If John Cena knows what is best for him, he won’t return to the WWE before WrestleMania 32.
No, that’s not a threat.
If anything, it’s just a suggestion. As a WWE fan, it’s the duty of all to care about the wrestlers in the ring and their health outside of it. That thought process came to a head when Daniel Bryan retired from the WWE on Raw over a week ago.
As fans, the immediate need to be selfish and want WWE stars to never retire always comes into play. However, health does come first and for Bryan, he realized that before it was too late. The same thing can start to be said about Cena.
The former-Dr. of Thugonomics is currently trying to come back from torn rotator cuff surgery. At it’s simplest form, that type of surgery is routine and normally takes 4-6 months to recover from. A running joke going around the Internet Wrestling Community is that Cena should’ve returned to the WWE already.
Is it actually a joke?
It’s becoming less funny and more serious after a tweet from Cena yesterday that began speculation of an early return for WrestleMania 32.
Gamble: take risky action in hope of a desired result. Time to gamble I think. It’s gonna be a risky next two weeks #LaceUp#nevergiveup
— John Cena (@JohnCena) February 15, 2016
WWE fans’ theories aside, this could’ve been a tweet about his rehab and perhaps he’s trying to reach a milestone. As one fan pointed out yesterday, this could’ve easily meant he may propose to Nikki Bella, his long-time girlfriend.
Cena sent out that tweet knowing full-well what WWE fans would immediately believe upon reading it. The West Newbury, Massachusetts-native was exactly right and now wrestling enthusiasts across the world are wondering if he’ll return for WrestleMania 32.
Does Cena need to return for the Grandaddy of Them All?
Last night on Monday Night Raw, the WWE made Fast Lane infinitely more interesting with one match and a brief moment in the ring. Dean Ambrose began the show with an altercation that included Stephanie McMahon
She announced a Fatal-5 Way match for the Intercontinental title. If Roman Reigns were to interfere, Ambrose would’ve been disqualified and he couldn’t partake in the no.1 contender match at Fast Lane for the WWE championship.
Both men obliged Ambrose lost his championship to Kevin Owens in an exciting bout to open the show. However, that didn’t make the Lunatic Fringe particularly happy. Later on, the WWE Universe would find that out.
In the top of the third hour, Reigns and Paul Heyman were engaged in a war with words. As soon as Heyman left the ring, after saying Reigns would be forced to choose between his family and Ambrose, the Dudley Boyz assaulted Reigns from behind.
Moments later, Ambrose hit the ring for the save and the former-Shield members ran rough shot on Bubba Ray and Devon. It didn’t take long for WWE to tease the entire wrestling world in three seconds.
Ambrose grabbed Reigns and was about to hit the Dirty Deeds before the former-WWE champion spun out of it, and the two stared down for what felt like an eternity.
As this all comes full circle, it makes WWE Fast Lane mean more. If Ambrose still had the Intercontinental belt, he’d have no chance of winning on Sunday. Even worse, the fans would know that he had no chance. Brock Lesnar isn’t going to win, so now it’s down to Ambrose or Reigns.
All of that being, John Cena doesn’t have to return to WWE before WrestleMania.
It’s always going to be a subjective matter, but the WWE has plenty of stars to fill the void until he comes back. Best case scenario: Bray Wyatt interferes at Fast Lane and he gets a huge match against Lesnar at WrestleMania.
Ambrose and Reigns will get put in a high-profile match at WrestleMania regardless of who’s in the main event with Triple H. The New Day, Charlotte, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, the Dudley Boyz, Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens and the Undertaker will get booked for quality matches at WrestleMania. That doesn’t even include AJ Styles or the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Cena may be a medical marvel, but that doesn’t mean he has to press his luck once again to return to the WWE. It’s his prerogative, so if Cena thinks he can return, then let him. He’ll only help sell more merchandise and promote WrestleMania.
After Bryan’s retirement, the WWE will undoubtedly focus on injuries and keeping wrestlers safe from this point forward; even more so than before.
Cena’s less than two months from torn rotator cuff surgery. When it comes time for WrestleMania 32, he’ll have missed less than three months of action. Torn rotator cuffs usually take 4-6 months to recover.
If John Cena knows what is best for him, he won’t return for WrestleMania 32.