5 perfect opponents for John Cena had he worked SummerSlam 2018
John Cena is set to miss WWE SummerSlam 2018 as per Cageside Seats. This will be the first-ever SummerSlam pay-per-view that John Cena will be missing ever since he made his debut in the 2004 version of the event where he defeated Booker T to win the United States Championship.
Cena has competed in every single SummerSlam since and has headlined the show six times, a record he shares with Brock Lesnar.
Although his record will likely be broken by Lesnar this year, John Cena's legacy at the Biggest Party of the Summer is unmatched. He has had incredible matches at the event like his 2016 clash with AJ Styles, his 2015 Champion vs Champion match against Seth Rollins and his WWE Championship match against Daniel Bryan in 2014.
Even his 2013 match against the aforementioned Brock Lesnar was something we had never seen before.
His weakest SummerSlam match came last year when he beat Baron Corbin in the opening match of the night. Cena was well into his part-time career last year during this time and his schedule has become even thinner now.
Last seen in a 2 minute 45 Seconds match at WrestleMania 34, where he was defeated soundly by The Undertaker, Cena is unlikely to return till at least the Survivor Series. His next movie "Bumblebee" releases this December and it is likely we will see Cena back in the Squared Circle sometime after that.
As for now, let's have a look at 5 opponents that would have been perfect for Cena had he competed at SummerSlam 2018.
5. Elias
The last person Cena had feuded with on TV before leaving was Elias. Elias and Cena had a very entertaining program from Christmas 2017 through early 2018.
Although they didn't face off in a PPV match, Cena defeated Elias on the Christmas edition of Raw to win the only meeting between the two. Their only encounter on PPV was in the Elimination Chamber match where the two had limited interaction.
If Cena had returned to Raw and looked for a SummerSlam opponent, Elias would've been a very likely choice. There is nothing going on for Elias at the moment although a match against Bobby Lashley seems to be in the works.
Had Cena returned and cooked up a proper feud with Elias, it surely would have been very entertaining. Cena could have brought back his rapper persona to resonate with Elias' character and that would have been something the fans would have enjoyed.
Their match might not have been a classic but it would have been entertaining nonetheless. Given Cena would have probably worked SummerSlam as a one-off event, he could have given a proper rub to Elias as well by giving him his career's biggest win ever.