What could be the case with John Cena is that he's just reached that stage of his career where he'll regularly take time off. He's 38 years old and a veteran, and has talked for years how he doesn't want to end up an old wrestler still working full time. Played sensibly, many wrestlers have made lucrative spots out of part time gigs. Look no further than The Undertaker as an example of that. What Cena is doing right now is perhaps transitioning to that sort of spot, where he'll not always work every tour or show. It is the old Shawn Michaels gig, and it certainly didn't hurt WWE or HBK in the mid 2000's. In the case of Michaels and Undertaker, missing European tours wasn't unusual. They'd also regularly get the occasional break, and it often fell in the autumn season. Maybe Cena is just on that sort of understanding with WWE now.
