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John Cena Will Defend WWE Championship Against Randy Orton At Backlash

Randy Orton has now tasked himself with saving professional wrestling. He'll challenge John Cena for the WWE Championship at Backlash.
Rick Ucchino|
John Cena will face Randy Orton one final time
John Cena will face Randy Orton one final time | WWE.com

Longtime rivals will face each other one final time at next month's Backlash Premium Live Event.

John Cena, the never seen 17-time World Champion, will defend his newly won WWE Title against Randy Orton at the Enterprise Center in the Viper's hometown of St. Louis on Saturday, May 10.

Nearly 25 years to the day that Orton and Cena first shook hands, they will battle each other once again with professional wrestling's top prize on the line.

The challenge was issued during the opening segment of Friday's episode of SmackDown. Cena kicked-off the show and was immediately interrupted by the Apex Predator.

The two had a rather awkward exchange at first, with Orton telling Cena that he needed to grow up and have some kids in order to change his outlook on life. John then accused Randy of parent shaming him and said that he was too busy raising everyone's children over the past 25 years to have any of his own.

After Cena ran the down members of the Fort Worth crowd and their parenting skills, the point of Orton's comments came to the surface. The Viper spoke of the opening line of Cody Rhodes' entrance music, "wrestling has more than one royal family."

Wrestling has given Randy, and generations of Orton's, everything they have in life and he'll be damned if Cena successfully destroys the business on his watch. He asked Cena to fight him right then and there for the WWE Championship, but Cena declined.

John said there should be a match, but it should happen at Backlash. Cena said he wants Randy to be relaxed heading into their fight. He wants him to spend the day with his family at home in St. Louis, so he can come into Backlash at his very best. That way, when he fails to defeat the 'Last Real WWE Champion', there will be no excuses.

Cena then attempted a sneak attack on The Viper, but ended up taking an RKO out of nowhere. Orton then held up the WWE Championship to close out the opening segment. The match was then made official by SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis.

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Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

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