WWE Raw: Who Will Be John Cena's Next Opponent?

The next time that John Cena steps into a WWE ring on pay-per-view, he’ll be competing in his first ever Money in the Bank match. 

His opponents in that bout will be Chris Jericho, The Big Show and Kane, and oddly enough, it is this match that I think will set the stage for his next major opponent and feud. 

In fact, all the dominoes seem to be falling one way, toward one match with one man that Cena is very familiar with. 

That man is CM Punk. 

While Punk vs. Cena doesn’t stick out as the next big WWE feud, I’m a firm believer in the old saying that “everything happens for a reason.” 

Strange things do keep happening when it comes to Cena, and they’re happening for one reason: So that he can challenge Punk for the WWE championship in the near future. 

These dominoes started falling last week, when Cena’s made his “major announcement” that he’d be competing in the first MITB match of his career. 

So—let’s get this straight—Cena is given a spot in the WWE title MITB match, he’s made it clear that he wants to get back in the WWE title picture and Punk is the WWE champion. 

These aren’t coincidences, folks. They’re happening because the WWE’s master plan is beginning to unfold. That is, a plan that sees Cena back in the title picture for the remainder of the year. 

I mean, he’s already spent an entire segment on Raw announcing his involvement in the WWE championship contract Money in the Bank match, which leads me to believe there’s a 90 percent chance he’s going to win (if not higher). 

After all, there are reportedly plans for Cena to re-enter the WWE title scene in the near future. 

From F4WOnline.com (via WrestleNewz.com):

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The latest word on Cena’s SummerSlam plans is that he will be going after WWE Champion CM Punk in the co-main event. 

Cena is expected to spend the latter part of 2012 in the WWE Title picture.

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It couldn’t be any clearer. Cena is apparently headed to SummerSlam to challenge Punk for the WWE championship. 

Of course, plans can change. However, the more I examine what potentially lies ahead for Cena, the more I keep thinking that a feud with Punk is what is most likely going to happen. 

All the signs are telling me this is the case. 

We have Cena going to MITB to try to “overcome the odds,” which means it's almost a given that he will do exactly that. 

We have a “Big Four” SummerSlam pay-per-view coming up, and the WWE is going to want to stack the card for that show. Cena vs. Punk certainly fits that bill, doesn’t it? 

If that’s not enough to convince you, we also have to remember that it’s been roughly a year since Punk and Cena tore the house down at both the Money in the Bank and SummerSlam pay-per-views in 2011.

A one-year “anniversary” celebration is a very real possibility. 

We also know that Cena has been out of the WWE title picture since October of last year and that neither he nor Punk has a ton of fresh challengers lined up after the MITB PPV. 

Thus, the only way that Punk vs. Cena would be any more obvious was if the WWE came out and literally told us that this match was going to happen in the near future. 

At the end of the day, the WWE may throw us a curveball and go in a different direction. 

However, at this very moment, there’s almost nothing that indicates that we won’t see the WWE’s top two stars feud as soon as later this month.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him onTwitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.