WWE Over the Limit 2012 preview

John Cena vs. John Laurinaitis

Before John Cena went to war with Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules, he accused Raw and SmackDown General Manager John Laurinaitis of trying to put him "out of business" by bringing Brock back to WWE.

Now, it looks like the power-hungry GM wants to personally eradicate Cena from WWE.

Still nursing the wounds from his punishing clash with Brock, the Cenation leader was asked to meet Laurinaitis in the ring on Raw SuperShow for a face-to-face talk, in which the GM would reveal who Cena's opponent at WWE Over the Limit would be. At first, it appeared that Lord Tensai was Laurinaitis' hand-picked Superstar, but following an unbelievable 3-on-1 assault, the choice became brutally clear: Laurinaitis will be the man who goes one-on-one with Cena on May 20.

On repeated occasions since WrestleMania XXVIII, Laurinaitis made it known which Superstar he believes represents the future of WWE, and it's definitely not Cena. The Raw and SmackDown General Manager proved he's willing to do whatever it takes to keep Brock happy by agreeing to the outrageous contract demands laid out by the behemoth prior to Extreme Rules.

Against all odds, Cena overcame the seemingly-unstoppable Lesnar in an Extreme Rules Match, but it still wasn't enough to convince Laurinaitis that it's the 10-time WWE Champion, not Brock, who rightfully deserves to be called the "face of WWE." Then, in a shocking confrontation on Raw SuperShow, Laurinaitis made his boldest power play yet, attacking and mocking Cena while his left arm was still healing.

Cena isn't the first Superstar to tangle with arguably the most polarizing figure in WWE. It was just a few months ago when WWE Champion CM Punk had it out with Laurinaitis, even going so far as to knock him out with the Go To Sleep on the Jan. 23 edition of Raw SuperShow. However, Laurinaitis didn't let his scuffles with Punk derail his quest to remain the dominant decision-making force on WWE programming, and he later took control of SmackDown in addition to Raw with a resounding victory over Team Teddy at WrestleMania.

At WWE Over the Limit, just three weeks will have passed since Cena's savage battle against Lesnar at Extreme Rules. Will the Cenation leader be able to recover in time for his collision with the Raw and SmackDown GM? Or can Laurinaitis pull off an upset and break Cena's spirit coming off one of the biggest victories of his career? Find out at Over the Limit on Sunday, May 20, live on pay-per-view.