Hot Take: Keep John Cena off the WWE WrestleMania 40 Match Card

Right now, fans can't see an option for John Cena on the WrestleMania 40 card.

Jokes aside, the two-night card is stacked in an almost historic way. Roman Reigns is going to take on Cody Rhodes in the main event, with The Rock probably in a match or heavily involved elsewhere. Seth Rollins will fight Drew McIntyre. Gunther will defend his historic Intercontinental reign. Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch.

There's not a lot of room for someone like Cena, even over the course of two nights. Case in point, last year he fought to a super-obvious loss in the Night 1 opener, a defeat at the hands of Austin Theory in a match that just squeaked past the 11-minute mark.

Fans should probably see Cena at WrestleMania 40—just not in a match.

Not that Cena would agree, of course. He's "crossing my fingers" about a match, as he said on a recent appearance on ESPN's First Take.

But for one, what else is he supposed to say? And for two, if we're being a little honest, Cena has been a little overexposed for a part-timer as of late. It doesn't feel like all that long ago that he was freshly returning to challenge Roman Reigns, of all people. Then, the loss to Theory at 'Mania and then after that, the loss to Solo Sikoa at the Crown Jewel premium live event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. There's a team-up with LA Knight and a handful of dark matches in there, too.

And with The Rock already in a massive spot alongside the likes of Reigns, the Bloodline and Cody Rhodes, WWE already has that nostalgia-button-smashing legend presence who fills the role in a way few can.

Point is, absence from the ring might just be able to make the hearts of fans grow even fonder. And on paper, those matches against Theory and Sikoa sound great—it's the legendary veteran coming back and putting over the next generation in a big way. But WWE hasn't capitalized on the momentum of those matches for those young guys, in part because there wasn't much storytelling happening before those matches.

In order to avoid that pitfall again, WWE needed more time to weave a tale around another Cena match.

And if we're talking about a retirement match for one of the GOATs, there's no time left to build it.

WrestleMania 41 makes quite a bit more sense if Cena is hanging up the boots (Jorts?) soon. It's best to give the possible career-ending match the year or so it deserves to simmer and build, even if that means sporadic actual appearances from the man himself until 'Mania season kicks off next year.

Granted, that doesn't mean Cena can't appear in any capacity at this year's Mania. It would be amazing to see a segment where he brushes shoulders with the Superstar who competes against him in a future retirement match.

Even better might be Cena as the outright host of WrestleMania. WWE would benefit because, like Rock and others, he's got that beyond-wrestling appeal now in Hollywood and otherwise that might just be able to lure in viewers who otherwise wouldn't check the show out.

And even if that doesn't swell the numbers, it's hard to name a more charismatic, natural-feeling host to a Mania than Cena himself.

That sort of role, too, could be the launching pad for a retirement match a year later. Imagine if Cena has an extended standoff with CM Punk in front of 70,000 screaming fans. Or if the outright challenge gets issued by Randy Orton for a match in one year's time. Those are baseline, quick ideas with two guys who could serve as retirement-match candidates with Cena, rekindling old rivalries at the same time.

This long, drawn-out booking wouldn't just be fitting in the story-based focus of the Triple H era. It would also give WWE an incredible year of press with even non-wrestling outlets, too, as more and more pick up on what could be a legendary farewell tour.

More importantly, it would give the proper build to Cena's final match. His last few appearances have been fun, but another cobbled-together match at WrestleMania 40 would further dilute and lessen the impact of his appearances.

Right now, WrestleMania 40 should be a vehicle that launches Cena toward the official farewell tour, not another directionless one-off that is just another match on a stacked two-night card.