Best Feuds for John Cena Upon His Upcoming Return from Surgery to WWE Roster

After another superhuman recovery from surgery, WWE can soon plug John Cena into a number of compelling stories—from him pursuing the United States Championship that slipped from his hands to fending off the company's newest monsters.

WWE Creative has to be thrilled. It will have a megastar to utilize again just in time for the summer's biggest pay-per-views. Cena tweeted he's returning to action on Memorial Day:

That opens the door for a number of marquee matchups. When considering which one to pursue out of the gate, WWE has to decide just what it wants to do with Cena's star power.

The United States Championship could use the boost of being associated with him again. A number of newcomers need a way to make an impact. And SummerSlam needs a massive bout to place at the top of the card.

The best feuds for Cena have built-in stories to tell. They would result in strong matches and would better the roster in some way.

Ryback

When Cena held the United States title, buzz surrounded it. It felt significant, a valuable trophy worth fighting for. Since his reign ended, the profile of the title has sunk, WWE relegating it to the pre-show of both WrestleMania and Payback.

Sean Rueter of CagesideSeats commented on how the prestige of the title has dropped of late:

That would change with Cena as a challenger once more. His presence would elevate the belt, as we saw during his run of open challenges last year.

Should Ryback win the belt at Payback, that sets up a clash with Cena worth pursuing.

The narrative already has plenty to build on. Cena can talk about how much he wants the championship back, that he hasn't been satisfied since dropping it to Alberto Del Rio at Hell in a Cell in 2015. Ryback can seek revenge. Their 2013 feud left Ryback on his back several times over.

Imagine if The Big Guy fended off Cena this time, though.

Suddenly, he would feel like more than just a middling midcard Superstar. His redemption would catapult him as champion.

And as we have seen in the past, these two can put on quite the physical match against each other. Thanks to those bouts and the hype that would come with them, going with a Ryback-Cena rivalry would boost both the U.S. title and The Big Guy.

Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson

Feasting on The Usos, as they did on Monday's Raw, is one thing. Trading shots with Cena would announce Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson are high-rung stars. 

Just as WWE has had AJ Styles go after Roman Reigns not long after storming onto the WWE scene, having his former Bullet Club partners pursue Cena puts them in the spotlight right away.

The Nexus' peak came when they took out Cena. It painted them as alpha males in the WWE jungle. That's a smart path to walk down again with Gallows and Anderson.

The story options are plentiful. The heels could try to recruit Cena, and his refusal would spark a violent reaction. Cena could instead play the cavalry as Gallows and Anderson stomped on some babyface at ringside.

Credit: WWE.com

And WWE would assure the two bruisers some great matches early in their run with the company. Cena's big-match ability would bring out the best in both men.

This option gets more compelling if Anderson and Gallows pair up with Finn Balor or if Styles turns heel and rejoins them. Cena can gather his own band of powerhouses and be a part of an electric meeting of good and evil.

Roman Reigns

A heel Reigns with the WWE title tight in his hands would be the ideal foil for the returning Cena. It would lead to a changing-of-the-guard battle between two titans.

WrestleZone.com talked about how good it can be:

That would be a great SummerSlam main event. It is among the biggest matches WWE could book for Cena. It being such a fresh matchup helps, too.

The story would be a strong one, even with little effort. Cena could see Reigns as a man not worthy of the title, a guy who no longer cares about the fans. Reigns could see Cena as a man past his prime. The Big Dog then wants to prove his place on top of WWE by knocking off the guy who has been there for years.

And they have already shared some tense moments in the past.

Cena is capable, too, of helping Reigns have the best match of his career. Their bouts promise to be a lot like Cena's battles with Batista in 2008, a pair of trains crashing into each other.

In addition, Cena can either allow WWE to end the Reigns experiment or fully establish him as the next top guy. Cena claiming the world title puts a proven champ in the throne again. Or Reigns could end the summer by nailing the biggest trophy on his wall to date.

Either way, there's enough star power in that mix to take full advantage of Cena's return.