WWE News: The Real Reason John Cena Was Not On ‘SmackDown Live’ This Week

John Cena showed up last week on WWE Monday Night Raw and talked about how disappointed he is that the WWE won’t allow him to wrestle The Undertaker this year at WrestleMania 34. He then said that he was going to take his ball and leave, heading to SmackDown Live to try to force his way into their world title scene. He accomplished that by beating AJ Styles the next night. This week, with Cena cemented in for Sunday’s Fastlane main event, it seemed like he was moving to SmackDown Live. However, he showed up on Raw and ended up beating Goldust before no-showing SmackDown the next night. So, why did Cena, who is supposed to be wrestling on SmackDown Live, now wrestling on Monday NightRaw instead?

John Cena’s Schedule Heading Into WrestleMania 34

Wrestling Inc reported on Tuesday that John Cena is scheduled to wrestle at Fastlane on Sunday for the SmackDown Live brand. However, he is not scheduled for any other SmackDown Live events from now until WrestleMania 34.

This is huge news. The match on Sunday is for the SmackDown Live world heavyweight championship. It is a six-pack challenge with champion AJ Styles defending against John Cena, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn. Styles has to win to keep his one-on-one WrestleMania 34 match against Shinsuke Nakamura.

If John Cena wins the SmackDown Live world title, he said that AJ Styles could use his rematch clause to make the WrestleMania 34 match into a three-way challenge. However, if Cena is not booked to appear on any SmackDown Live show heading into WrestleMania 34, there is little chance he wins the title on Sunday.

John Cena’s WrestleMania 34 Opponent

John Cena is not booked for a single SmackDown Live show after Fastlane. However, he is booked for a number of shows for the Monday Night Raw brand from now until WrestleMania 34. The final booking for Cena, at the moment, is the Monday Night Raw following WrestleMania 34.

With John Cena not competing at any SmackDown Live shows, that rules out winning the title and the match against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 34. So, what does that mean for Cena?

John Cena lost in the Royal Rumble match in January. Cena then lost in the Elimination Chamber when Braun Strowman pinned him in February. If Cena loses in the six-pack challenge in March, that is three straight pay-per-view losses in a row, and WrestleMania 34 is next.

Despite John Cena claiming that the WWE said that a WrestleMania 34 match against The Undertaker couldn’t happen, that doesn’t mean that it is true. The strongest WWE rumors indicate that the two will still wrestle at WrestleMania 34 and a loss in the six-pack challenge could send Cena over the edge and finally bring back the Dead Man for this WWE dream match.