Joe Hendry Eyes John Cena; WWE Rumors on Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin & SummerSlam Card

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Hendry Believes He Will Wrestle Cena

Joe Hendry has been a key figure in the working relationship between NXT and TNA in recent weeks, but he is setting his sights even higher in the WWE pecking order.

Speaking recently to pro wrestling reporter Denise Salcedo (h/t H Jenkins of Ringside News), Hendry expressed his belief that he will have a match against WWE legend John Cena before he retires at the end of next year:

Hendry went on to explain that facing Cena in a match would be of great importance to him since Cena called him and had a conversation with him when he was unable to attend a wrestling event at the age of 15.

Hendry said his friend had a VIP ticket to the show, and when Cena was informed that Hendry had to miss the event, Cena took it upon himself to call Hendry:

"John Cena was the first pro wrestler I ever talked to, so for me to be one of his final matches would mean a lot. To me, that is a demonstration of how to treat your fans and how valuable a moment can be for people. I do think it had a very positive effect on me and it showed me what this business is actually all about."

Now, Hendry is one of the most viral stars in wrestling, and the 36-year-old from Scotland is getting regularly featured on WWE programming.

Over the past several weeks, TNA and NXT have been doing a talent exchange, and it has allowed Hendry to show up on NXT three times, including this week.

Hendry is hugely over with the WWE audience already despite being based in a smaller company in TNA, which suggests he has the momentum needed to potentially be a big star in WWE at some point.

Cena announced at Money in the Bank that 2025 will be his final year as an active in-ring competitor, and he noted that he will make between 30 and 40 appearances during the year as part of his retirement tour.

That suggests Cena will have several matches before stepping away from the squared circle for good, but there will likely be plenty of competition to earn a match against the 16-time world champion.

Hendry has yet to appear on a WWE main roster show, so he has an uphill climb ahead of him, but because of how big of a fan favorite he already is, a match against Cena next year can't be completely ruled out.

WWE Reportedly Expected to Sign Motor City Machine Guns

One of the top tag teams of the past 20 years is reportedly set to sign a contract with WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestle Ops), the Motor City Machine Guns are "expected" to join the company.

Comprised of Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley, the Motor City Machine Guns first teamed together in Japan in 2006, but they truly became beloved by pro wrestling fans during their stint in TNA, which began in 2007.

The Motor City Machine Guns went on to become three-time TNA world tag team champions, and they competed in some of the best tag team matches of the past two decades during that time.

They also held New Japan Pro-Wrestling's IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships, and the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championships.

Sabin and Shelley stopped teaming for a time in 2012, but they both went on to enjoy success as singles wrestlers, holding the TNA Heavyweight Championship one time each.

The Motor City Machine Guns reunited in ROH from 2016 to 2018, and they reformed in TNA in 2020 as well.

When it became clear recently that Sabin and Shelley were about to become free agents, there was plenty of speculation regarding where they would land.

AEW was considered a strong contender, but the chance to prove their worth as a team in WWE may have been too much to pass up.

Although both Sabin and Shelley are over the age of 40, a brief stint in NXT to bring along some of WWE's younger tag teams could be possible before making the move to the main roster and facing established teams such as DIY, New Day and The Street Profits.

WWE Reportedly Planning Two Big Additions to SummerSlam Card

A stacked card has already been announced for SummerSlam, headlined by a Women's World Championship match between Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley, and a WWE title match between Cody Rhodes and Solo Sikoa, but more major bouts are reportedly set to be announced soon.

According to Meltzer (h/t WrestleTalk), one of the top matches on the card is slated to have a special guest referee, and while it isn't yet clear which match that will be, Meltzer speculated Seth Rollins may be the referee for CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre.

WWE has yet to announce that Punk has been medically cleared from the torn triceps he suffered in January, but he has gotten physical with McIntyre on numerous occasions, and it is widely expected that he will be good to go on Aug. 3.

Punk screwed over McIntyre during his attempted Money in the Bank contract cash-in at the Money in the Bank premium live event, but he also cost Rollins, as Damian Priest retained the world heavyweight title amid the chaos.

Rollins was in a heated feud with Punk before he got injured, and now that their issues are bubbling up again, Rollins would be the perfect special guest ref choice.

Meltzer (h/t WrestleTalk) also reported that current plans call for intercontinental champion Sami Zayn to face off with Bron Breakker in a one-on-one rematch at SummerSlam.

Zayn beat Breakker to retain the title at Money in the Bank, but Breakker made it clear in the weeks since then that he wants another shot.

Ilja Dragunov has also gotten involved, and he was granted a title match this week on Raw, but Breakker got involved, resulting in a disqualification.

Despite Dragunov now being part of the storyline, Meltzer noted that as of this week, the plan was still to run back Zayn vs. Breakker at SummerSlam rather than a Triple Threat.

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