If John Cena's words are to be believed, he will miss WrestleMania for the first time in nearly 20 years.
Unquestionably, John Cena was the last Superstar that WWE had as the standout face of the company. In the time since John Cena has started to wind his career down, WWE has relied on a cavalcade of Superstars rather than creating one new face. During John Cena's time as the face of the company, he was very outspoken about part-time Superstars, specifically Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, calling them out for their apparent lack of passion towards the industry.
Now, a decade after his on-screen rivalry with The Rock began, John Cena tells Sports Illustrated that he finds himself in a hypocritical situation as he doesn't see any mathematical way that he can appear at this year's WrestleMania due to prior filming engagements, including filming a Mountain Dew Super Bowl commercial and filming Peacemaker for HBO Max.
“Currently, I’m in Vancouver, shooting Peacemaker, the series for HBO Max,” Cena says. “Given the quarantine regulations, if I were to leave Canada, upon return I would have to quarantine for another two weeks. Essentially, that would shut production down. Strictly based on the letter of the law right now, there is no logistical way I can be there. We film now until July.”
John Cena is a name that has been reported to be secured for the show, but John Cena now says he has become the part-timer that he once despised.
“What a hypocritical situation,” Cena says with a laugh. “I used to be very open about the fact that part-timers were just that, and here I am at 44 years old and I’ve become what I despise, as they say. That is kind of what it is.”
John Cena has not been seen since last year's WrestleMania when he competed in a very unique match against Bray Wyatt that appeared to expose the John Cena character for some of its hypocritical elements through the years.
Currently, WWE is also working with Mountain Dew and John Cena does have a book releasing the week of WrestleMania 37.
Fightful will continue to monitor the story and all other major WrestleMania stories as we head down the Road to WrestleMania which began at the Royal Rumble. You can check out the full results of that event at this link.
