John Cena To Face Jinder Mahal At SummerSlam

06/12/2017 02:58 pm EDT

We're only weeks away from the return of The Champ. John Cena will return to SmackDown Live on July 4th and many have speculated that he will have his sights set on making history.

The 16 time World Champion is one championship away from breaking the record that he shares with Ric Flair for most World Championships of all time. Sportskeeda is now reporting that WWE has John Cena penciled in to face WWE Champion, Jinder Mahal, at this year's SummerSlam pay per view.

Jinder Mahal is set to defend his WWE Championship at Sunday's Money In The Bank pay per view where he is heavily favored to retain the strap. While WWE has done a great job in building Jinder Mahal from an enhancement talent to bonafide superstar, he may have been built just to lose to Cena in Red White and Blue fashion. According to wwleaks.org, Cena will not only be facing the "Modern Day Maharaja", but pinning him to win his record 17th WWE Championship.

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While this may seems like just another example of WWE building up a talent only to feed them to Cena, the Champ says there's a reason he has a reputation for burying younger talent. In a recent interview with The Wrap, Cena said that most guys may not be motivated enough to work at an elite level.

"This is why I have the reputation of quote-unquote "burying younger talent," because I will let them do whatever they want with me — and then after they get done, they're not as motivated. So, it's not that I sink their ship, it's that they fail to operate at an elite level. And I'm on to the next person, [to] whom I say, "Hey man, bring your best punch and I'm gonna punch back" — and they don't take that attitude beyond me."

"I take that approach to everyone. The Miz story couldn't be a better example of that, because when that story started … no one wanted to see that match. No one. I made it a point to have everyone work as hard as they could to change everyone's mind. And now here you are, months after the fact, saying that was one of the most entertaining things done on television. That just goes to show you that it's all just about how much you're willing to invest and how strongly you believe in what you want to do."

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Cena also said that he welcomes his opponents to give everything they have when they come at him on the mic.

"If you look at my existence in WWE, I have never asked anyone and will never ask anyone to pull any punches. I believe that it's a 'Strong Survive' environment, and accept nothing less. I think people forget my [history] in WWE sometimes and the fact that I truly had to earn every inch. There is this overwhelming perception that I am protected and coddled — that couldn't be father from the truth."

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