Why It's Too Soon for John Cena to Re-Enter WWE Championship Scene
It's been a solid six months since John Cena was last in line for a shot at the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and in that time, he's done a fantastic job of taking the United States Championship to new heights. It was evident based off Cena's run-in with Seth Rollins on Raw that he might be going back for the gold come SummerSlam, but it's far too soon for him to be re-entering the main event scene just yet.
The biggest criticism of the Cena character for years has been he "hogs" the main event spotlight. Although he'd deliver excellent headlining matches at every pay-per-view, fans were clamoring for something new for him.
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After falling short of regaining the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, he took a step back from the title picture, and for the first time in nearly a decade, Cena was considered a "midcard" talent.
When out of contention for the WWE title, he wasn't feuding with fellow top-tier talent but rather working with several young up-and-comers, including Rusev, Cesaro and Kevin Owens. At WrestleMania 31, he was successful in capturing the U.S. Championship and has since restored prestige to the belt in defending it on a nearly weekly basis.
Needless to say, WWE has a great thing going with Cena as the United States champion right now. So why ruin it by having him shift his focus to the world title while still in possession of the star-spangled prize?
When The Undertaker returned at WWE Battleground and cost Brock Lesnar the championship, it left viewers wondering what would be next for Rollins. A rematch with Lesnar was obviously out of the question, and a match against Triple H would be rushed, so there weren't many realistic opponents left for him at SummerSlam.
Enter John Cena. He interrupted the self-proclaimed "Future of WWE" on the July 20 edition of Raw and made a case for how he has been a better champ than Rollins, seemingly setting up a future champion vs. champion match between the two.
There had been speculation among fans dating back to WrestleMania 31 of a championship unification match occurring at the August extravaganza but solely with the midcard straps. Merging the U.S. and WWE titles would make very little sense unless WWE plans to do away with the U.S. title, which would be asinine at this point.
Besides, that's a match worthy of headlining any major pay-per-view. But with Undertaker vs. Lesnar already confirmed to be closing the show, the title match will be bumped down the card. Regardless, a match with such major implications attached to it shouldn't be relegated to anything other than the main event slot.
Furthermore, Cena already has a ready-made match for the show: a Fatal 4-Way with Owens, Rusev and Cesaro for the title. Transitioning him into a program with Rollins would be unnatural and random, especially with a mere month's build.
Cena and Rollins clashed on countless occasions in the latter half of 2014, and as great as each of their encounters were, it was a match that was done to death by the time the Rumble rolled around. Thus, it's still far too early to be going back to that bout any time soon.
With more Match of the Year candidates than anyone else on the roster, there can be no questioning that 2015 has been the best in-ring year in Cena's career to date. Part of that is due to his engaging in fresh feuds and not squaring off against the same old familiar faces such as Rollins.
Of course, Cena will inevitably be back in the main event picture, but there's no rush as of right now. WWE found the perfect place for him in the U.S. title picture earlier this year, and that's where he should remain through the next several months.
If WWE is truly determined to make that title mean something again, the company will have Cena remain focused on defending it instead of aspiring for more gold at the moment. As for Rollins, he needs to feud with notable names he can win against, and Cena would likely emerge victorious if they were set to do battle.
With one month left until SummerSlam, there's plenty of time for WWE to change directions, but it would be making a monumental mistake by reinserting Cena into the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture in the midst of his refreshing run as the U.S. title holder.
Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.
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