John Cena returned on this latest episode of Smackdown Live in a big way. It was the Independence Day edition of the show and he kicked it off in a great way. The promo cut by him consisted of the great men in the American history for the country’s independence. Now, it was evident that WWE has a motto behind bringing him back and insert him into the storyline.
So, the flag bearer of the anti-USA gimmick, Rusev showed up to interrupt Cena’s promo and went ahead to brag about the Russian culture, like he always does. He also mentioned while John Cena was busy filming the Hollywood movies, he was performing on a regular basis and in the process, hurt himself.
The crowd broke into a loud USA chants following this confrontation and the franchise player of the company responded back suggesting for a matchup between the two of them. The Bulgarian Brute decided to back off for that moment and headed towards backstage. But, with this segment, the feud for the Battleground PPV has started.
At #BATTLEGROUND @JohnCena Has To Prove That We Americans Are The Best & He is The Real Face of #America .#July4th #IndependenceDay pic.twitter.com/4wfL42MjSL
— #IndependenceDay (@CenaGuy4Life) July 5, 2017
#SDLive kicks off with fireworks. Now let me make it official. @JohnCena vs. @RusevBUL in a flag match at #WWEBattleground. #YesYesYes
— Daniel Bryan (@WWEDanielBryan) July 5, 2017
After what transpired on the show, Daniel Bryan did not take a long time to book a match between these two. He announced on Twitter that John Cena will face Rusev at the Battleground PPV on July 23rd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Guys have come to our champ @JohnCena #SDLive and he will be in #RAW. But it’s going to be a math now, From #CenavsRusev on #BATTLEGROUND ?? pic.twitter.com/Wzro05gMKP
— CENA’$ SWEET F@N ? (@ImranKhan0600) July 5, 2017
There’s a match stipulation added to the contest. It will be a flag match between them. It means there will be two flags, one of America and the other one of Rusev’s homeland of Bulgaria present at the corner sides of the ring. The one who will grab their respective flag, first, will be declared as the winner.
Now, Since John Cena has just arrived on the blue brand prior to Summerslam, it is quite certain that a marquee match will be planned around him at the biggest event of the summer. So, he is not likely to win this bout which will be considered as the burial of Rusev by many of the pro-wrestling fans. But, the creative has no other choice for him, for now.