There was no sign of John Cena during last night's episode of RAW (he instead competed after the show went off the air), but his feud with Universal Champion Roman Reigns got off to a hot start last week.
Both men cut promos on each other, and at the end of last week's SmackDown, the Head of the Table turned down Cena's challenge and instead accepted one from Finn Balor. Before that, Reigns had plenty to say about his old foe, highlighting that he's returned to WWE as a "nostalgia act."
"This is the same thing. He came out here, the same music, the same entrance, the same run to the ring, the same outfit, the same promo, the same insults. If I wanted that, all I had to do was search online for 2005 John Cena. It’s the same thing, over and over and over. It’s like missionary position every single night. And the Tribal Chief, the Head of the Table, we’re not interested in that."
The missionary position line is great, and likely something Paul Heyman contributed to.
However, WWE being WWE, the line has been edited out of video shared on WWE's social media accounts. It's still live on FOX's, so this was clearly an internal decision on the company's part.
It may not be a PG line, but it's also an example of the sort of edge the company desperately needs. It's still on YouTube for now, so this hopefully means it won't be edited out of future SmackDown replays. It's thought that the current plan is still for Reigns to defend the Universal title against Cena at SummerSlam, but we'll likely get a better idea of what's happening this Friday.
Keep checking back here for updates!