WWE News: Major Concern Over John Cena’s WWE Future Heading Into 2017
For years, the WWE Universe was arguing that John Cena was featured too heavily on WWE programming, but now it’s apparent he’s not being featured enough. He’s currently on a hiatus from the company to film the second season of American Grit for Fox Network. His schedule in Hollywood is also filling up with roles in more comedy films and potentially a big cameo in the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok sequel for Marvel.
Over the past year, John Cena’s commitments outside of WWE are becoming the priority over his time in the ring and his quest to break Ric Flair’s world championship record of sixteen titles. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about his hiatus from WWE television being extended, and it’s possible that it’s is causing from friction between Cena and WWE officials. At this point, no one knows when Cena will return to WWE.
It has been rumored that John Cena will return to WWE programming before the WWE Royal Rumble PPV in January and it’s possible he may even win the Royal Rumble match. However, more rumors about WWE planning John Cena versus The Undertaker have also been coming for several weeks, and that match may not happen due to Cena’s schedule outside of WWE conflicting with the company’s creative plans for him.
It’s been reported that his schedule for 2017 is going to be limited due to many outside projects, and he may only be able to perform on WWE television for half the year if he’s healthy. John Cena is quickly becoming a mainstream star, which is great for WWE because it gives the company a lot of positive exposure. However, he’s been WWE’s biggest star for over a decade, so losing him for roughly half the year creates a lot of new problems WWE officials haven’t had to deal with in some time.
Not only will they be losing his star power, but they’ll have to use the current crop of WWE Superstars to fill the hole he leaves in the roster. Another issue that has been rumored to be creating some problems between Cena and the company is the way part-timers are paid and treated on WWE programming. Apparently, the recent returns of Goldberg and The Undertaker have Cena questioning his role in WWE going forward.
For half a decade, WWE has paid part-time performers handsomely for few dates, which provides necessary star power to big events and PPVs. Brock Lesnar is the perfect example of how WWE has been using part-time performers over the past few years. Now, John Cena is becoming a part-time guy, which means issues like his pay, booking, and more are going to need to be reevaluated by WWE officials heading into 2017.
According to a new report, there are major concerns about John Cena’s WWE future within the company right now. The fifteen-time WWE World Champion has sworn up and down that he will remain loyal to the WWE, but the offers continue to roll in for him. Eventually, he’ll be in a position where an outside project will have to come before a commitment to WWE. Cena possibly missing a Wrestlemania is plausible.
Age is also a factor at this point for him, and injuries due to ring rust may be a huge factor in his wrestling career ending earlier than most people thought. With Cena’s history of neck and shoulder issues, another big injury could be fatal to his in-ring future because that not only influences WWE, but it takes away some opportunities outside of wrestling as well. The point is that no one is sure about what the future holds for him in WWE or Hollywood, including himself. 2017 is going to be an interesting year to watch John Cena.
[Featured Image by WWE]
