5. John Cena Taking Time Off
In a somewhat shocking turn of events, not only was John Cena challenged by a truly surprising opponent, but Cenas U.S. Championship Open Challenge was the opening match for the show, and it lasted just under eight minutes. This was a far cry from the 15-25 minute classics he was putting on between May and August. As if that still wasnt enough, Cena, whos widely known to be taking a much-needed break after this show, finished the segment lying beaten in the ring. Except there was no major attack from his opponent, no broken body parts, no weapon attack, nothing. There was no major angle used to justify Cenas two-month-long departure from WWE programming, despite the fact that doing so wouldve been easy for WWE to do. Now, the question is, what exactly happens to Cena? Will he show up on RAW like he always does and get ambushed by a suddenly-heel Del Rio? Or will he get attacked by someone else to sell his departure? Because a guy like Cena cant just walk away from WWE and start his vacation - there needs to be a story in place so that fans can buy into his return. Since WWE didnt make use of a golden opportunity to do that at HIAC, its likely to take place on RAW instead.
Alexander Podgorski
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
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