WWE Superstar John Cena may be “the face that runs the place” but you may not be seeing his face for a little while. While John Cena is set to work WWE SummerSlam a week from today, he may leave the WWE for a bit following the match with AJ Styles. The two are sure to put on one heck of a match if we go off of what they did at WWE Money in the Bank .
As of now, Cena is set to be the host of the second season of American Grit . Grit was a reality TV show on the FOX Network in the United States. While ratings did not do as well as initially hoped, it did do well enough for FOX to renew it for next Spring. The interesting thing is that Cena is actually leaving earlier to film than he did last year.
In October of 2015, at WWE Hell in a Cell , John Cena did his normal open challenge for the WWE United States Championship. A returning Alberto Del Rio took him on in what was seen as the worst match Cena had done in all of 2015, as the match only lasted a short time and ended weirdly. The match even opened the show and Cena was not seen in the WWE for months.
Cena finally returned toward the start of 2016, and the plan was initially set for him to get revenge on Del Rio, but plans shifted a bit during that time when various people went down due to injury. Cena was then set to face off with Roman Reigns for the WWE World Title at WrestleMania 32, then he too went down to an injury causing plans to shift even more.
Now that Cena is back, he is leaving yet again, but WWE is not going to be caught off guard this time. Daily Wrestling News reports that the company has really begun to work on Cena-less plans for the next few months. This may not be as difficult with the brand split in play, which is a good thing. Unlike last year, you don’t have to come up with content for two or three shows that might have featured Cena.
The company hopes that he’ll be able to return by November to work WWE Survivor Series , which looks to be pretty possible. He returned by late December last year after leaving in October. This time around, he would start filming in early September and he could manage to make it back to the WWE by Survivor Series if cards are played right.
John Cena has been telling people that he considers himself a part-time talent now, but don’t expect him to go away and only appear a few times a year like The Rock. He will be gone for a bit this time around, but he will be on every television taping he can possibly be at for as long as possible. Rock became so popular in Hollywood that movies went on all year long for him. They do now, but he has made more time for the WWE.
Cena doesn’t want to fall into any sort of issue and has told WWE that he does not plan to leave. However, the company is going to work with him on his movie/television schedule as they know his success does help them long-term. The more popular John Cena is outside of the WWE, the more fans they can bring to the WWE. It helps the business and at the end of the day, this is what Vince McMahon wants to see.
As for SummerSlam , the plan as of now is seeing AJ Styles take the win over John Cena. While Cena is gone, Styles is supposed to be going after the WWE World Championship. This would be good for the blue brand in the absence of the top star in the business. WWE SmackDown Live does need Cena, but there is a lot of talent on the roster that could get a nice spot without Cena and if they can manage to get over while he’s gone, there is a possibility they remain in a top position and even work with John once he comes back. We should also expect his rivalry with Styles to continue once he comes back, as this is not set to end at SummerSlam.
[Image via WWE]