John Cena is expected to be on hand at WWE Survivor Series as the 16-time world champion looks to make it a clean sweep for attending Big Four pay-per-view events.
Cena will reportedly be a special guest referee for the projected Jinder Mahal vs. Brock Lesnar main event, assuming Lesnar accepts on Raw, and his presence will add star power to an already novel matchup.
Cena’s role as a special guest referee is either because, moving forward, he’ll be carefully picking his spots to avoid injury while working on major movies, and/or it’s an early hint toward a possible WrestleMania matchup between the All-American Cena and the Mahal, the “evil foreigner.”
Cena’s absence from WWE has played a major role in SmackDown’s lowered attendance, which is already impacted by the return of live sporting events like the NBA and NHL, as well as postseason play in Major League Baseball.
World Series tickets, pitting major market teams the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros against one another, are currently starting at $900, and considered to be among the priciest ever.
For the tens of thousands who will attend and also happen to enjoy pro wrestling, WWE is on the wrong end of an opportunity cost.
Jinder Mahal celebrates his first WWE Championship victory.
Cena himself seemed to poke a little fun of WWE’s attendance issues in his absence, in what could have also been a veiled shot at Roman Reigns who was recently scripted to say he sells more tickets than Cena.
Cena is widely regarded as the greatest WWE champion of all time. Only Ric Flair has as many world championship reigns, which span across multiple territories.
Mahal, on the other hand, has had an uphill battle after being shot out of a cannon into the main event with very little advanced warning.
Mahal has played his part just fine as a heel world champion given the circumstances, but he still has a ways to go in the ring when it comes to having the type of main event matches that justify being a top star.
John Cena can give him the best match of his career as his more simplified, mainstream approach can tell a help tell a story of Cena’s quest to win an elusive 17th world championship.
The dynamic of American vs. foreigner has been done to death in WWE this year alone, let alone in the annals of pro wrestling. But with Cena’s days as a wrestler being numbered—and Mahal consistently winning on pay-per-view—this is one of the few storylines that could actually have a sensible build to a satisfying payoff.
Although, truth be told, John Cena passing Ric Flair could easily be considered sacrilegious.