Open Season: Life Without John Cena

This is a good thing when I say this…but up until a week or so back, I had honestly not really noticed John Cena’s absence. Like, I knew I wasn’t seeing him with regularity, don’t get me wrong. I’m approaching a birthday, but I am not senile! I meant it more from the perspective of, outside of Alexa Bliss constantly bringing Cena up lately, it would almost be a WWE completely free of John Cena.

So, how is life without Cena?

Pretty good, actually. Don’t get me wrong, you certainly would love to have a guy who’s won 15 world titles, but in his absence, other guys have either had to step up, or have finally had the chance to do so without the worry of Cena overshadowing them. I mean, without Cena, do we get James Ellsworth?

OK, maybe Ellsworth isn’t the selling point of his absence. But, we’ve gotten AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose a lot more, with no Cena to come in and kill the buzz. We’ve seen Orton and Bray Wyatt step up. We’ve seen Slater and Rhyno become relevant. Just to name a few.

Now, as decorated as Cena is, as loyal as he’s been, these times away are important. It’s nice that he’s not on the shelf for a debilitating injury, but it’s also nice, no matter what, for WWE to see what life is like after Cena. He’s been a fixture for so long, it’s been easy to take him for granted, like he’s always going to be there to bail WWE out when they are in need of a big match. That’s not always going to be true, and as he gets older and starts taking on more and more projects outside the ring, it’s good for everyone to see WWE move forward by way of giving new guys the opportunities usually afforded to Cena.

While I know there are plenty of fans who don’t miss him, and those who lustily booed him may or may have turned their attention to Roman Reigns, the fact remains that life with Cena can be really good, but life without Cena, this time around, has not been that bad.