John Cena: News, Rumors on WWE Star's Recovery from Surgery for Week of Feb. 27

John Cena was believed by many fans to be coming back in time for a WrestleMania 32 match with the legendary Undertaker. It is one of the few remaining dream bouts in the industry, and seeing these two WWE icons would have undoubtedly been a major draw for pro wrestling's biggest event of the year.

But The Phenom is now booked to face the recently returned Shane McMahon, while Cena is left out of the equation. There may not have been any guarantee he would recover quickly enough in order to work the show, but he certainly seemed to have been trying to get there.

The only question is: Could he still make it?

Anyone following Cena on Twitter has witnessed his progress, and it has been an epic journey thus far. Imagining him having been on the surgeon's table just one month ago seems like a crazy notion now even with his history of repeatedly coming back from injury.

He not only looks strong, he actually looks stronger.

The Superman character he has so readily portrayed over the past 10 years is not necessarily used to just criticize his booking; he actually appears superhuman at times. This latest recovery is only adding to his legend, and it was probably expected he would indeed get back in the ring by April 3.

WrestleMania is the best stage for guys to show off, after all.

Cena is WWE's top star, and as such, he surely does not want to stay on the outside for long. He has responsibilities to resume and a spot he's earned over the years. Despite how much consideration WWE has given in terms of allowing him the time needed to get back to top form, Cena likely wants to get back now.

He has been maintaining a dialogue with his fans apart from his workout tweets, and that dialogue has foreshadowed his imminent return.

But Shane's return has perhaps done more than shock WWE fans; it's got them questioning just where exactly this leaves Cena for WrestleMania. Taker is now busy, Triple H is working Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar is facing Dean Ambrose, and The Rock will presumably be there in a nonwrestling capacity.

So if Cena has no place on the Mania card, then what exactly is he training so hard for?

Why would he come back on Monday Night Raw only to not be at WrestleMania, and if he is there on April 3, what would his role be? Would he be used as a guest referee in one of the main event matches? Would he show up just to cut a promo then disappear? Or would he physically get involved in a scuffle with a new challenger?

Would Cena even want to be at WrestleMania if he's not booked in a match?

Cena is a competitor, he loves being in the ring, and he loves delivering on the big stage. Settling for a consolation prize is just not in his nature. According to the Wrestling Observer, via Wrestling Inc, the Shane McMahon vs. Undertaker match was booked after it was clear Cena would not be ready in time.

That fact alone was surely more of a disappointment to Cena than anyone else in WWE; anything less than a five-star Mania match is probably not going to be enough for him.

Right now, WWE is not forthcoming about Cena's eventual return, and that is only increasing speculation among fans. If he is ready to compete or if he needs more time is really unknown right now. But in order to sell WrestleMania beyond the usual draw of the event itself, WWE needs all of its top stars on the card.

It's the most important night of the year for the company, and the more star power it has, the better.

There is no bigger star for Vince McMahon than Cena, and if there is a way to get him on the card other than an actual match, then it needs to happen. There is little reason to save him for the following Raw unless he just wants to wait in order to begin a new angle.

But the current roster is doing all it can to deliver in his absence, and that will surely be the case April 3 as well. The true test of how strong that roster is will be measured on that night if Cena's not there, and so will his overall impact on the company itself.

Only time will tell what Cena's status will be, and in the meantime, he's still working hard. That's who he is.

Tom Clark can regularly be found on Bleacher Report and his podcast, Tom Clark's Main Event, is available on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Android, Windows Phone and online here.