John Cena: Latest News and Buzz Surrounding WWE Star Before Roadblock

WWE fans haven't seen John Cena on company programming in over two months. Slowly, the company is learning to live without him. But three days ago, WWE announced that he would be returning to SmackDown on Dec. 27. Whether this is a good idea depends entirely on how he's booked and how long Cena plans to stay.

The post-Cena era hasn't been easy for WWE, but it's reaping what it's sowed. It booked Cena as Superman for close to a decade. Even when he lost, it was usually in some fluky, conditional manner that protected him. And many of the wrestlers he did put over—CM Punk and Daniel Bryan, most prominently—are not wrestling anymore because of either apathy (Punk) or injury (Bryan). We are left with a limited, shrinking pool of Superstars who can boast clean wins over Cena.

Cena never experienced a comedown from his success the way Kane did. The way Big Show did. The way Chris Jericho did—losing more than he won and often losing to younger, up-and-coming talents. That's what he should be doing, but he's not.

For a brief moment last year, it seemed as though WWE would do the right thing. It booked Cena to win the United States Championship, a midcard belt, and instituted the U.S. Open Challenge. Cena was an ideal gatekeeper to the main event—a "jobber to the stars" who could legitimize raw talent.

But that hope was quickly dashed. He beat Sami Zayn. He won his feud against Kevin Owens—an incredible series of matches with the wrong outcome. Owens may be the current WWE universal champion, but he's never been as dominant or as scary as he was then.

Some will retort that Cena did put AJ Styles over at SummerSlam. He did, but losing one match to a superstar of Styles' caliber is not "passing the torch." It's a lateral move—not the ushering in of a new era.

Cena's SmackDown return will stir up talk of tying Ric Flair's record of 16 world titles or even breaking it. But putting him in WWE Championship contention or having him win the title again would do nothing to elevate the SmackDown brand, and it wouldn't do much to elevate Cena, either. His fans will still love him. His haters will still hate him. And it'll be yet another distraction from newer faces who need the attention. SmackDown should be a place to build new stars.

For fans to fully get past the Cena era and embrace the new one, Cena needs to experience a downward trend over a period of months, losing multiple matches to multiple wrestlers. Or WWE should only put him up against other veterans and hype the nostalgia factor. Either will ensure that Cena puts over the entire roster rather than just one guy. He will still move merchandise, win or lose, and his loyal #CenaNation will follow him regardless.

All athletes should have their twilight years that allow fans to slowly fall out of love with their icons and appreciate their former glories. But if Cena runs off to Hollywood (which is happening sooner rather than later), he may never have that period of decline. And that gives the current roster an impossible standard to live up to.