Fantasy, Logical, Dubious, Wildcard: John Cena’s Opponent At WWE SummerSlam 2021

Dubious: Bobby Lashley

It is particularly strange to suggest that super John Cena entering into a rivalry and match with the WWE Champion is not the most likely of situations.

The pieces are almost certainly there to tell a comprehensive story, should WWE wish to. The two men met back at Money In the Bank 2007 for the title ‘The All Mighty’ now holds, where Cena had to dig down deep to beat the up-and-coming Lashley. Not long after, Bobby would depart WWE while Cena would climb higher and higher still.

With Cena seeking a record-breaking 17th WWE Championship reign, and Lashley looking for the biggest win of his career and a victory that cements his standing as the promotion’s dominant WWE Champion, the weeks of storytelling on Raw would be easy to put together, and unmissable for the audience.

Cena seeking history, Lashley seeking redemption.

Booked properly, a SummerSlam match with Cena would be the making of Lashley. But perhaps more importantly in WWE's eyes, is it the biggest match Cena can have on his return? 

WWE are determined to sell out SummerSlam on Saturday 21 August. Having Cena involved will go a long way to helping the company achieve that, but they'll be especially careful of who they put their biggest star up against. That's part of the reason why Universal Champion Reigns is perhaps the more logical option.

We’d certainly love to see Lashley and Cena go at it once again. But, with other individuals on the roster to potentially step to, it just feels like this match may be one the promotion goes back to another time.