Several Top AEW Stars Appear On WWE Raw!

Some of Cena's biggest rivals cross brands to pay tribute on his big night.

by Scott Carlson
Chris Jericho Raw
WWE

WWE celebrated the 20th anniversary of John Cena's WWE debut Monday night with a show-long tribute, including video packages, photo spreads and several backstage segments involving Cena.

They also aired a series of short video tributes from WWE Hall-of-Famers and legends who offered praise for Cena. We got the usual talking heads like Triple H, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, JBL and Randy Orton, but there were a few surprising faces mixed in: current AEW wrestlers Chris Jericho, Bryan Danielson and Paul Wight (the latter two billed as "Daniel Bryan" and "Big Show," respectively).

It's a rare thing to see a crossover like this between WWE and AEW. To wit, Jericho appearing on Steve Austin's Stone Cold Podcast on Peacock and Jon Moxley being name-dropped in the Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns feud are two examples.

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Fightful Select reports that the circumstances surrounding these tributes were "very straightforward" in how they happened. The idea was pitched, and AEW head honcho Tony Khan approved the request. Fightful says a WWE source indicated that they were able to obtain videos from "virtually everyone" they hoped to land.

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Contributor
Contributor

Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.