WWE News: Fans Offered Refunds in Light of John Cena's Absence

John Cena was conspicuous in his absence from this week's episode of Monday Night Raw.

Many had expected the No. 1 contender for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship to feature on the show, given the fact that he has a team to assemble for this month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view. But, as reported by Bill Pritchard of WrestleZone.com, Cena’s name was actually pulled from local advertising some five days ahead of the show in Buffalo, New York.

At the time of writing, there’s still no official word on why Cena wasn’t on Raw, which does seem somewhat odd—especially when you consider that he now has just two more Mondays in which to put together his team.

But stranger still is the fact that the WWE so brazenly acknowledged Cena’s absence yet refrained from providing us with an actual explanation.

Furthermore, for the fans in attendance at Fist Niagara Center, the WWE did them one better than merely referencing Cena’s non-appearance. As Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc.com reports, full refunds were issued to any fans who were left dissatisfied with "Cena not being there."

Now first off, WWE always mentions that its line-ups are subject to change. As a result, this looks like a particularly generous offer from the company.

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

And if you take a look at the rest of the action on offer, that level of generosity only seems to increase.

Fans in attendance were treated to a rare return from the boss himself, Mr. McMahon, as well as an Intercontinental title bout, a much-anticipated Randy Orton face turn and a bonus post-show title match in which Rusev usurped Sheamus for the United States Championship.

You’ve got to give the company credit—Cena or no Cena, that’s a pretty great card.

Although it does beg the question: Did the WWE put out such a strong offering as a result of Cena’s absence? Was the staging of two title matches and Seth Rollins vs. Orton a proactive effort to alleviate the possible ratings damage that Cena’s disappearance could inflict?

Perhaps, but in all honesty, it’s more likely that the strong card was put together for other reasons.

With the WWE Network free this month, the company is looking to maximise interest in its current product. What better way to do that then to stage a title change on the Network itself in the aftermath of Monday Night Raw?

So what else can we make from this? Well, allow me to go off on something of a tangent.

While refunds were offered to fans in attendance, Cena’s absence was referenced on TV but not at any great length. Does this mean the company sees Cena’s value in his live appearances rather than his contribution to the onscreen product?

And at an even deeper level, when the Authority glossed over Cena’s absence, was that a subtle vote of confidence from WWE management to the current roster? An indirect message that it has faith in its talent to be able to carry the show, despite the disappearance of probably the biggest merchandise-seller in the business’ history?

Photo courtesy of WWE.com

Maybe I’m looking too deeply into this one, but it certainly seems a possibility.

With the likes of Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler and now Orton over as faces, well-established heels such as Rollins, the rest of the Authority and new U.S. champ Rusev—not to mention an abundance of entertainers elsewhere on the roster (Cesaro, Damien Mizdow, Gold and Stardust, the Usos)—is this the strongest WWE lineup that we’ve seen in some time?

In the long term, only time will tell. But based on this past week’s showing of Raw alone, personally I can’t say that I felt the show suffered from a lack of John Cena.

Can you?

With a mass of talent now realising its potential, this may well be the last time the WWE is forced to offer refunds for a show without Cena.