Why was John Cena on the 10/10 edition of NXT?

Well, there are two reasons actually, one Kayfabe, on not so much.

What Cena, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, HBK, and the rest of the WWE higher-ups would like you to believe is that, for some reason, about a half dozen Hall of Famers, current and future, wanted to make their way down to Orlando on the very same day to celebrate just how great the promotion's third brand is.

The other reason? Well, AEW had to shift from Wednesday to Tuesday because of baseball, and as a result, both brands attempted to field the biggest rating possible in order to “win” the night and use it as a bargaining tool when TV rights deals come up in the future.

Still, with a chance to address the WWE Universe, Cena did his best to ignore the latter and focus on the former, and unsurprisingly, the WWE audience was eating it up.

“Everybody always talks about how NXT is the future, I guess they can't see that the future is now. I mean Cody Rhodes is the GM, LA Knight is a referee, we just turned this place into a pub – I'm still waiting on my pint by the way. You singing my theme song is what makes this place beautiful, right? It's what makes this place great. It's each and every one of y'all and what happens in the NXT ring each and every night. Yo, yo, you see it but to be here, there is nothing like being right here in this room, and it is long overdue. It is my honor to share space with you tonight, thank you so much. And I'm not alone, I'm not alone, I'm not unique in that case, that's why LA Knight is here, that's why Cody Rhodes is here,” John Cena said as [almost] the entire crowd cheered him on.

“Gratitude is a core value of mine. Thank you, thank you for creating the environment that I want to visit, that Cody Rhodes wants to visit, that LA Knight wants to visit, that Becky Lynch wants to visit, that Seth Rollins wants to visit, and there's a list of WWE Superstars kicking down the door to stand right here. I'll tell you why, because yes, we are SmackDown, yes, we are RAW, and yes, we are all NXT.

“So when Carmelo Hayes called me, I couldn't say yes fast enough. Sure, we share a lot in common, like ‘Hustle. Loyalty. Respect.' He works hard, never gives up in the face of failure, he's loyal to his friends, and boy, do I respect him for giving me a chance to be here with y'all for his match tonight against Bron Breakker.”

Unfortunately for Cena, when he mentioned Bron Breakker by name, the “Bada**” appeared, and needless to say, he wasn't picking up what the “GOAT” was putting down.

Bron Breakker isn't buying John Cena's BS.

Marching down to the ring to the rune of “Breakker sucks!” chants, a sound John Cena remarked felt like karaoke, Bron Breakker let it be known that he wasn't impressed with the pomp and circumstance of WWE invading NXT.

“How you doing there, John? Good to see ya, man, thanks for coming. You know, it's a big night for NXT tonight, isn't it? It's a big night for WWE, huh? And let me give you a little fact: These people didn't come here to see you. They came here to see me! And you, you got everybody fooled out here, living in some kind of fantasy land like Carmelo Hayes actually has a chance to beat ‘Bada**' Bron Breakker because the ‘Greatest of all Time' is in his corner?”

Cena, to his credit, tried to take the high road but let it be known that he could destroy his much younger foe if he wanted to.

“Everybody here knows that the business is in your blood. And we can all see in that sort of tank top that you are athletically gifted, we all know that. We also all know that your glaring weakness, young man, is your attitude. You lack respect; I didn't come out here to run you down, but now that you're here… no, no, this is a teachable moment. I'm excited for your match tonight, and I am here to respectfully wish you good luck.”

Offered a hand to shake, Breakker decided instead to lay out the 16-time champion, coming mere moments away from a trip to AA before the former NXT champion made a b-line out of the ring and lived to fight another day, in the main event to be exact. If WWE wanted to inform new fans that Breakker is a name to watch, they sure committed a lot of time to putting him around some of the very best performers in the ring now or ever.