What’s the story?
In the finish of the Triple Threat WWE Championship on the latest edition of SmackDown Live, John Cena can be heard saying something along the lines of “You’re a proper champion now” as Bray was about to pin him.
The words can be heard from the 2:10 mark on the following video:
In case you didn’t know...
Bray Wyatt won the WWE championship from John Cena at Elimination Chamber inside the Chamber match. He pinned both John Cena and finally AJ Styles to win the title. Bray Wyatt was originally scheduled to face John Cena in a singles match for the WWE Championship.
However, during the show, AJ Styles demanded his championship rematch, as he never got a title match after losing the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. The main event then turned into a Triple threat match featuring AJ Styles.
Bray Wyatt, as seen in the video, defeated both Cena and Styles to retain the WWE Championship. This cemented that Bray Wyatt would be heading into WrestleMania as WWE champion.
The story seems to be leading to Bray Wyatt taking on Randy Orton, who won the Royal Rumble for the WWE championship. However, after the triple threat match, Randy Orton came out and pledged his allegiance to Bray, refusing to face him for the WWE Championship.
This resulted in SmackDown Live General manager Daniel Bryan announcing that next week’s episode of SmackDown Live will feature a battle royal to determine Bray Wyatt’s challenger at WrestleMania.
Luke Harper is rumoured to win the battle royal, making the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania a triple threat match between Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, and he.
The heart of the matter
John Cena insisted on putting Bray Wyatt over, according to Sean Waltman(better known as X-Pac). Cena took a clean pinfall from Bray Wyatt both times. While Cena did mock the fans on SmackDown Live for chanting “You deserve it” towards Bray Wyatt, he seemed to do that to help get Bray over.
His words at the end of the match only proved more that Cena believed in Bray as a champion.
What’s next?
Bray Wyatt will be in one of the marquee matches at WrestleMania for the WWE Championship, while John Cena will most likely be in a mixed tag team match, teaming up with Nikki Bella to take on The Miz & Maryse.
Sportskeeda’s take
It was a wonderful gesture by John Cena to give Bray the encouraging words. John Cena could easily have politicked and had AJ take the pin in the triple threat match, or have been pinned last at the Elimination Chamber.
John Cena has adapted to the times and seems to be giving back big as he slowly transitions out of WWE.
