WWE rumors indicate that John Cena will be involved in a lower profile mixed tag team match at WrestleMania this year. While that seems a little strange for a wrestler at the level of John Cena, Forbes reported that he won’t be sticking around after WrestleMania and has plans to take another extended hiatus from the company following the big show.
While some John Cena fans hold out hope that he could win the battle royal to become the new number one contender to the WWE world title on SmackDown Live next week, the fact is that the WWE doesn’t have much of a choice concerning his WrestleMania commitments if he is already scheduled to take time off after the show.
“John Cena is currently scheduled to take some more time away from WWE after WrestleMania 33, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio. Cena will likely be filming The Pact, which is scheduled to be released on April 20th, 2018.”
John Cena vs. Bray Wyatt for the WWE world title would be a huge WrestleMania match, especially after Wyatt pinned him twice last week without needing help or cheating. However, if Cena is leaving, the outcome of the match would never be in doubt.
At the moment, it looks like Bray Wyatt might end up in a three-way match against Randy Orton and Luke Harper for his title, although that angle has a lot of story left to tell over the next few weeks.
As for John Cena, most people expect him to team with Nikki Bella against The Miz and Maryse. This match was slightly setup when Maryse was covered with powder during a Nikki Bella and Natalya backstage brawl. The thought is that this would be Bella’s final WWE match as she leaves again due to neck injuries.
While seeing John Cena and Nikki Bella teaming up in a match would be nice for fans of Total Bellas , it isn’t an exciting match for their actual wrestling fans. It is also disappointing to see The Miz in a gimmick match with nothing on the line after he was such a strong presence on SmackDown Live in 2016.
John Cena has been taking more and more time off from the WWE lately. He filmed a movie last year and then left again in December to film his television show American Grit . However, the WWE still pushed him when he returned and gave him a Royal Rumble match and win over AJ Styles to tie “Nature Boy” Ric Flair’s record 16 world title reigns.
While John Cena is gone shooting another movie, it is up to guys like AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, The Miz, and Baron Corbin to carry the brand. If 2016 is any indication, those men are more than capable of carrying the load without John Cena.
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However, it is also clear to know that eventually, John Cena will be back in the WWE world title picture so he can actually break Ric Flair’s world title record. Tying the record was done with little fanfare but actually winning a 17th world title would be a huge WrestleMania quality moment for John Cena and the WWE.
WrestleZone actually reported that the WWE came into 2017 expecting John Cena to be around even less than he was in 2016. They have worked hard to establish new stars and will do fine without him. However, John Cena will be back and he will almost certainly have one more world title run in him before he finally retires from the WWE.
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