Next
Photo courtesy of WWE.com
Photo courtesy of WWE.com
John Cena will challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship at
Night of Champions, and there’s a good chance that he’ll leave Boston
with the title he’s won 10 times throughout his career.
Even if that doesn’t happen, though, the possibility certainly remains that the feud between Punk and Cena will continue beyond the September pay-per-view. Perhaps Punk vs. Cena extends even to Hell in a Cell in October.
We don’t know at this point and probably won’t get a good indication until the Night of Champions match between the two is over.
Regardless of when it happens, however, many fans seem to almost expect Cena to win the WWE Championship from Punk at some point in the near future.
But what if that doesn’t happen? What if Cena doesn’t beat Punk for the WWE title at any point? What’s next for Cena?
Oddly enough, I don’t think this is something that many fans have addressed because, quite frankly, we haven’t thought that far in advance.
But should Punk emerge from his feud with Cena still the WWE Champion, “The Champ” is going to have to move on to something—and someone—else.
That being said, he doesn’t have a ton of options.
The three that come to mind right away are a returning Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Cena vs. Barrett: Round 2, but we have indeed seen that in the past. Plus, Barret’s return vignettes have been airing for several weeks now, and chances are he will return while Cena is still busy with Punk.
That leaves two options: Ziggler and Bryan.
Unsurprisingly, I would love to see either of these
feuds, primarily because neither has happened, but both have the
potential to be fantastic.
Ziggler vs. Cena has happened multiple times before and as expected, was pretty damn good. Bryan vs. Cena, of course, has only happened once in what was a very good match on Raw a couple of weeks ago.
Looking at the potential for a Cena/Ziggler feud, I could certainly see it happening.
Just consider the major names Ziggler has feuded with or at least found himself involved with over the last couple of months. First, it was Sheamus, then Chris Jericho and now, Randy Orton.
The WWE has shown a lot of faith in Ziggler by placing him in feuds and matches with the company’s top stars, so it definitely wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he could challenge Cena after he’s done with Orton.
After all, Ziggler is holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, and it looks like he’s going to be hanging onto it for a while. That, of course, means he’s going to need some placeholder feuds until creative decides to cash in.
Would you complain about Ziggler vs. Cena? I sure wouldn’t…as long as Ziggler doesn’t get buried, that is.
As you can see, I really like the potential of this feud, but I don’t think it’s as likely as the next possibility for Cena: A rivalry with Daniel Bryan.
As mentioned earlier, Cena and Bryan put on a very good match on Raw together, and that was a bout that had very little build and no real animosity between the two.
If booked right, however, I think that Cena vs.
Bryan is one of the very few must-see rivalries that has yet to happen
in the WWE.
Bryan hasn’t been heel all that long (about eight or nine months now), but during his run, he has feuded with some of the biggest baby faces around, including Punk and Sheamus,
Now, however, Bryan seems to be more preoccupied with his “anger management” courses than anything else, and he’s involved in a rehashed feud with Kane that fans aren’t exactly begging to see.
I don’t think that’s an indication of Bryan’s push ending anytime soon, though. I mean, the dude is ridiculously over right now, and his popularity has shown zero signs of going away in the future.
Once Bryan is done with Kane, a feud with Cena seems like an obvious choice (assuming Cena is done with Punk, of course).
Bryan is arguably the hottest act in all of pro wrestling right now, Cena is the biggest baby face in the WWE, and they’ve never feuded.
When you combine all those ingredients, things could indeed be shaping up for a major feud between “Goat Face” and “The Champ.”
Even if that doesn’t happen, though, the possibility certainly remains that the feud between Punk and Cena will continue beyond the September pay-per-view. Perhaps Punk vs. Cena extends even to Hell in a Cell in October.
We don’t know at this point and probably won’t get a good indication until the Night of Champions match between the two is over.
Regardless of when it happens, however, many fans seem to almost expect Cena to win the WWE Championship from Punk at some point in the near future.
But what if that doesn’t happen? What if Cena doesn’t beat Punk for the WWE title at any point? What’s next for Cena?
Oddly enough, I don’t think this is something that many fans have addressed because, quite frankly, we haven’t thought that far in advance.
But should Punk emerge from his feud with Cena still the WWE Champion, “The Champ” is going to have to move on to something—and someone—else.
That being said, he doesn’t have a ton of options.
The three that come to mind right away are a returning Wade Barrett, Dolph Ziggler and Daniel Bryan.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Cena vs. Barrett: Round 2, but we have indeed seen that in the past. Plus, Barret’s return vignettes have been airing for several weeks now, and chances are he will return while Cena is still busy with Punk.
That leaves two options: Ziggler and Bryan.
Ziggler vs. Cena has happened multiple times before and as expected, was pretty damn good. Bryan vs. Cena, of course, has only happened once in what was a very good match on Raw a couple of weeks ago.
Looking at the potential for a Cena/Ziggler feud, I could certainly see it happening.
Just consider the major names Ziggler has feuded with or at least found himself involved with over the last couple of months. First, it was Sheamus, then Chris Jericho and now, Randy Orton.
The WWE has shown a lot of faith in Ziggler by placing him in feuds and matches with the company’s top stars, so it definitely wouldn’t be a stretch to say that he could challenge Cena after he’s done with Orton.
After all, Ziggler is holding the Money in the Bank briefcase, and it looks like he’s going to be hanging onto it for a while. That, of course, means he’s going to need some placeholder feuds until creative decides to cash in.
Would you complain about Ziggler vs. Cena? I sure wouldn’t…as long as Ziggler doesn’t get buried, that is.
As you can see, I really like the potential of this feud, but I don’t think it’s as likely as the next possibility for Cena: A rivalry with Daniel Bryan.
As mentioned earlier, Cena and Bryan put on a very good match on Raw together, and that was a bout that had very little build and no real animosity between the two.
If Cena doesn't beat Punk for the WWE title, who will he feud with next?
Bryan hasn’t been heel all that long (about eight or nine months now), but during his run, he has feuded with some of the biggest baby faces around, including Punk and Sheamus,
Now, however, Bryan seems to be more preoccupied with his “anger management” courses than anything else, and he’s involved in a rehashed feud with Kane that fans aren’t exactly begging to see.
I don’t think that’s an indication of Bryan’s push ending anytime soon, though. I mean, the dude is ridiculously over right now, and his popularity has shown zero signs of going away in the future.
Once Bryan is done with Kane, a feud with Cena seems like an obvious choice (assuming Cena is done with Punk, of course).
Bryan is arguably the hottest act in all of pro wrestling right now, Cena is the biggest baby face in the WWE, and they’ve never feuded.
When you combine all those ingredients, things could indeed be shaping up for a major feud between “Goat Face” and “The Champ.”
