WWE.comJohn Cena faced Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown Live tonight.
The ending of SmackDown Live was botched tonight as John Cena was dropped on his neck during a match with Shinsuke Nakamura.
This took place in the main event, with Cena and Nakamura competing for the right to face Jinder Mahal at SummerSlam. Nakamura executed an inverted powerslam, and the landing clearly did not go according to plan, with Cena seeming to come quite close to breaking his neck.
Hopefully Cena is OK from this! t.co/RbQa5gdZCO #WWE #SDLive
After the match, Nakamura could be seen telling Cena, “I’m sorry.” Cena responded, “Don’t be sorry” before holding up Nakamura’s arm in victory.
It’s unclear whether this botched spot caused any significant injury to Cena, but at the beginning of 205 Live this week, Cena brawled with Baron Corbin at ringside. He looked to be in pain for much of the segment, and at one point, he noticeably grabbed his neck and winced. Whether this is just Cela selling or whether he’s actually injured remains to be seen. You can see Cena grab his neck about one minute into this video:
Exclusively on @WWENetwork after #SDLive, @BaronCorbinWWE JUMPED @ShinsukeN…but he didn’t realize @JohnCena wasn’t quite finished yet!
Immediately after this moment occurred, fans expressed concern for Cena, wondering whether he may have sustained permanent damage tonight and noting that he would be incredibly lucky to walk away from that unscathed.
Cena will clearly have to be examined by WWE medical professionals now, and so if he has been injured, we’ll hear about it sometime in the next few days.
If Cena is okay, the WWE has now set up a possible feud with Baron Corbin for SummerSlam. That didn’t happen on the regular SmackDown Live broadcast, but as the WWE Network transitioned into 205 Live, Baron Corbin attacked Shinsuke Nakamura from behind. John Cena then came to Nakamura’s defense and beat up Corbin. This could have just been a bonus segment to help give viewers more of a reason to tune into 205 Live, or it could have been the beginning of a new feud for Cena. We’ll find out which one it is based on how next week’s SmackDown Live goes.