John Cena's Upcoming Schedule May Tip WWE's Royal Rumble Plans

Given John Cena's exemplary status, WWE granted him the power of 'free agency.' This flexibility [...]

By Jack Snodgrass

Given John Cena's exemplary status, WWE granted him the power of "free agency." This flexibility to hop between SmackDown and RAW allows WWE to boost both shows as needed, and it looks like Cena will be keeping that free reign as we march to WrestleMania. However, it may mean he won't be winning the Royal Rumble.

Cena is being advertised for both February's RAW show, Elimination Chamber along with SmackDown's March pay-per-view, Fastlane. It's likely the 16-time champion will be involved in the actual Elimination Chamber match, but his appearance at Fastlane which happens only 2 weeks later, is worthy of a few more questions.

With Cena being on both shows, that could indicate that he won't win the Royal Rumble. We can assume that if Cena was to be the last man standing at this month's Rumble, that he'd be staying in place to chase either Brock Lesnar or AJ Styles in the build to 'Mania. However, with him at both events, we can make the deduction that could Cena have WrestleMania plans that don't include either of WWE's major titles.

It's worth noting the Nationwide Arena's tweet only has Cena making a "Special Guest" appearance. That throws a little water on our speculation as he could be showing up just to sign a few autographs rather than being an integral part of the show.

This marks the second revealing advertisement by the Columbus venue as just last week they possibly spoiled Fastlane's main event with a tweet.

If Cena is indeed out of the title picture, that would be yet another indicator that he's being positioned to face The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. However, Undertaker's involvement is questionable at best right now, but the 25th Anniversary episode of RAW is a possible jumping point for both Taker and Cena.

Cena's WrestleMania plans will be a story that will have to be adjusted maybe a dozen more times. We'll see what happens, but it's looking less and less likely that Cena emerges as the Rumble's winner.

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