WWE Royal Rumble 2017: 3 Reasons John Cena Defeats AJ Styles

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2. Cena Can Put Someone Over on the Biggest Stage

If John Cena wins the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble, it would almost guarantee him a title shot at WrestleMania 33. The title would still have to go through the Elimination Chamber match in February, but Cena winning would seem likely.

That takes us to WrestleMania 33, which would be a title defense for the Face That Runs the Place. Somewhat surprisingly, Cena has not defended a title at the Show of Shows since 2007 against Shawn Michaels. He challenged for the belt at WrestleMania 24, 25, 26, 27, and 29.

A Cena title defense would offer a terrific marketing sell for WrestleMania 33. It’s someone who’s becoming a global face in the media world, outside of WWE, in particular. This includes movie roles and hosting “SNL”. He can be built up to defend against the big bad heel, whether that’s AJ Styles, Baron Corbin, or someone from Raw.

The title defense would work better with Styles, however, especially if the title changes hands at the Royal Rumble. Since the Elimination Chamber will have the belt defended against five others, this could be an opportunity for the former NJPW star to make his claim for a one-on-one rematch. Cena’s the obvious babyface here, even with walking on the tightrope of good and bad. They then get their WrestleMania match, and Styles wins.

With all that’s going on with Cena outside of WWE, he’s not going to be sticking around for 6-9 months at a time. He may not even be around after WrestleMania, especially with “The Pact” being filmed. So, any title reign of his is going to be short.