Was John Cena fired at Money in the Bank 2011?

Was John Cena really fired from WWE? I received a dozen emails asking just that question when I woke up this morning. I actually received very few emails overnight regarding CM Punk’s very surprising victory over Cena last night and more about inquiring about the status of the former WWE Champion, who — per the stipulations of his match with CM Punk at Money in the Bank — was to be “fired” from WWE by Vince McMahon if he lost his match to CM Punk, who himself declared he would be leaving the company whether or not he won the Championship.

Cena being “fired” from WWE is very reminiscent of the Survivor Series last year where Cena was again “fired” for giving Randy Orton the win in a match between Wade Barrett and Orton with Cena as the referee. He would appear the day after the PPV and give a very emotional in-ring promo as if he was really leaving the company. If you recall, however, Cena would still appear on every episode of RAW following the pay-per-view and would eventually be “rehired” by Barrett.

This time around, WWE may end up selling Cena being “fired” for at least tonight’s broadcast, but given the high-profile storyline between him and CM Punk and their likely rematch at SummerSlam from Los Angeles, the odds of Cena — and therefore CM Punk — not appearing on tonight’s show are very unlikely. Given the sagging ratings for RAW as of late, it makes very little sense business-wise to have both Punk and Cena off of television tonight given the incredibly positive feedback the company is receiving from the storyline.

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