What’s The Story?
Since his appearances in several major motion pictures and hosting such events as The ESPY’s last year, John Cena has become one of the more popular athletes in the country. According to Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the 16-time World Champion will be stepping away from WWE after Wrestlemania to again pursue some projects outside of the company.
Cena is expected to take another hiatus from WWE after Wrestlemania and has been taken off all advertisements for Smackdown shows in the near future, including the Money In The Bank PPV in June, which is exclusive to Smackdown.
In Case You Didn’t Know
John Cena has long been the face of WWE, but since the end of 2015, he has been taking more and more time away from the company to do things outside of the WWE. He hosts American Grit, a reality show on FOX, he’s appeared in several motion pictures, including Sisters and Trainwreck, and has hosted several marquee events, such as The ESPY’s and Saturday Night Live over the past year.
His first hiatus happened at the end of 2015, after losing the U.S. Title to a returning Alberto Del Rio in an Open Challenge at Hell In A Cell in October. He returned a few months later but was soon sidelined again after shoulder surgery in January. He made a brief appearance with The Rock at Wrestlemania to take down The Wyatt Family but didn’t return full-time to the ring until the Memorial Day episode of Raw.
After feuding with AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose over the WWE Title for a few months, Cena took another hiatus from the company to film the second season of his reality show. Since his latest return in December of 2016, Cena has made history, tying Ric Flair as a record 16-time World Champion and has carried the blue brand, along with Styles, leading into Wrestlemania.
Cena has not only cut down on his TV appearances with the company over the past few years but has also reduced his appearances for Live Events in cities across the country.
The Heart of the matter
The WON report indicates that Cena has more offers than ever outside of the company, so this break from WWE may be longer than his usual two-month hiatus. Considering how well Cena has done in Hollywood, it is not hard to figure out why he is in popular demand in Tinseltown. If Cena does take a break from WWE after Mania, not only will WWE have to put on one of its more popular pay-per-views without its top star, but the live event ticket sales are sure to also take a hit, as they did the last time Cena disappeared for a few months.
At the moment, there is no indication when Cena could be or even will be back with the company, and his growing popularity in Hollywood could give The Leader of Cenation a reason to move on for good.
What’s Next..
As of a few weeks ago, John Cena was WWE Champion and heading for the main event of The Show of Shows. However, he lost the title to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber and now looks to be heading for a mixed tag match at Mania with his real-life girlfriend Nikki Bella against Miz and Maryse. Such a sudden change for “The Face That Runs the Place” seems to indicate that Cena will definitely be taking a break from WWE after Wrestlemania. Next week on Smackdown, there will be a Battle Royal to determine the new #1 contender to Wyatt and we expect more seeds to be planted for Miz and Cena’s feud.
Sportskeeda’s Take
It will be interesting to see how the blue brand moves forward without its most recognisable superstar after Wrestlemania, however, they have done an unbelievable job building new superstars to hopefully take some of the sting away from not having their top star for months after their biggest show. One thing is for certain, if and when Cena eventually returns to the squared circle, he will do so looking for his record-breaking 17th World title win and cementing his legacy as one of, if not the, greatest superstar in WWE history.
