WWE often chooses to distance itself from superstars who work for rival promotions. They recently did the same, removing a top Death Riders' faction member working in AEW from a crucial part of their history.The aforementioned star, who is a former WWE United States Champion, is Claudio Castagnoli. He wrestled as Cesaro in the Stamford-based promotion and was touted to be a main-eventer, yet was never given a significant push. His 11-year tenure ended in 2022, after which he joined AEW.However, the current Death Riders member was mentioned during John Cena's farewell tour on an episode of SmackDown this year. It was during his feud with CM Punk that he recreated his infamous Pipebomb and gave a shoutout to released WWE superstars like Matt Cardona, Nic Nemeth, and Claudio Castagnoli. The Sports Entertainment Juggernaut recently posted a video of that same clip on X, merging it with the recent returns of Cardona and Nemeth as mystery opponents in 'The Last Time is Now' tournament. However, they chose to edit out Castagnoli's mention and left him out of the memorable farewell run of The Cenation Leader in the video.John Cena's reaction to Zack Ryder's WWE returnAs mentioned, Zack Ryder returned to WWE to battle LA Knight in 'The Last Time is Now' tournament, which will determine John Cena's final in-ring opponent on December 13, at Saturday Night's Main Event. The Never Seen 17 was thrilled to see the Indy God back in the company and had huge praise for his talent."Yes. People are coming out of the woodwork for the tournament. Man. I was very, very glad to see Zack Ryder come back. Umm, Matt [Cardona] is a personal friend of mine. I can speak candidly like that, and I've seen his mind grow. You wanna talk about always being curious in a quest for growth. The Zack Ryder I knew from a long time ago has accrued so much sports entertainment wisdom," he said.With the clock ticking on John Cena's illustrious career, it remains to be seen who his last opponent will be.