Why John Cena's Absence from WWE SmackDown Was Best for Business

On Tuesday, John Cena did not appear on SmackDown.

This is abnormal for the “Face That Runs the Place,” who’s usually at every house show, every reading challenge, every morning show and every Make-A-Wish promo appearance. The only time Cena misses anything is either when he’s injured or when he’s taking time off. And so, when he didn’t show last night, it would have been reasonable to assume that he was thousands of miles away from the arena in Connecticut, filming the second season of American Grit.

He wasn’t.

Cena was backstage, and he actually wrestled in the dark main event after SmackDown went off the air. It seems counterintuitive—to leave one of your biggest Superstars on the bench at a time like this. In the best match at SummerSlam two nights prior, AJ Styles pinned John Cena in the center of the ring, and he pinned him cleanly—no Club shenanigans necessary. The SmackDown fallout after SummerSlam was a major selling point to their entire feud—if AJ won, Cena would be rendered either a “liar” or a “loser." It was a major part of the marketing campaign; every promo package built anticipation for the post-SummerSlam SmackDown:

But instead, on the SmackDown after SummerSlam, we got nothing. Neither a refusal to come out nor an in-ring capitulation. And though it was disappointing in the moment and left an implicit promise unfulfilled, it was the right thing to do.

On Sunday, Cena left his armband in the center of the ring after the match. As WWE itself pointed out, the speculation on social media has taken on a life of its own, which must come as fantastic news to the company. It has spent the better part of five years cultivating its WWE Universe—encouraging the fans to speak out on Twitter and make the product their own. Having Cena make an appearance ends all exciting speculation, and takes the emphasis off of the fans. It’s better to draw this out more and have the rumors continue, not give it immediate resolution.

Even without Cena, SmackDown was better than Raw. This isn’t entirely Raw’s fault; the writers were probably up all night rebooking the show after Balor’s unfortunately timed injury. But SmackDown made the most of their moment, and they started a bunch of new storylines. Carmella turned heel. Nikki Bella turned face. Heath Slater was looking for (and found!) a tag partner. Bray Wyatt called out Randy Orton. AJ Styles pinned Dolph Ziggler and became the No. 1 contender for Dean Ambrose’s belt. Heck, on the Smack Talk follow-up after the show, this crazy thing between The Miz and Daniel Bryan happened:

What do all of these segments have in common? They’re all starts to fresh feuds that will probably culminate at Backlash on September 11. And one of the reasons why they all felt fresh is because they were given the airtime and opportunity to breathe on a show that’s two hours long.

It’s been said many times: John Cena is one of the most divisive Superstars of the current era. Half the fans love him. Half the fans hate him. But no matter what the reaction is, it is a strong reaction. At SummerSlam, the reaction to Cena in the Barclays Center was so strong that it wore the audience out for the remainder of the show. And that’s both the blessing and curse of featuring Cena. On one hand, he guarantees that eyeballs will be watching the program intently. On the other hand, both his fans and his haters suck all the energy out of the room.

WWE is (finally) looking at the long game; they have correctly assessed that the short-term benefit of featuring Cena is outweighed by the long-term damage of ignoring the rest of the brand. Leaving Cena off TV was an incredible exercise in restraint; putting him on would have made the show about him by default. According to rumors first posted on Daily Wrestling News, Cena considers himself to be a part-timer. And so, this is the beginning of a bittersweet process—finally putting the most reliable workhorse out to pasture.