WWE News: John Cena Says He Won’t Be Wrestling At ‘WrestleMania 32’
Former fifteen-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena underwent successful shoulder surgery back in January, and ever since then, there has been some talk about him coming back, and wrestling a match at WrestleMania 32.
Apparently, the plan was for Cena to take on The Undertaker at AT&T Stadium before the former United States Champ was injured. Also, according to the Wrestling Observer, if Cena were able to return to action in time for WrestleMania 32, then the match with Undertaker was still the plan.
John Cena vs. Undertaker clearly isn’t happening, as Shane McMahon is set to take on “The Deadman” inside Hell in a Cell next month. In fact, John Cena won’t be wrestling anyone this coming April.
9 days post op. Work even at rest. Got me a @TheMarcPro a @RecoveryPump and advanced copy of @RorkeDenver latest! pic.twitter.com/eKiiNnlXVS
— John Cena (@JohnCena) January 16, 2016
At the WrestleMania 32 press-conference on Tuesday, John Cena, who had been attempting to recover in time for this year’s WrestleMania, finally admitted that he won’t be having a match on the show.
“For the first time in a decade and a half, this year I will be watching and not wrestling at WrestleMania.”
The severity of John Cena’s shoulder injury called for a six to nine-month layoff following surgery. But, in the past, Cena has returned to action a lot sooner than expected, most notably in 2008, when he made his shocking return at the Royal Rumble. So, while the prognosis was six to nine-months, many wouldn’t have been surprised if he returned to action much sooner than expected.
Even though Cena won’t be wrestling on the show, there is a good chance that he could appear on the show, possibly in a backstage segment. WrestleMania 32 is going to be the biggest event in wrestling history attendance-wise, so it’s likely that they’ll want their biggest star to be a part of the show, and it’s likely that Cena himself wants to do something on the show.
It’s been known for quite some time now that The Rock will be at WrestleMania 32. So, maybe Cena can do something backstage with him. Possibly something similar to the short segment that The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin did back at WrestleMania 27 in 2011.
As for when Cena will actually return to in-ring action, well, if he’s not able to wrestle at WrestleMania, then that should tell you that he may not be able to return until mid or late-summer. So, a Cena return at SummerSlam is probably going to happen. As for who he’ll feud with when he finally does return, well, that’s still very much up in the air. But there are a ton of possibilities.
WWE is going to have a lot of their injured wrestlers return this summer, as guys like Cesaro, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, and John Cena were all injured in late-2015, and all of them were given a six-month to a year timetable for their return. But Cena’s return will be the biggest of them all, and if anyone in that foursome is going to get lost in the shuffle, it’s going to be Cesaro, unfortunately.
John Cena could be thrown right back into the United States Championship picture upon his return, which would really help raise the prestige of that title again, as it has lost a ton of the value that it had while Cena was defending, and challenging for it.
Of course, WWE does want to do John Cena vs. Roman Reigns at some point. So, that could be on the table as well when the former WWE Champ returns. But, because of the importance of a match like Reigns vs. Cena, WWE may hold off on doing it until WrestleMania 33 in Orlando next year.
[Image via WWE]
