John Cena’s position as not-a-full-timer is well-established. So in one sense, this isn’t that surprising. And with his role at WrestleMania 34 the subject of a lot of speculation, The Free Agent’s presence on a SmackDown card in March is an intriguing bit of possible evidence.
Still it’s pretty amazing to see him advertised as a “special appearance” for a pay-per-view (PPV) - and that’s how the venue for Fastlane in Columbus, Ohio is promoting him:
JUST ANNOUNCED - Special Guest Appearance by JOHN CENA at WWE FASTLANE Sunday March 11 at Nationwide Arena. Choose your seats now! https://t.co/Fl2nadg1Zd pic.twitter.com/CVw489adzS
— Nationwide Arena (@NationwideArena) January 5, 2018
There’s also something to be said here for how non-’Big 4’ (or ‘5’ now, counting Money in the Bank) PPVs are just glorified episodes of the weekly television shows in the era of WWE Network. And how ticket sales for those shows still rely on a guy who these days spends as much time on The Today Show as he does on Raw and SmackDown.
But that’s where we’re at.
Now does this mean Cena will be challenging AJ Styles for a possible record-breaking 17th World title in New Orleans?