What’s next for John Cena’s WWE career?

Days removed from one of the more lackluster appearances of his pro wrestling career at Survivor Series, the wrestling web’s realized John Cena isn’t scheduled to work the next WWE pay-per-view (PPV), Dec. 17’s Clash of Champions. To my knowledge, he was never announced for the show in Boston, but his status for last Sunday’s event changed a few times, so it is noteworthy he’s not listed as a “Featured Superstar” for Clash as the build starts in earnest.

The next show he’s advertised on is a house show on Dec. 26 in Madison Square Garden. Cena is scheduled to stick with the Raw roster for a few more dates on that Holiday Tour (the 27th in Uniondale, NY, Hartford, CT on the 28th and Albany on the 29th) before the Free Agent jumps over to Team Blue for a show in Tampa on Dec. 30.

Cena isn’t listed for any 2018 appearances as of yet. It’s hard to imagine he’d miss the 25th Anniversary of Raw on Jan. 22 in Brooklyn and Manhattan, or Royal Rumble the following Sunday in Philadelphia, but who can say?

The Wrestling Observer (subscription required but recommended) reported that Cena’s uneventful booking at Survivor Series was due to the part-timer not featuring in any of the storylines the main event was designed to further. Which makes sense. But if other rumors are correct and the Triple H vs. Shane McMahon, Kurt Angle and Braun Strowman angles that were the focus in Houston dominate the road to WrestleMania 34, what will Cena be doing whenever he returns?

Recent opponents like Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura are being talked about for championship programs in the Spring. WWE’s social media and Angle hinted at a throwback program between The Olympic gold medalist and the 16 time champ, but that may depend on Kurt’s health and availability during or after a Triple H program. A Samoa Joe feud is on a lot of fans’ wishlists, but after an announced MSG house show bout was yanked in favor of Cena/Reigns, you have to wonder how high WWE is on Joe, or where a showdown between the old training partners would land on the card for New Orleans.

Ever since he got stellar reviews in the hit comedy Trainwreck, sites like Cageside have been running stories asking if The John Cena Era was ending. But I honestly never really gave serious thought to what a Cena-less main event scene, or a Cena-light ‘Mania build, would look like.

Seems we’re finding out now about the former, and we may be about to learn what the latter looks like very soon.