concluded at WrestleMania 36. Do you think Roman Reigns will be able to vanquish one of the most celebrated WWE Champions of all time at SummerSlam?

About the author

Shiven Sachdeva is a WWE writer who has been with Sportskeeda for over eight years. He is an alumnus of IIT-R and holds a Master's Degree in Commerce. His love for writing and pro wrestling led him to become a writer. Shiven has interviewed multiple top WWE stars, including former champions Kofi Kingston, Becky Lynch, and Seth Rollins, to name a few.

Shiven thoroughly researches the news and stories and enjoys reporting roundups and news to help give his audience an accurate view of all the important happenings in the world of pro wrestling. He has one of the highest average reads on the website and holds the distinction of garnering a 100M reads in under 2000 articles.

Two of his favorite WWE Superstars are Shawn Michaels and Drew McIntyre. If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Shiven asserts that he would reinstate Michaels as the leader of DX instead of Triple H.

Shiven also enjoys watching and taking part in Theatre in his free time.

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Edited by John Cunningham

Top SmackDown Rumors: Major MITB spoiler, superstar could turn on Reigns to join The Rock, Jericho says current WWE star will never be world champion (17th July)

#2. John Cena is set to return on SmackDown