John Cena is in the limelight of his wrestling career. His time with WWE is drawing to the finale sooner rather than later, but he’s going to compete in the ring for as long as he can, but he’s been taking more and more time away from WWE programming over the past year. It’s been a combination of television, movies, and injuries, but Cena continues to perform for the WWE Universe whenever he can find the time, which has included an extensive feud with AJ Styles for most of the summer of 2016.
There was a point in time when the idea of Cena and Styles being in the same wrestling ring together was a fantasy, but it’s become a reality. At WWE Summerslam last weekend, the two veterans of the industry stole the show in Brooklyn and had one of the most important matches in WWE history. The result was Styles getting the pinfall over Cena after a Styles Clash and a Phenomenal Forearm. It was a great match between two great wrestlers and was one for the wrestling history books.
On SmackDown , AJ Styles catapulted from his victory over Cena to become the No. 1 Contender for Dean Ambrose’s WWE Championship. The WWE Universe will see Ambrose vs. Styles for the WWE title at WWE Backlash in two weeks. For Cena, he didn’t appear on WWE programming at all last week, and Cena leaving the armband in the ring after his loss to Styles at WWE Summerslam has created a lot of speculation about his future with WWE.
A lot of people have taken Cena’s actions after his match with Styles as a “goodbye” to the ring. There has been quite a bit of speculation that the 15-time WWE World Champion had his last match inside a WWE ring and will be retiring soon. It has been previously reported that Cena’s TV series “American Grit” has been picked up for a second season by Fox, which is going to force him to take some more time away from WWE to film the next season of the show.
The expectation is that John Cena will need at least two months away from WWE programming to complete filming for the show’s second season. According to an earlier report , WWE has been preparing for his hiatus from WWE. The angle that took place at WWE Summerslam could be a way to write him off WWE television until late October or early November.
Whenever he returns to SmackDown television, there is no indication as of this writing that John Cena is retiring as an active competitor from WWE. The latest news on his return to WWE programming is claiming that Cena vs. Styles is to continue once he returns, but the bigger question is if AJ Styles will be the WWE Champion?
Cena vs. Styles was a match of the year candidate at WWE Summerslam last week, so the potential for the feud to continue is present. However, the expectation is since the feud is on hold with Styles going over, it’s very likely that Cena would return for the rematch and get the win over Styles to even the score. That match will most likely take place at WWE Survivor Series .
After the feud with AJ Styles officially concludes, there are going to be many feud possibilities for Cena as long as he stays on SmackDown television and stays healthy. There have been some rumors about Samoa Joe being brought to SmackDown in the coming months, which could set up a highly attractive feud between Cena and Joe over the winter.
The WWE Championship and his quest for title reign No. 17 is also a major storyline if he’s ever going to break Ric Flair’s World title record. Since WWE has entered a “New Era” it seems that Cena is going to stay out of the WWE title picture unless plans change. Although there are several interesting creative opportunities, a lot of people are already looking at Wrestlemania 33 .
Last year, John Cena was able to make a brief appearance in Dallas at Wrestlemania 32 , but it was the first time he was unfit to wrestle on the grandest stage of them all in his entire career. Before his injury, it was heavily rumored that WWE would finally book John Cena vs. The Undertaker at Wrestlemania , but that wasn’t meant to be due to the former’s injury.
However, the rumor mill has continued to spin its wheels on that match possibility for next year’s Wrestlemania in Orlando. The WWE Universe is still talking about the future of The Undertaker after last year’s news that Wrestlemania 32 may have been his final match. Now that John Cena’s wrestling future is also in question, the WWE Universe is anticipating if time is running out to see this matchup on the grandest stage of the all before one or both men hang up the boots for good.
The speculation will continue as John Cena takes a hiatus away from WWE programming to continue the work he’s doing outside of the company. As of this writing, there is no question that he’ll be back inside a WWE ring before the end of 2016. John Cena’s future in WWE has led to a lot of speculation from the WWE fans, but his retirement won’t go by without a massive sendoff.
[Image via WWE.com]