Just when WWE were direly praying for the injury epidemic to stop, a shoulder injury to its Franchise Player – John Cena – has completely forced the company to go back to the drawing board.
As we reported earlier, Cena is set to be out of action for 6-9 months and is scheduled to undergo surgery this Thursday in Birmingham.
According to Dave Meltzer, WWE had plans of booking Cena in a United States Championship match against Alberto Del Rio – which was the most likely option from the lot. What’s interesting is WWE’s speculated backup plan.
Kalisto is reported to get into a feud with Alberto Del Rio, with the U.S. Championship being on the line. It should also be noted that Kalisto picked up a clean victory over the U.S. champ on Tuesday's Smackdown tapings, that had a big reason behind it.
WWE knew about Cena’s injury status and wasted no time in kickstarting the All-Hispanic feud between Kalisto and Del Rio. Kalisto’s recent exploits and the fact that the Lucha act is quite over with the WWE Universe – validates a push for the high flyer.
When it comes to the face that runs the place, Cena’s absence is set to hurt WWE’s plans going into WrestleMania – which he would most likely miss – but considering the recent string of misfortunes, they would be prepared.