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John Cena, WWE.com
John Cena will go into Elimination Chamber as WWE Champion, and he should come out the same way.
John Cena is getting set to enter the Elimination Chamber this Sunday, where he will put his WWE Championship on the line against five top Superstars.
AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, The Miz, and Baron Corbin will all be battling it out with Cena inside the Chamber. Each man is worthy of carrying the title.
Styles and Ambrose have proven themselves in the past year as main eventers. Each man carried the WWE Championship in 2016 and did their part to carry the Blue Brand.
Wyatt and Miz have earned a shot at moving up the card. With both guys strengthening the SmackDown midcard and having quality feuds that made the recent brand-specific feuds must-see.
Corbin is an up-and-comer who could be shot to the top of SmackDown at any moment. He’s got WWE written all over him and he’ll likely be champion at some point during 2017.
All five guys are talented. All five guys have made the most of what they’ve been given since the WWE Draft. All five guys have plenty of positives that make them attractive options to hold the WWE Championship. There’s just one problem.
None of them are John Cena.
None of them have won 16 world championships. None of them have main evented multiple WrestleManias. Only Miz has even main evented one.
If there was a time to take the title off Cena without having to hurt him, it would be Sunday, when he could be overpowered by multiple challengers at once. That’s not a good enough reason to do it though, and it’s just not the right time.
There are many reasons to keep the title around Cena’s waist, but there are three that must make WWE realize that Cena is their man moving forward.
WWE.com
3. He’s the Top Guy
There are multiple main eventers in WWE, but only one top guy. That guy is John Cena.
Cena has been a major player in WWE for over a decade. He is a 16-time world champion. He has carried the company through good times and bad, and he is going to leave the company in a better way than when he found it.
That is the kind of guy who deserves a run as WWE Champion.
AJ Styles just finished a four-month reign with the title, and he did an admirable job filling in at the top while Cena was away. However, Cena is back and this is his time to shine.
The big advantage Cena brings to SmackDown is that he is a bonafide main eventer. Nobody ranks above Cena, which allows Ambrose and Styles to move down the card and build up the midcard, while Cena has a feud with a guy like Corbin, solidifying him as a main eventer.
He’s a top guy. His presence makes the show better and it elevates the title around him.
WWE.com
2. He Just Won the Title
John Cena just won the WWE Championship. Short title reigns have their place, but this one is special. When Cena won the title at the Royal Rumble, it began his 16th world title reign. It was historic.
To turn around and cheapen that win by having him drop the belt two weeks later would be a mistake.
The only way to make his title reign live up to its legendary status is to give him a lengthy run.
It’s tough to book Cena, since he will be leaving again soon. As important as he is, he might not have any major matches between WrestleMania and SummerSlam. However, even if he has to lose by WrestleMania, at least holding the title until then gives him a meaningful reign and makes it one that could be meaningful and memorable for fans.
Cena is going to break the record someday. His 17th reign shouldn’t already be looming, though. His 16th should matter just as much, and if that’s going to be the case, he has to retain at Elimination Chamber.
WWE.com
1. It’s WrestleMania Season
It’s the most important time of the year in WWE. It’s The Road to WrestleMania. It’s the time of year when John Cena’s name should be drawing attention to the show on a weekly basis.
Cena’s name has a lot to offer to WWE, and that’s very important during WrestleMania season.
Raw has The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and Goldberg. All three guys will be appearing on that one show, and neither of them will appear every week. Cena will be the biggest name on SmackDown every time he appears, which should be pretty much every week.
This is the time of year when WWE is supposed to be carried by their top guys. This is the time when WWE’s big names are supposed to be put at the top of the card to make the company the most money.
John Cena has proven himself in the past. He draws money. He draws viewers. He sells merchandise. He does it all on the mic to draw people into the building, then he delivers when he gets in the ring.
It’s a combination that got him where he is, and it should make him champion throughout The Road to WrestleMania.
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