John Cena returned to the ring at WWE’s house show in Shanghai, China today and debuted the “new move” that he’d been teasing for the event.
Cena, Bobby Lashley & Finn Balor teamed against Elias, Baron Corbin & Jinder Mahal in a six-man tag at the show. The finish of the match was Cena hitting the Attitude Adjustment on Elias and then pinning him after hitting the “lightning fist” — which is a punch to the face.
After the match, Cena got on the microphone, spoke in Mandarin, and thanked the fans.
Cena has been in China filming the movie “Project X.” He stars alongside Jackie Chan as a former Marine who Chan, a private security contractor from China, teams up with to stop attackers who are trying to steal oil from a refinery in the Middle East.
This was the first time Cena has wrestled since facing Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April. Cena’s next announced match is at Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia on October 6, where he’ll be teaming with Lashley against Elias & Kevin Owens.
The finish of today’s six-man tag is available to watch below:
Ronda Rousey has added a house show in China to her WWE schedule.
WWE announced last night that the company will be returning to China for the third straight year, with the Raw-brand house show being held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai on September 1.
Along with Rousey, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss, Finn Balor, Jinder Mahal, Matt Hardy, and Bray Wyatt are advertised for the event.
The show will take place less than two weeks after Rousey challenges for Bliss’ Raw Women’s Championship at SummerSlam. That match was announced on this week’s Raw, with Kurt Angle extending Rousey’s storyline suspension by a week due to Rousey appearing and attacking Bliss and Mickie James.
Before heading to China, the Raw roster has house shows in London, England on August 29 and Osaka, Japan on August 31. Rousey will also be wrestling at those events.
– The SmackDown roster (plus John Cena) concluded their international tour with a stop in China yesterday before flying home for this week’s television. There was only one merch stand with a Cena shirt, a Shinsuke Nakamura shirt, an AJ Styles shirt, an event shirt, and a few accessories/trinkets.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defeated Dolph Ziggler & Baron Corbin to retain their titles
New Day were really over, getting lots of “New Day Rocks” chants. They dominated early with comedy spots, then Big E got the pin on Ziggler after they hit the Midnight Hour.
– Luke Harper defeated Erick Rowan
Harper got a solid reaction and a few chants. He went for a superplex but lost his footing on the ropes and they both collapsed. They went to the finish right after that, which was Harper winning with the discus lariat.
– A Tian Bing video package was shown. He cut a promo in Mandarin and introduced Boa, a Chinese wrestler who is signed with WWE and trains at the Performance Center.
– Boa defeated Aiden English
English sang and got lots of heat before losing to a roll-up.
– John Cena defeated Rusev
Cena got lots of chants throughout and won with the Attitude Adjustment. He didn’t do a promo in Mandarin.
– Naomi, Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch (w/ Asuka) defeated SmackDown Women’s Champion Natalya, Tamina, Lana & Carmella (w/ James Ellsworth)
Charlotte said hello in Mandarin and cut a promo introducing Asuka. Everyone did their spots and Asuka chased off Ellsworth after he interfered. For the finish, Charlotte submitted Lana with the Figure Eight.
– United States Champion AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Shinsuke Nakamura to retain his title
Everyone got huge reactions, with the crowd singing Nakamura’s theme and then Zayn’s theme. The match went about 12 minutes. The fans popped for Nakamura/Zayn and Nakamura/Styles staredowns. Styles retained after hitting the Phenomenal Forearm on Owens and pinning him.
– WWE Champion Jinder Mahal (w/ The Singh Brothers) defeated Randy Orton in a last man standing match to retain his title
The Singh Brothers introduced Mahal, then he cut his regular promo before the match. Orton got a lot of RKO chants. There were spots with the stairs, a cane, and chairs. Orton put Mahal through a table, but the Singhs low blowed Orton and helped Mahal up so that he would win. Orton dished out RKOs after to send the crowd home happy.
WWE announced today that the WWE Network would be available for the first time in mainland China.
WWE and PPTV, a Chinese sports media streaming service that carries the company’s programming, will be partners in getting the Network into the final major country in the world it isn’t already in. The Network will be debuting on August 18th, in time for SummerSlam weekend.
“PPTV is a tremendous partner, and has been key in helping us engage with WWE fans in China and further establishing our brand in this important market,” said WWE chief revenue and marketing officer Michelle Wilson. “With this launch, WWE Network is now available in every market, reaching more than 180 countries around the world, delivering all our premium live events and an archive of action-packed, family-friendly entertainment that has thrilled WWE audiences for years.”
PPTV customers can download the PPTV App and watch WWE Network content via smart TVs, set-top boxes, mobile devices, and tablets, as well as on WWE’s Chinese language website and PPTV’s websites.
The news has led to a rise in the company stock, which at this writing was at $21.42 per share, up from $20.84 per share at the close of business yesterday.
