John Cena is going down an interesting road headed toward WrestleMania 34. For the first time in over a decade, there is a chance he won't be on the company's biggest show of the year and surprisingly, it only mildly upsets the 16-time World Champion.

During a one-on-one with Sports Illustrated, Cena answered questions on a number of topics ranging from his new role as the villain in Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on Nickelodeon to his love of the New England Patriots and rumors of Rob Gronkowski is eyeing the WWE, to potential opponents for WrestleMania 34. One interesting comment he made was the fact that he wouldn't mind missing the biggest show of the year. It was a comment that needed a bit more background and history to make sense.

There were rumors at first that Cena might be taking on The Undertaker. Cena shot down these rumors on a recent episode of Raw suggesting the match was "impossible" no matter how bad he wanted it. Then, speculation began to swirl that he might be facing a returning Rey Mysterio. When asked for comment on that, all Cena would say was, "Rey Mysterio is great. I’ll say that, and that’s what I can say about Rey."

Cena did explain that he would wrestle whomever the WWE deemed a good opponent and that he's never asked for or demanded a certain match at WWE's grandest spectacle. His motto has always been what can he do for the WWE and not what the WWE can set up for him. But, this year, the WWE may have unique plans.

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With no clear outline or opponent for WrestleMania 34, Cena has thought about what it would mean if he had no place on at this year’s show in New Orleans. He's actually excited about the storyline that could go with that turn of events.

He explained, “What a great story it would be for me to miss and have to buy a ticket. The year doesn’t stop at WrestleMania, we do Raw the next night. Now imagine if this stalwart, this statue of the WWE now has to look inside himself and ask, ‘Do I still have it?’ after being left out of the biggest show of the year.”

To say the least, the idea is different. WWE has included Cena on every WrestleMania card for years and often made him the main event of the show. It would be strange for him not to be a focal part of the pay-per-view. But, if Cena was in the crowd and no one knew what to expect, would fans be more interested than simply putting him in a match for the sake of him being in a match?

Cena suggests nothing is too odd or out there for Vince McMahon and the WWE. It's an idea that might just have some merit and the next couple weeks of WWE programming may give fans a better idea of what is actually going on with WWE's most polarizing character.

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