10 New Directions For WWE After Royal Rumble 2017
3. John Cena: Transitional Champion?
2 years, 7 months, 10 days.
That’s how long it had been since John Cena last held one of WWE’s top championship. It’s a surprisingly long time for a man who has been WWE’s franchise player for over a decade to go without a world title, but it came to an end last night. Cena equalled Ric Flair’s record of 16 titles after overcoming AJ Styles in an outstanding WWE Championship match, and now finds himself as SmackDown’s undisputed kingpin.
Cena isn’t the man he was five months ago, when AJ pinned him clean as a whistle at SummerSlam. He’s still a face, but Cena’s morals have definitely loosened up, and last night even saw him exude some mild heel-ish mannerisms on the road to victory. The Royal Rumble proved that Cena was entirely justified in outright demanding a title shot upon returning.
There’s every chance that this could be one of the shortest reigns of Cena’s career. He’ll have to defend at Elimination Chamber, and he’ll have a huge target on his back as reigning champion. The chances of him facing Rumble winner Randy Orton at WrestleMania don’t look good at all, particularly with guys like Styles and Bray Wyatt in the mix.
This will likely be a transitional reign, and that’s all it needs to be. Everybody knows that Cena is going to break Flair’s record at some point, and WWE can’t afford to drag their heels on that. Cena himself has insisted that he “isn’t going anywhere,” but it’s hard to take that seriously has he becomes a bigger celebrity away from the company. Regardless, Cena is back on top for the first time in a long time, and it almost feels refreshing.