Magazine Archive: Looking At Cena's 2021 Return

Originally from FightfulMag.com issue 4

By Aaron Hyden

Does absence really make the heart grow fonder?

I’m talking about REAL absence. Not the “I’ll miss you while you’re at work” absence. The “don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone?” type of absence.

Prior to his return at Money In The Bank 2021, it had been 479 days since John Cena appeared in a WWE ring, going all the way back to the taping of his Firefly Fun House Match against “The Fiend” Bray Wyatton night two of WrestleMania 36. Now, 479 days is a long, long time. The entire world changed multiple times over in that 479 days.

A lot of what we’ve seen with Cena has been the same since his return, with the “Never Give Up” catchphrase, the theme music (DOOT DOO DOOT DOOOOO), and the brightly-colored merchandise, but there has been one very noticeable difference. Have you heard those crowd reactions? At least for the time being, gone are the days where Cena receives, at best, a mixed reaction from live crowds. Now, he’s soaking up cheers as if this was 2004 or 2005 again, when he was the hottest young act in the business, wearing throwback jerseys and cutting freestyles on the entire roster. Apparently, the WWE Universe has missed him greatly. It’s a wild time.

This is a man who has just about done it all in the world of wrestling. Not only is he a 16-time World Champion, but he’s also a five-time United States Champion, a four-time Tag Team Champion, a two-time Royal Rumble winner, a Money In The Bank winner, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. He has accomplished so much, and yet, it always felt like he was never truly appreciated when he was around on a full-time basis. The “you can’t wrestle” crowd began to grow and grow, even though the man was involved in great matches month in and month out with a wide variety of opponents. Yes, wrestling is incredibly subjective, like all forms of entertainment, but we’re talking about great matches as voted on by numerous websites, magazines, podcasts, fans, message boards, and just about any other way you can think of. That’s not a coincidence, folks.

Sadly, though, there are still people that immediately chime in that he’s bad in the ring when his name comes up in conversation. Tweet about him, and they show up. Write about him in a column, and they show up. Say his name in a podcast, and they show up. It has been the “cool” thing to do for a long time now, and these people are like roaches. They’re just impossible to get rid of, no matter what you try. To those people, I offer the following response:

The James Webb Space Telescope has mirrors that span several meters, and it will allow scientists to see stars from millions of light-years away. Despite this, I guarantee that it won’t be able to find anyone who asked you. Get bent.

As being a full-time wrestler began to transition into being a part-time wrestler ever-so-slowly, Cena’s role also began changing in the ring. He was still viewed as a top star, but he was spending more and more of his time with a different set of opponents, helping give them the type of “rub” that comes with being in the ring with an all-time great. If they were new to the company or the main roster, Cena was probably working with them. The same goes for people that WWE was potentially looking to push at some point. AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Neville,Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Big Cass, Enzo Amore, and The New Dayare just some of the names who gained a ton by either facing Cena or teaming with him during that transitional period. With his in-ring career obviously coming closer to an end, he found ways to adapt and continue moving forward, like all the great artists have to do. Cena began adopting new moves in his arsenal, and matches with the “independent wrestling darlings” saw him work a different style and pace than anyone was used to seeing from him. Going from the slower, more methodical matches with the likes of Randy Ortonand Kaneto having sprints with AJ Styles and Cesaro was not something I was expecting from the guy, but he made it work.

From 2011 to 2015, Cena had the busiest in-ring stretch of his career. 2011 saw him wrestle 124 times, with 54 of those times taking place on television and pay-per-view. His number of matches in 2012 jumped up to 172, 47 of those taking place on television and pay-per-view. In 2013, the total was 140 matches, with 34 taking place on television and pay-per-view. For 2014, those numbers went up to 164 and 53. In 2015, the numbers decreased slightly to 138 and 41. 2016 was when everything changed. That year, he wrestled a total of 48 matches, with 12 taking place on television and pay-per-view. Even with missing time due to a shoulder injury, that number was way down. In 2017, the numbers went all the way up to 60 and 22, but then 2018 saw the numbers go all the way down to 18 and 14, while 2019 saw them drop to two matches, both on television. The aforementioned “match” against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 was the only one he had in the 2020 calendar year, and we’re still waiting for his first televised match of 2021 as of the moment I type these words.

As he started wrestling less and less, we saw the likes of Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Jinder Mahal, Bray Wyatt, Braun Strowman, Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley and others take their turns at the top of the card. Some of them were more successful than others, but there was always something missing when Cena wasn’t around. When his music hits, there’s just an energy that engulfs arenas and stadiums across the globe. That energy can be seen, heard, and felt when you’re watching WWE programming at home. It’s just a big deal when he’s involved in something, whether it’s a match or a promo, and that’s necessary with the current WWE product. It’s sad to say, but there aren’t many on the roster guaranteed to get a reaction from crowds whether they’re in New York, London, or Saskatoon. John Cena is one of those people.

With his latest return, the “Summer Of Cena” is underway. It’s a cute tag created by WWE to tell their fan base that “The Champ Is Here” and he’s coming to YOUR city! We don’t know how long he’s sticking around this time, but, at the very least, Cena’s scheduled to make appearances into September, when he’s booked to appear on Smackdown’s much-anticipated return to Madison Square Garden. This may very well be the last time we’ll see him in the world of professional wrestling. Not only does he continue to become a bigger movie star all the time, but he’s also 44-years-old with a lot of tread on his tires. The man can’t keep his superhuman schedule up forever, can he? Can he?!? Sure, we’re seeing more and more wrestlers work into their forties, fifties and even sixties. Even so those wrestlers — Chris Jericho, Edge, Christian Cage, Dustin Rhodes, Matt Hardy, Sting, MVP, R-Truth, Rey Mysterio, Minoru Suzuki, Satoshi Kojima, Hernandez, Tommy Dreamer, PCO, and so on —don’t have anywhere near the schedule that John Cena continues to add to.

He will be seen in four different movies in 2021, along with hosting Wipeout on TBS, doing voiceover work in commercials for brands like Honda and Wonderful Pistachios, and is already scheduled to star in a Peacemaker series on HBO Max in 2022, based on his eponymous Suicide Squad character. He’s still insanely popular with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He’s a newly married man that seems to be open to the possibility of having children one day, a starkly different stance than how he felt when he was engaged to Nikki Bella. Frankly, I don’t know how he even has time to participate in wrestling at all, but here we are.

I’m glad that Cena is back, even if it’s for a brief run. For one, I don’t want the Firefly Fun House to be the last memory I have of his wrestling career. That’s something I’m still trying to forget, to be honest with you. Mainly, though, I’m just happy to see that he’s finally getting the respect that he has deserved for so long. We, as wrestling fans, didn’t know what we had until it was gone, and now we’re getting the opportunity to make up for that lost time. Too often in life, people don’t receive their flowers until they’re unable to smell them. With the praise that Cena is getting online and the crowd reactions he has been receiving since returning, it looks like he’s getting his flowers while he’s still able to enjoy them. Let that be a lesson to everybody out there. Give credit where it’s due, praise where it’s warranted, and love where it’s deserved.

You know... absence really does make the heart grow fonder.

Aaron Hyden is a longtime wrestling writer, known for his features at Wrestling Headlines, the former Lords of Pain. Aaron was also a feature contributor for Fightful from the site’s launch until 2020.

Twitter: @HustleTheSavage