Note On Precautions WWE Took For John Cena At Money In The Bank 2021
WWE refused to take any chances when it came to John Cena's big return at MITB.
PWInsider Elite is reporting that WWE kept John Cena's name off run sheets at Money In The Bank in a bid to protect the surprise.
Only a "small circle of people" were informed that John would actually be there - presumably, the likes of Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman and Edge were amongst them. Who knows if announcers Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, who went wild when Cena emerged, were also on that (short)list.
WWE didn't want to take any chances of JC's appearance leaking onto social media, and nobody can blame them for that. Genuine surprises are rare in pro wrestling these days, so the company were entitled to do everything in their power to make sure that this shocked the world.
It worked.
Cena followed up his MITB comeback by showing up on Raw to announce he plans to challenge Reigns for the Universal Title at SummerSlam on 21 August. Then, John revealed that he'd also be on SmackDown this coming Friday, thus completing his comeback tour of WWE's major shows.
WWE kept Cena's return close to the vest at MITB. That was the right call.