Spoiler alert: For any wrestling fan who doesn't believe in Santa Claus, it's widely known that professional wrestling matches are pre-determined, with entire bouts—and finishes—worked out before the opening bell sounds. We get this. But after seeing injuries like the one that John Cena suffered on Monday Night Raw earlier this week when he had his nose broken by a flying Seth Rollins knee to the face, it's hard to take someone saying "wrestling is fake" seriously.
Oh, you missed it? Here it is again:
INJURY UPDATE: @JohnCena suffers broken nose on #RAW. Details: http://t.co/xNJMN6FzQ4 #USTitle @WWERollins pic.twitter.com/GobpiITghP
Yeah, that was real. And brutal. The initial WWE report said Cena had "quite a bit of displacement," and Wrestlezone reported that Cena had to undergo emergency surgery on Tuesday to not only correct some breathing issues but also to take care of reconstructive issues that needed to be done. They further stated that Cena would indeed be missing a few weeks of in-ring action, which apparently includes a house show that was booked in San Diego for today.
That's not all. There was also some early speculation from Wrestling Observer about Cena's status through the weekend, as he was advertised for WWE house shows in Ontario, CA on Saturday and Fresno, Calif. on Sunday. But a new update has Cena not only being off both Saturday and Sunday shows but also not appearing on Raw this coming Monday.
The question now is: When will Super Cena return? He's the man who notoriously returned to win the Royal Rumble in 2008 after tearing his pectoral muscle and being on the mend for four of the reported seven-to-twelve months that he would have needed to recuperate. He's a WWE workhorse, and with a rumored match with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins at SummerSlam in a few weeks, Cena will need to at least be around to promote what has become the WWE's second biggest annual event.
Truth be told, if Cena wanted to return (and was OK to get roughed up a bit), he could pull a circa 1995 Undertaker and rock a protective mask to the ring. For those who don't remember, Undertaker injured his orbital bone a few weeks after SummerSlam '95 and was gone for a bit, returning with an ominous-looking face mask that he wore for months. In 2011, Rey Mysterio also hit Cody Rhodes in the face with his knee brace and broke Rhodes' nose. Cody not only wore a protective face mask to the ring and continued performing, but he worked it into his narcissistic "Dashing" Cody Rhodes gimmick.
Maybe John Cena completes the look he rocked for the Extreme Rules 2015 poster and dons an all-American face mask to pull off a Nuke look IRL? With SummerSlam only about a month away—and Cena still holding the WWE United States championship—we should get a good idea of what the WWE will do with Cena sooner rather than later.
[via WWE, Wrestlezone, NoDQ]
