Elimination Chamber to be a SmackDown-brand PPV in February... without John Cena?

The venue, Phoenix’s Talking Stick Resort Arena, broke the news last week that WWE was bringing back the Elimination Chamber is 2017.

Since then, the company’s confirmed it will be a SmackDown-branded pay-per-view (PPV) which will happen on Feb. 12. Tickets go on sale next Friday, Dec. 16.

Interesting enough as is, right? Not only is this a switch in brand from the 2017 schedule which leaked on wreddit, but it also presents SmackDown’s creative team with a challenging schedule, seeing as it falls a mere two weeks after Royal Rumble, but also is likely to be the blue brand’s last event before WrestleMania 33 on April 2 in Orlando.

The other thing which stands out on the advertising from both TSR Arena and WWE.com is that John Cena is no where to be found among the featured Superstars.

Now, the good thing is, with six weeks between PPVs, there’s plenty of time to build a Mania program even if Cena won’t be there for Elimination Chamber. But with all the talk flying around about how limited the Face That (used to) Run the Place’s WWE schedule is going to be in the new year, it’s certainly eyebrow-raising to see him missing from the Road to WrestleMania.