4 possible angles for John Cena upon his WWE return

John Cena, the constant face of the WWE for over a decade, is now a proper part-timer. Do you feel old? It is quite surreal to see a guy who was always there on our screens hardly showing up anymore. The last we saw of Cena was the Greatest Royal Rumble and before that, WrestleMania. He has become a proper mainstream movie star, following in the footsteps of The Rock.

Who knows, a John Cena retirement might not be that far. Therefore, WWE must utilise all they have with Cena, who remains one of the WWE's few megastars. We haven't seen much productive work from him in WWE over the last few years, so hopefully, when he returns home in the coming weeks, there is a proper story for him. WWE might already be having a plan for Cena beyond the tag team match at Super Showdown but if they don't, they need to think of something good.

Cena needs to be utilized in the right capacity, to make new stars. That is how this company will progress. There is still a lot of mileage left in terms of storylines for the Cenation leader, not to mention that oh, so sacred John Cena heel turn. Now is a time as good as any to do so, but will they actually turn him heel? Highly doubtful. However, there are still some really exciting angles with some real storyline potential for the 16-time World Champion to sink his teeth into.

Here are four possible storylines for John Cena, following his WWE return in Australia.

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#4 Crashing the WWE title scene

Will Cena get the record-breaking seventeenth?

It is pretty astonishing when you realize that John Cena has only won one WWE World Championship in the last four years, that too he held it for only two weeks. His last proper reign as WWE Champion came in the summer of 2014 before he got battered by Brock Lesnar. While after that moment Cena was used efficiently in 2015, he hasn't had a really good storyline since he last won the WWE title at the beginning of 2017. He defeated AJ Styles in a classic to win his 16th world title at Royal Rumble, inside the Alamodome. While feuds with The Miz and Roman Reigns were strong promo wise, Cena's program with the current WWE Champion had the full package.

The title is currently being fought between AJ and Samoa Joe, with their final match happening at Super Showdown. Waiting in the wings are Miz and Daniel Bryan, who will face off in a number one Contender's match for the title Down Under. Cena would work wonders with any of these guys. He has had classic matches, for the Championship no less, against Styles and Bryan. The Miz has improved immensely since THAT WrestleMania 27 main event, while Samoa Joe is just awesome at everything he does. Any of these four matches would be great for everyone involved. The story would be great too, as Cena is still yet to win that record-breaking 17th world title.

The WWE Championship has lost some prestige, as it has been fought for on the undercard of pay-per-views in recent times. A megastar like Cena fighting for the belt would help raise its fallen value. There is also some real storyline potential in this, with the Cenation leader getting hungrier and hungrier to win the title. For those of you who don't know, Cena is a storytelling master. He just needs the right one. It could also perhaps lead into his retirement and be a slow-burning story until WrestleMania, where Cena could become desperate and put his career on the line for a WWE Championship shot.

#3 Feud with an up-and-comer

Imagine the match Cena and Almas would have.

While Cena back in the WWE title picture would be exciting, he could really be used to help elevate some rising stars. After all, the future of this company is as incredibly important as the past and the present. The last time he had a productive feud that elevated somebody else actually was the WWE title one against AJ Styles. Since then, it hasn't really been the best of form we've seen from the 16-time world champion. The second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018 saw Cena not take things seriously. He goofed around and treated his entire run like a joke, aside from shoot promos on Roman Reigns and The Undertaker.

It looked like he did not care one single bit. From shouting out instructions in the Royal Rumble Match to mockingly throwing up the Too Sweet while beating Finn Balor, to treating the likes of Rusev and Baron Corbin as nobodies, Cena set his opponents back a lot. Rusev lost all the steam from his return after his defeat to Cena in a Flag Match at Battleground, while Corbin was severely damaged after losing both his Money in the Bank briefcase and the match against Cena at SummerSlam. John Cena is a guy who has helped shape the likes of Styles, Seth Rollins and even Kevin Owens to some degree. Owens did look fantastic coming out of their 2015 feud.

Cena should return to his 2015 ways, when he elevated a bunch of talent through his US Title Open Challenge. Having a feud with someone like Finn Balor or Andrade Cien Almas would go a long way in making them a relevant player in the upper echelons of the Raw or Smackdown roster. Elias certainly looked better when he shared the ring with the future Hall of Famer, even getting to lay him out on the 25th Anniversary of Raw. A legend like Cena, while he can still go in the ring, should use all of his skills and experience to help put over as much talent as possible while the WWE is preparing for life after all of these part-timers.

#2 World Cup winner

Cena is still the biggest star WWE has.

It is no secret that John Cena is extremely proud to be an American. He has constantly told us so. It has been evident in all of his feuds with Rusev, in 2015 and 2017, just how much Cena loves the USA. This means that it is not impossible to see him play a big role in the upcoming Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia. The WWE World Cup has been announced for the event, which means that it is an opportunity for Cena to represent his country, as he has proudly done so multiple times in the past, on a grand stage. He could very well be the USA's representative for the World Cup.

After all, the last time we saw Cena in a WWE ring was in Saudi Arabia as he opened the Greatest Royal Rumble show against Triple H. He even cut a heartfelt promo after the match, stating just how much he loved the experience of wrestling over there. It seemed really genuine from him. Cena, of course, is still universally loved, despite being a part-timer. He was hugely popular back in April and will definitely be so again if he does indeed make the trip to Riyadh. More than just the casual fans, Cena has gained the respect of hardcore fans, who gave him a lot of slack for remaining in the spotlight for a very long time.

He also still is very much the face of this company, particularly because of the issue of Roman Reigns and his popularity as a good guy. While it would be better to see a wrestler who would actually benefit from winning the WWE World Cup do so, it is not out of the question to see the American face of the company standing tall at the end of a WWE international event. It would be a big babyface victory to send the fans home happy and possibly build to his next story, something previously mentioned here or the next option on this list if he does work beyond the November 2nd show.

#1 Final match vs Undertaker at Survivor Series

WrestleMania did not give us the dream match we were expecting.

John Cena isn't yet announced for Survivor Series, but it would be safe money to bet on him doing so. WWE loves to load up their Big Four pay-per-views, as evidenced by the unnecessarily bloated star power in the main event match from last year's Survivor Series. The Undertaker, on the other hand, is scheduled for an autograph signing session in Los Angeles, the city where Survivor Series is taking place, on November 17th, the day before the show. This logically means that 'Taker should be working the November show. While the rumor is going for the Deadman to face Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series, 'Taker does have some unfinished business with the former Doctor of Thuganomics.

John Cena vs The Undertaker was a dream match for so long, with the WWE missing many opportunities to pull the trigger on this mega match. It finally happened at WrestleMania this year, but it wasn't what we were expecting. The squash match may have been satisfying, but we still haven't gotten the full-length match between these two legends that we have been wanting for so long now. WrestleMania 35 should ideally give us different matches for both Cena and ‘Taker, so Survivor Series would be the perfect place to end the story between the two pillars of the sports entertainment industry.

The Undertaker will face Triple H at Super Showdown and, presumably, wrestle a tag team match with Kane against the Game and Shawn Michaels at Crown Jewel, so he should be good to go. This might all depend on Michaels' willingness to do more matches beyond his in-ring return, but John Cena and The Undertaker going at it would be an iconic spectacle. Throw in the fact that Survivor Series is where the Deadman debuted and you've added a bit of history to it. Maybe Cena vs Undertaker at Survivor Series is the last ride for both men. It surely will be something special to see two masterful storytellers going at it in the ring, for one final time.

Who knows when Cena's time is up? Whenever it is, it won't be that far away. WWE must use him wisely until the very end because you never know what you've got until they're gone.