John Cena's 5 Best Possible Feuds for WWE Return

At No Mercy 2017, John Cena was defeated by Roman Reigns in what seemed like a moment where he officially passed the torch.

Following this loss, Cena appeared on Raw Talk to address the looming question of whether or not he was hanging up his boots, as that feeling was in the air due to his post-match lingering.

While remaining vague, Cena declared that he isn't finished, but he is nearing the end of his career and he's getting to the point where he can't perform the way he used to.

Naturally, with the way he's been operating the past few years, his advancing age and his stock in Hollywood going up, it's expected that he'll take some time off, but he'll be returning somewhere down the line.

When he does, the WWE needs to have a prime challenger lined up for him to feud with so that the company can take advantage of his ever-decreasing appearances while possible.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the best potential opponents for Cena to be paired up with once he returns to the squared circle.

Bobby Roode

Credit: WWE.com

For a long while in Impact Wrestling, Bobby Roode was one of the few top guys who had a big enough appeal that WWE fans could look at him and wish to see him face off against Vince McMahon's top guys like Cena.

Now that he's in the WWE family, it would be a shame for this feud to never happen, as their promos alone would be worth pairing them up.

It's still perplexing why Roode is a babyface on SmackDown since he excels so well at being a natural heel.

Of course, whether he's a hero or a villain, the fans will cheer him against any opponent that isn't on the same level of the smarky-cool scale as Roode is, which is one of the reasons why it would be fun to see him go up against Cena.

This would be the type of feud where the crowd would be invested in it even though they would be hijacking the storyline and twisting it in an odd way, not supporting the clear-cut babyface Cena and relishing in the insults Roode would sling his way.

Since he's doing the babyface gimmick now, though, this is probably unlikely to happen anytime soon, unless the WWE decides to snap Roode back to the trusty heel role like a rubber band stretched a little too far, too soon.

Jinder Mahal

Credit: WWE.com

While the concept of a feud between John Cena and Jinder Mahal is not the most thrilling in the world, it's one of the easiest to sell the story to.

Mahal's gimmick over the past few months has boiled down to xenophobia mixed with some gravelly repetition of how he's the WWE champion.

With or without that title being in the mix, Mahal just needs to continue to spout anti-American messages in order to attract the attention of Cena, who is one of the WWE's uber-patriots.

We saw a touch of this feud several months ago, but it was a temporary glimpse at the dynamic as Shinsuke Nakamura stepped into the limelight instead of Cena.

There are better matches that Cena can have, as well as more innovative feuds rather than rehashing the American pride angle, but if the WWE feels the need to go the easy route, this is the simplest option that requires the least amount of effort.

Since Cena is technically still a free agent, there's also nothing stopping him from returning to SmackDown Live, so no explanation is even needed for why he'd jump from Raw over to the blue brand.

For extra points, if the WWE title is still in Mahal's possession at this time, Cena can take it from him to break Ric Flair's record with his 17th world title win.

Finn Balor

Credit: WWE.com

Somewhere over the next few months, Finn Balor is probably going to get a shot at the Universal Championship against Brock Lesnar.

That match will be horribly one-sided, and there's no chance at all that Balor will come out of it with the title, but with several months to go before The Beast Incarnate drops the belt to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 34 and Balor having teased his intentions to fight for the championship in the future, it seems like this is a direction the WWE will go.

With that in mind, Balor will need something to propel him into the spotlight to be able to call himself a legitimate challenger to this title—or, alternatively, something to do after he loses his title shot.

If Balor needs to be built up, a win over Cena would more than give him the momentum to boast that he's the next in line for an opportunity.

Continuing his series with Bray Wyatt isn't going to get the fans riled up to the point where he seems like the best candidate, since yet another win over The Eater of Worlds won't mean a thing.

In the scenario where Cena isn't ready to go by that point, then Balor vs. Cena could be a great temporary feud just to let the fans have fun with seeing one of their favorites go up against one of the WWE's current legends.

If we're to believe that Balor is one of the go-to guys the WWE considers to be the future of this company, his path needs to cross with Cena's somewhere down the line in order to help cement that idea.

Braun Strowman

Credit: WWE.com

There may be no hotter act in WWE right now than Braun Strowman, who lights up the audience every time his entrance music starts to play.

In recent months, Strowman has proved himself to be a commodity that is not only over with the crowd as far as trusting his character as a dominant Superstar, but also just a legitimately entertaining performer.

Whether he's coming out to assault a babyface or a heel, the fans jump in excitement to watch the Monster Among Men wreak havoc and establish his superiority.

If the WWE wants to ride the wave of momentum he's on and piggyback off the idea of Cena putting over the next generation, a match between these two is a must.

The difference between the Roman Reigns match and one with Strowman is that fans are much more accepting of the Mountain of a Man being their top guy right now, so if he were to defeat Cena, it would go over much better than The Big Dog's win.

This is one of the few main event feuds that Cena has on the table that we haven't already seen before, and it would do wonders for Strowman's career—particularly since he seems to be booked as getting close to the top but losing at the final challenge.

Also, Strowman is always looking for more competition, so how much longer is he going to be decimating people like Enzo Amore before he sets his sights on a legend like Cena?

This train is going to hit Cena eventually, so he might as well get the loss over with sooner rather than later.

Samoa Joe

Credit: WWE.com

Arguably the best feud for Cena to come back to the WWE to do is to have a program with Samoa Joe.

In an ideal world, this will be Cena's match at WrestleMania in 2018 not just to give him something to really sink his teeth into, but to also make up for Joe's lack of an appearance at WrestleMania 33.

The idea of these two meeting in the ring has been in the ethos of professional wrestling for years, and they've touched on their desire to feud with one another multiple times, even before Joe was with the WWE.

With both of them being on Raw, it has a better chance of happening now than ever before, and this can't be something that slips by without being booked.

Since we can't know for sure when Joe will return from his injury and when Cena will be ready to return to the ring, we may not see this match come to fruition until WrestleMania, so that's a distinct possibility and not just fan fiction preference.

Even if it isn't given those ideal conditions, a solid feud between the two could happen at Survivor Series or in the stretch from Royal Rumble to Elimination Chamber or Fastlane, and it would still be a welcome addition to any card.

All it takes to get these two to collide is to have one of them eliminate the other in the Royal Rumble or for Joe to have a bone to pick with Cena and call him out and we're off to the races with what could be one of the few passion projects the 16-time champion has left in his career.

Who are some of your favorite choices for opponents to line up against Cena when he returns to the WWE?

Tell us your list of suggestions in the comments below!

Anthony Mango is the owner of the wrestling website Smark Out Moment and the host of the podcast show Smack Talk on YouTube, iTunes and Stitcher. You can follow him on Facebook and elsewhere for more.