28 Days of Mania: Will We See John Cena Win the WWE Title Again?

About "28 Days of Mania": This will be an ongoing series for the next 28 days leading up to the biggest event in sports entertainment, WrestleMania 28. The idea behind the piece is to build more momentum for the event and give you, the Bleacher Report fan, a chance to read, comment and weigh in with opinions about the WWE, the business and the event. It is my hope this becomes something positive and we all enjoy the ride for the next four weeks to Miami—and the biggest event of the wrestling year. Enjoy.

Regardless of whether he wins Sunday night or now at WrestleMania 28, there is a shift in the way John Cena is being used within the WWE.

At 34 years of age, is the mega superstar at a crossroads in his career as a wrestler in the WWE?

It’s hard to imagine, but the state of the WWE is such that you can argue a case for 10 to 12 wrestlers who were championship gold and carry the belt for a while as others fight it out for rankings and superiority.

It isn’t like it was back when the phenomena of Hulk Hogan came along and the Hulkster was “the man” in the company to carry the torch based on what Vince McMahon wanted.

All too often we have seen pushes that did not make sense in my estimation.

Zack Ryder started his push and then was thwarted; he is now is back to lower level mid card status.

Jack Swagger has held the world and United States titles, but really has not made much noise.

We saw a push by R-Truth last year against John Cena, but it failed after Capital Punishment. And recently, of course, The Miz and Dolph Ziggler had failed attempted to take the WWE title from CM Punk.

The WWE currently has the top-two championships on Punk and Daniel Bryan and seem happy with this as of now.

But that all can change Sunday night as I predicted. And that begs the question, “Will John Cena be a WWE Champion again any time soon?”

I believe the answer is “no” because of the rising talent.

The one thing CM Punk did last year—and continues to do when he wrestles—is sell for his opponents and put them over.

Cena does this, but not in the fashion of Punk (who is a better in ring performer in my opinion).

Cena is a cash cow for this company, making money for the WWE with ticket sales and merchandise like no other superstar has, or maybe will (unless a Sting comes to the WWE for a short period of time before he retires).

Cena is also in a difficult situation because there is no real place for him in terms of story or plot lines.

Major superstars, such as Alberto Del Rio, Christian, and eventually Wade Barrett, are coming back from injuries.

They will also be in the same position as Cena (maybe not Barrett since he will be part of the next decade of WWE superstars).

It is imperative that Cena finds a spot where he is not driven into the ground. He is too valuable to the WWE Universe and the business. He is the “franchise” and the one wrestler who sells outside the domain of the squared circle.

Putting a WWE title back on Cena also means that management and creative do not have the confidence that someone like Ziggler, Swagger or even a Cody Rhodes can carry—and most of all bring in bank.

That is also why it is important that Cena wins Sunday night when he faces The Rock at WM 28.

If you take Ziggler, Rhodes, Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and maybe someone from CWF (Bo Rotundo, for example) and ran the titles through them with Punk also in the mix, where does that leave Cena or a Randy Orton?

Before long, these 30-something wrestlers we have seen for years will be filtered out. And in that case, Cena does not get another title shot.

It just proves the WWE may have gone to the well too often. And in that case, Cena’s career may need another turn from the crossroads he may have already reached.