John Cena's Historic 16th Title Win Must Be Reserved for WWE WrestleMania 33

At WWE Royal Rumble 2017 on Jan. 29, John Cena will contend for the WWE Championship against AJ Styles, and although he is considered to be the favorite to walk out with the title in tow, WWE would be wise to hold off until WrestleMania 33 to give Cena his historic 16th world title win.

Cena's chase for the championship dates back much further than just recently. He hasn't held a world title in nearly two-and-a-half years after losing the prestigious prize to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014.

Since then, Cena's sole goal has been to make history by tying the legendary Ric Flair for the most world title wins. While he has failed to do so in his most recent shots at the strap, he will have one final opportunity at the Rumble versus Styles.

After being beaten by Styles on back-to-back occasions in 2016, it is highly unlikely he would suffer another defeat at the hands of The Phenomenal One in their third one-on-one encounter. With WrestleMania a mere three months away, he will need a big win soon to make up for his disappointing 2016 (from a storyline standpoint).

As strong as the rivalry between the two icons has been so far, the timing is not yet right for Cena to claim his 16th WWE Championship. That monumental moment would be best saved for WrestleMania 33 on April 2.

Credit: WWE.com

As of now, Cena's WrestleMania 33 opponent is not yet set in stone, though it was reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Bill Pritchard of Wrestle Zone) that any plans to do Cena vs. Undertaker at the event may have been scrapped.

This comes only one year after the long-awaited dream match had been apparently scheduled for WrestleMania 32 before Cena went down with an injury. That would explain why Undertaker's ultimate match with Shane McMahon was unexpected.

Despite Cena and Taker both being healthy this year, the powers that be apparently have something else in mind for them. There is more than enough time for the match to still happen, but the early speculation is that the match is off.

Either way, it is entirely possible that Cena will capture the championship at the Rumble and defend against someone else at The Show of Shows. It isn't that he shouldn't be involved in the title match at WrestleMania, but Cena would be far more compelling as a challenger than he would be as a champion.

Cena has proved time and time again over the years that he is much more driven when contending for championships. Unless he squares off with someone such as Samoa Joe, the outcome of a match with him as the defending champion could be predictable.

Throughout his illustrious career in WWE, Cena has had his fair share of memorable rivals, including Randy Orton, Edge and CM Punk. Styles may have earned a spot among those aforementioned athletes following his fantastic battles with Cena, but what separates him from the rest of them is that Cena hasn't been able to beat him in a singles match.

Needless to say, Styles' clean victory over Cena at SummerSlam 2016 was a major endorsement of the former face of TNA by the company. If WWE truly wishes to solidify Styles as the man to beat on the blue brand, he will score a third straight win over Cena at the Royal Rumble.

Not only would this keep Styles in the title picture for a while longer, but it would also prolong Cena's inevitable title win for WrestleMania. Each of their encounters has been exceptional, so allowing Styles to remain undefeated against Cena until The Showcase of the Immortals, where his archenemy would finally conquer him, would make for a superior story.

Another obstacle to consider is the returning Elimination Chamber match, which was announced by McMahon on the Jan. 17 edition of SmackDown. Next month, the title will be defended inside Satan's Prison, and it would be wasteful for Cena to clinch the championship at the Rumble, only to lose it two weeks later.

Cena's golden aspirations will lead him to his blockbuster 16th world title eventually, but it is too early for him to be making history when WWE could wait until its biggest show of the year.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a Digital Journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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