Potential storyline plans for Roman Reigns in 2023- Reports

John Cena will return to in-ring action on the last SmackDown of 2022 to face Roman Reigns in a tag team bout. He will team up with Kevin Owens to face Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn.

This will be Cena's first match this year, and he will continue the streak of having a WWE match since 2000 every year. His return might not be a one-off match and could lead to a storyline with Roman Reigns.

John Cena's last match in WWE was against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2021. The Champ lost the match and became another 'victim' in The Tribal Chief's record-setting Universal Championship reign. There are rumors that Cena will be part of WrestleMania 39 despite having an issue with his dates.

As per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, John Cena's return and the fact that he is being put in a match with Reigns and two top stars like Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens points to the storyline going further and playing a major part in next year's PLEs.

''Given the time frame and being put in with Reigns and the two key guys the decision by the company was to make into even bigger stars while working with and against Reigns in the lead until this year’s WrestleMania, one would think it’ll be more than just a match and will be a major storyline step for the Rumble, Elimination Chamber in Montreal and Mania,'' said Meltzer.

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Will John Cena face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39?

The currently rumored plan for Reigns is to face The Rock at the Show of Shows. As for John Cena, the report stated that the original plan was for him to face Austin Theory. However, that plan was made when Vince McMahon was in charge, so that might change now.

Though their match on SmackDown might begin a storyline between the two men, it is unlikely that they will face each other at WrestleMania 39. The report also stated that Cena would likely be unavailable to wrestle during February and March due to prior commitments.