Former WWE World Champion John Cena is reportedly likely to miss SmackDown Live’s first exclusive pay-per-view event, “WWE Backlash,” which is scheduled to take place on Sunday, September 11th in Richmond, Virginia.

The reason there is so much speculation on his status for WWE Backlash is due to the fact that Cena is currently scheduled to compete at a WWE live event in Shanghai, China on September 10th.

As of this report, there is no mention of Cena being advertised for anything involving Backlash. Cena has been known to make long flights to make certain shows, but at this time, he’s not being advertised for the event. Obviously, things can change and we’ll be sure to keep you up to date with this story.

On a brighter note, FOX has renewed John Cena’s “American Grit” which he took time out of WWE to film last year, according to Deadline.com.

Producers are currently casting for a second season which means Cena, who is an executive producer of the show, may have to take some time off from WWE later this year, similar to last year. This show is yet another sign that John Cena is slowly transitioning away from being a full-time performer for WWE.

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