UPDATE: Following our report, Cena posted the following tweets:
I have not "earned" a slower schedule, I have "earned" an opportunity to challenge the limits of work capacity. #NeverGiveUp #HUSTLE
— John Cena (@JohnCena) July 9, 2016
My heart, life's work, and being has been, is, and will ALWAYS be @WWE @WWEUniverse #HLR #NeverGiveUp #DownSinceDayOne
— John Cena (@JohnCena) July 9, 2016
ORIGINAL: Several weeks ago, we noted that John Cena was not listed on any house shows. Cena did wrestle on the show in Hawaii and the two shows in Tokyo last weekend but he has not wrestled on any domestic house shows since he returned at the end of May. Given that he is in high demand for outside work, it makes sense for him to reduce his schedule. Long-time fans might remember that this is similar to what happened with The Rock. Rock started wrestling less towards the end of 2001 and into 2002 and by 2003 he was wrestling on a few select shows. By 2004 he was already considered a bonafide Hollywood star and he left the company for 7 years. I don’t think Cena will leave the company like The Rock did but it’s going to be impossible for Cena to keep up a full-time schedule if he has commitments for TV shows, appearances, and movies.
For this weekend, the “A” shows are being headlined by Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Kevin Ownes and the “B” shows are being headlined by Big Show and Bray Wyatt. You can see that there are serious depth issues with the current roster. Hopefully, the NXT call-ups and some of the returning names being contacted can help solve some of their issues.
It does look like Cena, at least for the time being, will be working on major house shows. He is scheduled to work on the MSG show in New York on 7/16 and will remain on the road for the house show in Glenns Falls on 7/17. As of this writing, Cena is not listed on any house shows after the 7/17 show in Glenns Falls.
It will be interesting to see who gets elevated into a top slot after the brand split. Cena is WWE’s biggest ticket seller and Roman Reigns is not working out like they had hoped. In fact, many of the shows headlined by Dean Ambrose were drawing similar attendance numbers as the Reigns-headlined shows. In some cases, some of the Ambrose shows drew more fans. Cena was supposed to be the top guy on Smackdown, but if he’s not going to be on most of the house shows then they might have to alter their plans.
Cena is set to host the ESPN Awards on ESPN on Wednesday night.
