WWE: Top 3 angles for John Cena

John Cena made his return to WWE programming this past Sunday at Money In The Bank, interrupting Roman Reigns’ celebration after his win against Edge. Now of course this is old news by now.

His return, however, is something to get excited about for sure, as the Universe has most definitely started a chorus of cheering, as was heard on Sunday. Cena has had a bunch of movies come out over the years and has announced even more for the future, and with his rise in Hollywood and his time away from WWE, it was definitely a question as to when he would return, and if he would return.

But now that he’s back, the possibilities of who he can face are in fact endless. The fact that he’s after Roman Reigns’ title is obvious. After all, he stated as much on Monday at Raw. So as we wait for him to confront Roman on SmackDown this Friday, let’s take a look at some other foes he can possibly face off with after his beef with Roman gets settled.

Cena pulls a “Hollywood”

After a lackluster career in Hollywood in 1996, Hulk Hogan was convinced to come back and help start the NWO. He turned heel, quite obviously, and no one ever expected that.

Cena’s Hollywood career is a million times better than Hogan’s was, we must admit, but his return to WWE and the world of wrestling right now is still pretty coincidental, especially at this age and stage in his career.

So turning heel right now would be incredible to see; even potentially starting a faction and maybe the NWO itself again. This was in fact hinted at during the match he had against the Fiend at last year’s WrestleMania, but of course, it went nowhere and speculation eventually fizzled out online.

Permit me a glimpse into a possible and albeit hopeful future…

I can see it now: Randy Orton and Shelton Benjamin have a tag team run (both OVW graduates—and from the same class). Orton turns on Riddle at some point soon and turns heel (even though Randy is pretty much always a heel, but whatever, stay with me).

They become the most hated duo. At Survivor Series, the two are taking on Riddle, Damien Priest, and McIntyre. The trio is having a hard time keeping Benjamin and Orton at bay, even though it’s 3 on 2. They’ve been teasing the third guy, and the whole night the announcers are wondering, “Hey…who’s this third guy?”

In a shocking turn, Hogan actually comes out, but instead of doing what he did in 1996, he actually tries to help McIntyre, Riddle, and Priest, but Orton and Benjamin are just too much.

Finally, Cena’s music hits. Our hero to save the day. Cena (an OVW graduate himself, and a classmate of Orton’s and Benjamin’s) gets in the ring, but instead of giving the Attitude Adjustment to Orton, who he originally hoisted onto his shoulders, he puts him down gently and suddenly grabs the injured Hogan, and sends him crashing to the canvas instead.

Now talk about a license to print money.

Hence starts a chain of events that leads to the reemergence of the NWO that’s reminiscent of the original run—very reminiscent.

And so what if the aforementioned chain of events is practically identical to what went on in 1996? Vince McMahon owns the WCW library…he can use elements from it again and again if he wants. He’s done it before.

Besides, isn’t the old adage: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it? If it works, go with it.

Wishful thinking? Probably, but still…it would be awesome to see.

It’s like trying on an old shoe

In interviews conducted for the DVD, John Cena: Greatest Rivalries, Cena talks about the work he’s done with Edge over the years. Their TLC match at Unforgiven 2006 has gone down in the history books and their overall feuds—there were many they worked over the years—are indeed legendary. It was in those interviews that John referred to Edge as “old shoe,” meaning that every time they worked together, it was like trying on an old shoe that fit perfectly.

See where I’m going with this?

If John Cena isn’t here for too long on this particular run, he most definitely does not want to get injured in the ring, especially with his film commitments. So he’s potentially going to want to work with someone he’s already faced and trusts implicitly.

Cena’s Kross to bear

And speaking of Edge, when he won the Royal Rumble this year, he paid a visit not only to SmackDown and Raw, but also to NXT and included the brand in his choices of which champion to challenge at WrestleMania.

The inclusion of the brand in his options was an incredible boost to the roster over at NXT and not just the champion. The fact that someone of Edge’s caliber was considering going after that title sent a message and that message was loud and clear…the boys and girls in NXT are just as good as those wrestlers on the main brands.

What would be incredible to see during this run for John Cena would be to see him come out during an NXT show and confront the biggest heel of them all: Karrion Kross.

Currently, Kross is involved in a storyline with another legend, Samoa Joe, and it’ll be amazing to see how that turns out, but it would be equally amazing if not just a tad more, to see the man that carried the business on his shoulders for so many years, come out and challenge someone on NXT. Call it a validation thing. Call it what you will.

If Cena were to face Kross, even feud with him for one single event…a few weeks worth, that could make Kross and get him ready for the main roster even more than he already is. Now talk about momentum.

Honorable mentions

So as is the case with wrestling super fans, it’s hard to limit the options to just three. Heck! It would be hard to limit it to a thousand! So I have a few honorable mentions.

Cena working with Drew McIntyre for one would be pretty cool to see; of course, McIntyre would have to go heel for that one…or perhaps maybe not.

Jinder Mahal would be epic to see as well. The two faced off briefly in the summer of 2017, but already by that point, Cena was on his way out of active competition, or rather soon to be on his way out, and a new breed of superstar was on the rise.

Jinder Mahal was WWE Champion at that time and had done an incredible job of leading the roster as its champion—an epic heel champion at that. Unfortunately, Mahal hasn’t seen any title matches recently and suffered an injury that sidelined him for most of last year.

Mahal is in a feud with Drew McIntyre—non-title—but if it somehow leads to a title run, which Mahal most certainly deserves, I don’t see it impossible that he faces off with his old rival once again and this time, they could finish off what they started.

The last time the two faced off on SmackDown, it ended in disqualification because of Baron Corbin’s interference in the match, but this time I would hope to see the two square off in a match that goes the distance with a clean finish, even though with a heel like Jinder, that isn’t always possible.