WWE Rumors: John Cena’s WrestleMania 33 Opponent Won’t Be Significant

The plans for John Cena don’t seem to be significant, despite him capturing his 16th WWE World title at the Royal Rumble.

John Cena celebrated his 16th WWE World title at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view. It seemed like a grand moment and one some fans had looked forward to. However, WWE didn’t overly play up that he had just tied Ric Flair’s title record, which came off surprising.

Well, there may be a reason for this. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that Cena’s WWE Championship reign will only last until the Elimination Chamber PPV, which is on Sunday, February 12. He’s set to defend the belt in a match of the same name. This leads into WrestleMania 33, where his opponent for the show won’t be significant and is “not necessarily good news”.

Cena has been on top of WWE for over a decade and is going to have his first WrestleMania match since 2015, so to not highlight him in a grand way seems surprising. There could be a bigger picture for what’s to come, including gearing him toward a feud that may be bigger down the road. However, coming off a WWE Championship win by defeating AJ Styles, shouldn’t that mean the Face That Seemingly Runs the Place is in line for something marquee?

What this could signify is Cena’s stay with WWE past WrestleMania 33. They may not look to give him something important to do at the Show of Shows, if he’s going to take another hiatus. This would place the focus more on the impending Roman Reigns vs. Undertaker feud and the latest edition of Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg. 

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Once the Elimination Chamber PPV ends, it should open up who John Cena faces on April 2. Maybe having him drop down the match card deepens the show, or possibly signifies another leave of absence from SmackDown.