John Cena's Character Is Evolving Before Our Eyes with AJ Styles Feud

For years, John Cena was regarded by fans as one of WWE's most stagnant on-air personalities due to the company's "rinse and repeat" booking of him since 2005. But as seen so far in his feud with AJ Styles, he is in the midst of a long-overdue character resurgence.

Despite never once holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, 2015 was the best year of Cena's in-ring career, contesting classics on a weekly basis for the United States Championship. His U.S. Open Challenge, a staple of the show for a majority of the year, brought life to the program and helped elevate new stars in the process.

Sadly, the gimmick came to an abrupt end in October when he lost the star-spangled prize to Alberto Del Rio and took time off to film the American Grit reality series for Fox. Aside from one-off appearances on the final Raw of 2015 and at WrestleMania 32, he was largely absent from WWE TV for over seven months.

His return to Raw on the Memorial Day episode was crucial; he needed to give viewers a reason to remain invested in his character as opposed to solely celebrating his comeback. Thankfully, that turned out to be the case when Cena kicked off his latest rivalry with AJ Styles.

Cena vs. Styles is the perfect program to jump-start the sizzling summer season, and Cena's character evolution is already underway.

There are few true dream matches left in wrestling, but it is safe to say that Cena vs. Styles is among them. A match nearly a decade-and-a-half in the making, it was only logical to do the bout as soon as Cena was cleared to compete.

Granted, WWE could have held off on the matchup until next spring because the bout is indeed WrestleMania-worthy, but anything can change between now and then. It was wise of WWE to capitalize on Styles' hot momentum coming off his series of matches with WWE world heavyweight champion Roman Reigns.

Having been a main event player for the past 11 years, Cena has run through almost every rival on the roster, and Styles is one of the few fresh feuds left for him. It's Superstars such as Styles, however, who bring the best out of the Cenation leader, as seen on Raw.

After being blindsided by The Club leader the week prior, Cena called out Styles on Monday night and demanded answers for his actions. Additionally, he put over his adversary as one of the best wrestlers to never step foot in a WWE ring before 2016 and went so far as to compare the instant chemistry they had to the chemistry he shared with The Rock.

With the exception of Cena referring to Styles' WWE run as a "bust" thus far, it was one of the 15-time world champion's strongest promos to date. Based on his mic work from the last two weeks, he should continue to deliver the goods throughout his rivalry with Styles.

Cena's tendency to resort to childish comedy during his promos has been his Achilles heel for ages. When he's serious and motivated, he is one of the most talented talkers on the roster, and this week's Raw was proof of that.

If history has taught us anything, it's that Cena thrives when feuding with up-and-coming athletes determined to prove themselves against The Face That Runs the Place. Look no further than his feuds with the likes of CM Punk, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and Daniel Bryan.

In being on top of the mountain for so long, Cena could easily become complacent. Instead, he has worked even harder to prove his critics wrong by growing both as a character and an in-ring competitor.

Granted, the springboard stunner wasn't well-received by the masses when he used it during his U.S. title defenses last year, but his attempt to rejuvenate his persona and switch up his move set should be commended.

A Cena heel turn isn't out of the realm of possibility down the road, but with Roman Reigns not yet ready to take his spot as the poster child of the promotion, it is for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, he is coming the closest he can to moving away from the Cena of old and showing signs of character development for the first time in a while.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a Digital 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.