John Cena’s time on Tuesday night’s SmackDown Live appears to be coming to an end.
According to WWE’s own advertising, Cena is only scheduled for RAW events following this Sunday’s WWE Fastlane PPV (a SmackDown-only broadcast). He’s scheduled for RAW weekly between now and WrestleMania on April 8, and he’s also scheduled for the “Night After Mania” RAW show in New Orleans on April 9. That, as of right now, is his last WWE booking for the foreseeable future.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Cena has also been absent from early promotional materials for SummerSlam, though that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t be part of the show. Much of it will depend on the schedule Cena agrees to in Hollywood and the television industry between now and August. Last year, Cena was also not featured in the SummerSlam promotional material for several months before eventually being added to the show.
The fact that Cena is not scheduled for any SmackDown tapings would seem to assure that he will not be winning the WWE title at Fastlane this Sunday, nor will he be added to the title match between Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles at WrestleMania.
In fact, the plan still remains Cena vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. Despite rumors of a possible match with Rey Mysterio, that match was never in the cards according to numerous WWE sources, even before Mysterio suffered a freak injury last weekend at an independent show.
Frankly, the idea that WWE would script Cena to go out on Monday Night RAW and tease a dream WrestleMania match with the Undertaker if they had no intentions of doing that match is preposterous. Everything we are hearing is that the match is still in the cards and we will likely start to see a build following Fastlane unless an unforeseen situation comes up as it relates to Undertaker’s physical ability to perform.
So rest easy, WWE fans. Nakamura vs. Styles and Cena vs. Undertaker still appears to be the plan as we close in on the final weeks leading up to WrestleMania 34.
