For the first time since John Cena has started working for the WWE main roster in 2002, the multi-time champion has failed to wrestle on a single pay-per-view this year.

Cena has taken a larger role in Hollywood, following the footsteps of fellow WWE Superstar Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and has put his WWE career firmly on hold. He did a couple of appearances this year for the company, mainly in early January and was scheduled to be part of the Royal Rumble match but movie commitments prevented him from participating.

The former 16-time champ then appeared at WrestleMania 35, reprising his old gimmick of Dr. of Thuganomics and had a rap-off with Elias, ending the segment by giving Elias the F-U. He returned for the special Raw Reunion show in July for another rap battle with The Usos but has remained absent ever since. Cena did not even appear on the FOX debut of Smackdown in October.

In 2018, he had a few matches including a very short WrestleMania match against The Undertaker, a match against Triple H at The Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, and a tag team match with Bobby Lashley against Kevin Owens and Elias at Super Show-Down in Australia.