John Cena Addresses Zack Ryder WWE Return

John Cena has addressed the return of Zack Ryder after a five-year absence on the recent episode of WWE SmackDown.

The November 14 episode of WWE SmackDown saw Ryder compete in the ‘Last Time Is Now’ tournament to determine the final opponent in John Cena’s in-ring career.

Although he has competed on NXT under his Cardona name, his SmackDown match against LA Knight marked the first time the former United States Champion had competed as Zack Ryder since his release in April 2020.

During the latest episode of Raw Recap, John Cena reflected on his friendship with Cardona and the evolution beyond the Zack Ryder name, saying:

“I was very, very glad to see Zack Ryder come back. Matt is a personal friend of mine, I can speak candidly like that, and I’ve seen his mind grow.

“You wanna talk about always being curious and the quest for growth, the Zack Ryder I knew from a long time ago has accrued so much sports entertainment wisdom.

“It’s amazing when we have interactions, he’ll tell me about his journey and be like ‘this is what you were trying to talk about before and I wasn’t ready to understand it.’

“I like rooting for people who are humble enough to admit when they’re wrong, and always want to grow, and are doing things for the greater good of the business. Matt is certainly one of those guys, his wife, Chelsea (Green), is one of those folks, who take an opportunity and get the absolute best out of it.

“I was really happy to see Zack Ryder back.”

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While the final opponent for Cena is still being determined, his next match will see the Intercontinental Championship on the line against Dominik Mysterio at WWE Survivor Series WarGames on November 29.

Cena would also reflect on Dominik Mysterio during Raw Recap, revealing he can see something of himself in the Judgment Day member.

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