What If Stephanie McMahon Never Heard Cena Freestyling?

[Turd Ferguson]

I thought this was a pretty relevant/interesting topic to bring up given how Cena just won his ninth World Title on Sunday at Wrestlemania. Cena has been an ambassador for the WWE for the last four years now. He is unarguably the WWE's biggest star. He pushes the most merchandise. He's in movies. He's basically the heir apparent to The Rock, and even though that type of mainstream crossover they were hoping for with him hasn't exactly panned out, he's still the biggest star of the company, and is arguably the most well-known member of the WWE roster. He's a workhorse for the company. He seems to genuinely love being a wrestler, and he does a lot of charity work for the company as well. If there was an ideal consummate company man for the WWE, it's John Cena.

There was a time though, believe it or not, where Cena was actually on the endangered species list.

Despite coming into the WWE with a bang by challenging Kurt Angle in his first match, and feuding with Chris Jericho afterward, he fell out of favor with the WWE for some reason. He put on good matches, but he was vanilla. He wore the team colors of the city's #1 sports team on his trunks. But that was basically where it began and ended. His initial face run was pretty much considered a disaster by the WWE. They tried turning him heel by having him turn on Kidman, and it still didn't work. Despite being the company's #1 prospect, he was facing future endeavors. They couldn't find a way to get him over, and he was about to be given up on by the WWE, which would have left Cena just one of the many making their home on the list of flash in the pan wrestlers.

What saved Cena was that Stephanie McMahon heard him freestyling while on a bus. They decided to go with the rapper gimmick as one last attempt to get him over. If that didn't connect with the crowd, he would have been released. Thankfully, it did, and it was such a hit that within six months he was back in the main event scene, feuding with Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship.

My question is, what if any of this never happened? What if Cena had never been the rapper gimmick, which launched him? Would he have lasted and found a way to the main event picture, or would he have been future endeavored? Let's hypothetically say that Cena was future endeavored. Who would be the designated torch-bearer for the WWE? Where would the WWE be today if it wasn't for John Cena? Remember, Brock Lesnar left the WWE about a year later as well, so you can't just assume that Lesnar would have been the torchbearer for the WWE.

 

[1C3-M4N]

Well Cena doesn't rap now and it did help him get over to where he is now though. So since his other gimmicks didn't work the rapper did we'll leave that at that and it got Cena started.

But if he never started rapping you have to remember WWE was a different place back then and had different stars that could have gotten over with the fans. WWE still had superstars like Edge, Jericho, Eddie, Rey, Triple H, Undertaker(American Bad A$$), Kane,Chris Benoit, Randy Orton, Batista. There were plenty of great stars at the time who could have received a push and the fans would've liked fine. Lesner was not the only one so him leaving would've happened anyway. IMO WWE messed up with Lesner they pushed him way to fast and then he just left.

So without the rapper gimmick to launch his career I do not think Cena would've lasted in the WWE. Or he might have but never had made it to where he is now in the main event scene and probably stayed somewhere in the mid-card. But as for the torchbearer part of your question there were plenty of talented young guys at that time who could have been the so called "Face of WWE" and gotten it to where it is now if not further.

 

[Coco]

I don't think John Cena would have made it anywhere near the main event in the WWE without the rapper gimmick. As much as people love to ride Cena for being the poster boy and the chosen one, a couple months after his debut it was clear that he was anything but. He would have gone the way of any number of stars who came in with a bit of momentum but never reallyhad a hook to keep the audience coming back. Shelton Benjamin comes to mind immediately. I think Cena would have stayed at a level similar to Benjamin without his rapper gimmick or would have been released altogether.

Without Cena, choosing the man who becomes the top main eventer in waiting in 2003 and 2004 poses an interesting question. Right away, I would have to rule out Batista. The man was a creation of luck. The fans chanted for him one night when creative baited and switched him turning on Evolution as a means of getting Triple H out of a cage match with Chris Benoit. Once WWE saw this, they realized the fans would buy Batista more as a face than Randy Orton and ran with it. While Batista has done great for himself, I honestly believe there was no grand design that led to him becoming a star. That was a Hail Mary pass to cover up for the mistakes made in Randy Orton's face turn. As I see it, the WWE wouldn't have focused on making him a star if Cena weren't a factor. Heck, if the stars hadn't lined up properly, I wouldn't be shocked to see Batista in the same position Tomko is right now. All of that leads me to believe WWE would have had someone ready to assume the poster boy spot long before the decision was made to pull the trigger on Big Dave.

Randy Orton as a white bread babyface on SmackDown worked as well for him as it did for Cena. While I feel he became the chosen one as soon as Triple H laid his eyes on him, he failed to become the top guy in a world independent of John Cena. So no, I don't think Randy Orton would be the poster boy if there was no John Cena.

I also think Lesnar would have left with or without Cena, so I rule him out.

Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Goldberg all seem like realistic options. However, it was clear from the dawning of our current era that Shawn and Hunter's stars didn't shine as brightly as the men who preceded them as the face of the company. Although Hunter got to assume the face of the company role for quite a while during the period that Cena was a work in progress, he certainly wasn't a reliable long term top guy... no matter how hard he was pushed. Shawn was on a part time schedule and despite and extended run on center stage against his bestest buddy, when Benoit showed up on Raw, Shawn bowed out gracefully. I don't see Shawn as a poster boy if there was no Cena. Goldberg was misused in the WWE and I doubt it would have been any different had Cena not been on his way up.

Rey Mysterio was seen as the man in the dying cruiserweight division when Cena was a rising star. I see no reason why that would have been any different without Cena.

Edge, despite a great deal of momentum as a face in 2002, was put out for a year when Cena was on the rise and didn't regain that same fan adoration upon return. His chance to be the top guy never played out like him and some of his fans would have hoped and I don't think Cena not being there would have changed that.

To be quite clear, Kane, Benoit, Jericho, and Eddie were never seen as poster boys. Eddie might have been had he lived a little longer. He had all the tools and I think he would have ended up on par with Cena and Jeff Hardy last year. However, he's just another in a line of people who had spurts of top-of-the-card success and never got the chance to carry the entire brand on his back. None of these men would have been built as the new face of the WWE.

I personally think Rob Van Dam would have been the most viable choice as the next top guy. He was healthy from 2002 to early 2005, meaning he would have had the opprotunity (unlike Edge). His face heat never faltered (unlike Orton). After only a few months in the company, he outpopped Rock and Austin in their prime. That established buzz around him and any objective observer would have to note that the next top guy on Raw after Shawn and Hunter was RVD. In fact while the Undisputed Champion was jumping between brands, RVD was the hottest mainstay on Raw after Austin left. I think when the future prospects thinned out on the blue brand (remember, they don't see Benoit or Eddie as top face material in the long haul) following Edge's injury, had Cena not been there (despite being a heel, the "face of the brand" potential was there), giving RVD a chance to shine there outside of DX's shadow would have been a great gamble for the company. Why not?

Can you think of anyone better?