Opinion : What’s Next For John Cena After WrestleMania 28?

This time next week, the entire Internet Wrestling Community will be overanalyzing the enthralling details of John Cena’s WrestleMania throwdown with Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson and its aftermath. Beyond that, a small fraction of the IWC will be contemplating what’s next for Cena after his epic WrestleMania tussle. One question that will immediately come to mind with the Rock likely retreating back to Hollywood is whether Cena will once again re-enter the WWE Championship picture after a lengthy absence.
As much as I would personally enjoy seeing Cena back in the title chase given how much I appreciate and respect what he does for WWE, Cena shouldn’t get another title shot anytime soon—nor does he need to for WWE to be successful.
For starters, WWE bookers can continue CM Punk’s feud with Chris Jericho after WrestleMania, regardless of who walks out of Miami on April 1 with the WWE title. It’s a rivalry that has fans buzzing with excitement, and rightfully so. I would have no problems with Punk and Jericho going at each other well into the summer.
After that, even if Jericho does leave WWE around then like many are speculating, Punk could find other worthy rivals not named John Cena to butt heads with over the belt. If Christian could somehow find his way onto the Raw roster in the coming weeks, it could open the door for a feud with Punk that could easily match Punk-Jericho in terms of interest.
Both Christian and Punk are gold on the microphone and have the ability to make the other shine in the squared circle, two trademarks of a Championship-worthy tangle. If WWE fans aren’t treated to Christian-Punk for the title, then they better see Punk and Daniel Bryan, perhaps in some sort of title unification match. Let’s face it; as much as WWE would like you to believe that there really are two separate brands these days, there’s really not.
Stars on one show appear on the other so often that you lose track of who’s part of what brand. A title unification would give WWE the opportunity to finally desegregate theSmackdown! and Raw brands.
And a Punk-Bryan rivalry would leave virtually every wrestling fan begging for more. We’ve already gotten the Punk-Bryan appetizer in some matches between the two this year and we’re ready for the main course. Meanwhile, it looks like Cena will have his hands full with a returning superstar after WrestleMania.
There’s speculation that Cena could feud with newcomer Lord Tensai, aka former WWE superstar Albert, aka Matt Bloom after WrestleMania. That could be intriguing because it will be interesting to see how the leader of the Cenation will deal with a known powerhouse in Albert.
And in reality, Cena doesn’t need to be in the WWE title chase to remain popular with the fans.
Despite not being in the title picture since last summer, you can’t say that Cena’s popularity has worn off one bit. He’s still in relevant storylines, making the rounds in the media and is getting as big of a polarizing reception in arenas everywhere as he’s ever received.
On the flipside, Punk is losing no steam as a top face on raw. It only makes sense for the bookers to keep CM Punk in title picture as long as he keeps selling t-shirts and continues receiving loud ovations wherever he goes.
And even without a prestigious title wrapped around his muscular waist, John Cena will continue to inspire his fans, piss off his detractors and make WWE tons of money.

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