John Cena, Rusev Return in Same WWE SmackDown Segment (Video)

John Cena made his return to SmackDown Live on Independence Day, but got interrupted by another Superstar making a comeback.

John Cena’s last WWE appearance was at WrestleMania 33. There, he and Nikki Bella defeated The Miz and Maryse. However, after the match, Cena proposed marriage to Bella, who said yes. They walked down the ramp and were gone from WWE for the foreseeable future.

For the past few weeks, WWE played up Cena’s return for the Independence Day edition of SmackDown Live. The holiday came around on Tuesday, as did 8:00 p.m. ET, which saw the Face That Runs the Place open the show with a promo.

Cena gave a patriotic promo about America. He turned to “rumors” about his future centering around his involvement in Hollywood, and how he’s “nothing more than a part-timing mascot.” So the 16-time champion fired back, saying he’s an “all-timer.”

Cena quickly addressed his “free agent” status, saying he has this role due to his unknown future in the WWE. He then called out a handful of Superstars and said his passion won’t disappear.

That led to Rusev interrupting Cena and making his return after nearly five months away. He mocked Cena’s comeback commercials and said he won’t take opportunities from him. They teased a future match, with a date not announced.

It looks like Part II of the Rusev-Cena feud will take place. They rivaled in 2015 for the United States Championship, which spanned through WrestleMania 31. That’s where Cena gave the Bulgarian Brute his first ever pinfall loss and took the title away, thus beginning the US Open Challenge run.

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Cena vs. Rusev could go down at Battleground, although neither man made mention of this pay-per-view in this segment. The former did challenge for a Flag match, though. Are you looking forward to this potential match on Sunday, July 23?