Where Would The WWE Be Without Cena?

[PlayTheGame]

What if John Cena never came to the WWE? What if he never existed, what if none of his title matches, feuds, or anything else altered the history of the WWE. Where would the WWE be at today? Cena has somewhat carried the WWE for a few years now, what kind of shape would the company be in if he had not been there to do this? Who would be different today? Would Orton be a heel? Would HHH be a face? Would Edge have been quite as successful without his matches with Cena? Do you think Cena helped or harmed the WWE and its image (he def helped make it more kid-oriented). What do you think?

 

[klunderbunker]

That's a very interesting question. I'd think that the first thing that would have happened would be a higher concertration of HHH and the McMahons. The only star on Cena's level is HHH and with no Cena, he would have been the one to try to fill his shoes. I'd think the company would be in far worse shape overall for a few reasons.

Cena has been about as perfect of a representative for the company as possible. He is friendly, does a ton of charity stuff, doesn't get in any reported trouble and is insanely popular. Think back to when he was the champion for a year. Who else could have been in that spot? With the insane amount of injuries, I'm not sure who else could have been put into his place.

Also, Cena has main evented so many shows that have gone off almost perfectly. Without him, there's no way of telling what another person would have done in that same spot. Could someone like Lance Cade, who showed up just after Cena, have done the same thing if given the right push? Maybe, maybe not. When Cena showed up he was a bodybuilder and little more who was just announced as a promising rookie. Change Cade's name a bit and he could have gotten the same push. For the record, Cade was the first young guy to pop into my head. I'm by no means a die hard supporter of his.

All that being said, I'd say WWE wouldn't be where they are now sans Cena. He's a true master at what he does and plays his role to perfection. I just can't see someone doing better or even equal to what he did. Overall, it would be a worse company.

 

[The Todd]

It is hard to say wrestling wise, like who would be champions cos there could have been a number or people who got a push instead of him.

What I do think, is WWE would be worse off financially and would have cut a few more jobs last month. No one since Austin has shifted as much merchandise and I don't think anyone else would have, no matter if they got the same push. Cena's love for the business is unrivalled. He gives up his spare time for the company. In fact, he lives WWE. He must be a dream to Vince. I cannot see anyone else having this same attitude to the business.

So why I wouldn't like to give a guess towards ratings and such, I think financially, WWE would be a lot worse off without Cena.

 

[Gr8*1]

All I can say as a pure Cena Hater is a much better place than they are now.

There would be no PG crappy rating that just makes it difficult to watch.

Target ages would be higher

We wouldnt have had the fcking Superman 1 year run
Im Guessing Rey Mysterio or Chris Jericho or Batista would be the Top Faces

Ratings Wouldve Been Higher and Wrestling would have been Watchable

Cena has truly ruined this Company... Fine Go Bash Me all you want but thats what i believe

We Say Cena has Carried this Company?
How? Hes driven ratings into the ground hes booed when hes a face he cant wrestle and hes destroyed the hard work That all the top stars from the Attitude Era built up.

Sure its not the actual mans fault but its his characters and his gimmick.

Wrestling Now is just hard to watch it just looks shitter feels shitter and well is shitter.

Thers no electricity or anything anymore the Company is Dead and i dunno how it will ever recover...

Quite Frankly Turning Pg aint the way

 

[Scorpio8975]

I'll say this, if you don't mind a terrible worker like Cena being pushed to no end and constantly staying at the top, but storylines that keep you somewhat interested every week then you should watch WWE.

However, if you are a die hard fan of a great wrestler being at the top and storylines that range from extremely shitty to mildly shitty then go watch TNA.

Or if you are still interested in wrestling as a pure sport then watch ROH or MMA.

The thing is, if WWE didn't have Cena then someone else would have been at that level around the same time. More than likely HHH, Michaels, Edge, Orton, Mysterio, Benoit, Guerrero, and Taker, I think that Big Show, Jericho, and Jeff Hardy would somehow be in the mix as well. WWE would have DEFINATELY not gone PG, they sure as hell would be leaning towards it because of the kids that eat up Mysterio and Jeff Hardy merch, but they would still be tagged with the TV-14 rating and guys would be blading. The storylines would probably be about what they were in '02 to say '05 and the overall product would definately be a lot better. Sure Cena's big, but he's no Rock, he's no Austin and he DEFINATELY isn't a Bret Hart as far as Merchandise goes. In-ring is a WHOLE different story, that side would definately be a lot better. However here's the thing about Cena, compare him in 2003 to the way he is today. Cena, just like the rest of the product was watered down because when he used to get on the mic and rap you didn't know what was gonna come out of his mouth and it was entertaining. His Parking Lot Brawl with Eddie is still one of my personal favorite matches, but WWE wouldn't be in major trouble because it was put perfectly by Stone Cold himself, "The wrestling business is like one big machine, when one of the gears goes out you simply take it out, toss it in the pile with all the other old gears and replace it."

Someone else would have simply come along and been the next big breakout star in Cena's place.

 

[PBA_Sensation]

Gr8 1, you have no logic to your rant on Cena. Sure, Cena isnt the greatest worker in the world, but he gets the job done. Can you honestly say that he is the most popular person in the wrestling world, and the rating have dropped? HA. Sure, he isnt the savior like Hogan was, but Hogan is about the worst worker in the world. He can't sell, he has maybe 6 moves (as well as Cena), he is overly popular (like cena), and he has carried a company (like cena again). By no means can I compare the two because of the generation gap, but somewhat similar situations. And someone tell me how Cena is responsible for the new "PG WWE"?

If you want to rant manm, rant... but at least have something showing why other than "i just dont like him"

 

[nailinthecoffin]

As soon as I saw this topic title I knew it would degrade to pointless Cena hate.

More to the point though I agree with everything Scorpio8975 has said, if Cena hadn't have come along there would've been somebody else, WWE has the ability to create star power therefore somebody else would have come along. The reason Cena is where he is, is because he gets over. If he hadn't somebody else wouldv'e, then people would be complaining about someone else for having ridiculously lengthed title reigns.

 

[Khalifa]

I say HHH would of held it a few more times, Then Batista would of had to carry it after Jericho got "fired". In all honestly I actually don't think some one new would have come up and taken the title as good as Cena did it. Sure Cade might of made it to 1 title reign for like 2 months and he wouldn't of one it at Mania either. The WWE belt will probably never have been held for 1 year by 1 person like Cena did.

Sure some one would have been brought up for Cena not being there but they would not have made the difference like John Cena did to the title. Face it , if Cena weren't here now WWE would probably not be as popular because WWE would have tried to make a gimmick like that for some one else and failed and the person with that gimmick wouldn't be as with the crowd as Cena is. Plus Cena is really into his training and just loves the company so the WWE title and the WWE would be much different.

 

[Y-2-Jay]

Cena is this decade's hogan and austin like it or not he is,If cena was not in the wwe they would have not have much money the ratings would have dropped when the injuries started in 07 but of course some one would of got the cena push who i can not answer that one but someone not as deserving as cena.My main guess for top face of the company would be batista he would have long title regins like cena's but batista would never ever do the things cena does for the company so he would not feel like the top face.When i talked about money before the main loss would be ppv buys no way would they be higher without cena unless they had a 2nd cena which i dont there ever could be but one main thing the wwe could have survived without cena but not have as much money to finsh off the wwe needs cena.

 

[nailinthecoffin]

I was with you until you started mentioning PPV Buys. For the most part of it the people responsible for PPV Buys are going to be the 18-35 Demograph AKA the '80's-90's now casual viewers who probably don't like Cena as much as the WWE would have us all think'. I'm not trying to bring Cena hate, but think about it logically. Parents will fork out for Merchandise on Birthdays/Xmas. Parents will let their kids watch the WWE shows. Parents may even take their kids to the WWE shows as a 'treat'. Parents however (at least those with sense) will not fork out $20-30 a month for a PPV.

Now the casual demograph I have named above, more than likely will as its something to watch with their friends/something to do if their bored on a sunday evening, they probably won't do it every month but they will buy it.

And I'm willing to wager that they don't even know who the hell John Cena is half the time, thats no joke, if you rarely watch wrestling nowadays, but watched it back in the 90's and say one night your sat in and you come across 'WWE Survivor Series' and think "holy fuck, wrestling, I haven't watched that in years", your more than likely going to actually sit there and watch it if you see names like Triple H, Undertaker, HBK. Not John Cena.

I'm saying this from a purely marketable stand point. Literally, I have friends that do this now, I was round at my mates the other evening and we stuck a repeat of RAW on. John Cena came out and my mates reaction was "Who the fuck is that douche?"

Again I'm not saying that stand for everyone, my simple point thats turning into a five paragraph rant is that John Cena is not responsible for the PPV Buys.

 

[avi01]

I know many will disagree but I think that without Cena, WWE would be a much much better place. I hate what he is and stand for in the WWE. I consider none of his fueds as memorable.

 

[Vankid34]

I also agree. I think that his character is too polish and as of late become boring.
Everyone likes the hero however its unfair that he gets that much opportunities to get the gold. If the WWE is trying to build him to Rock, Steve Austin status he must gain an edge.

 

[Softcore McLimpdick]

WWE would be better off without the Cena we have now. If we had the Cena from the earlier years we would be fine. Cena is responsible for the pg rating. He draws kids, but not PPV revenue. There is no edge to the product anymore. I miss the attitude era. Look at the numbers from Survivor Series '08. It was down quite a bit from '07. They shoved Cena down our throats for the entire month plugging his return. Orton was the centerpiece of '07 and it did much better. Bring back characters with some character. Get rid of the 1 year superman title reigns. Screw Cena, he sucks.

 

[Pimpin]

The Cena that we have now is stale, boring & an ass kisser. I actually was a fan of his when he did the rapping gimmick cause he was edgy & he made his opponents look like bitches without hitting them. Now days even though merchandise sells well, the product is stale without any edge to it & he is one of the main people responsible for the crappy pg rating. God I miss the attitude era. I want to see some characters who have actual character instead of being stale & bland like Cena.

 

[midgensa]

I agree that Cena is getting a little bland on the stick, which is a shame because that is where he made his mark, but to say that the WWE would be better of without him is just blind hate and absolutely ridiculous.
The man sells more merchandise than every wrestler in history not named Austin (yeah, he sells even more than Hogan) and he is a work-a-holic for the WWE. He tirelessly is out promoting the product and is a very well know face and commodity. The WWE is actually lucky that a guy with his image, likability and work ethic came along when he did as The Rock and Austin went out. He has carried the company and will continue to for years to come.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Cena bores the hell out of me in the ring and on the mic. But I DO know the kids love his dorky act and thus sells bucketloads of merchadise, ppv buys when he headlines etc.

Wether you like it or not, Cena isnt going anywhere for ythe time being

 

[CENAtion]

This is a damn good question, and if John Cena were not in the WWE the product and the company from a financial standpoint would be hurting. Its like saying if you take LeBron James away from the Cleveland Cavaliers that they are just as good. Its just not the case.

From a product standpoint if they would lose their top star they would have to make serious changes. I for one don't think there would be this PG rating, as the WWE would try to market to the people who grew up during the attitude era and given the fact that there are still quite a few names from that era such as HHH, Taker, HBK, both Hardy's, and Edge to name a few. They would still try to keep it edgier, which a guy like Randy Orton would still thrive in. Could they create another big star sure, but its extremely unlikely a guy with Cena's passion would come along, as those guys arer few and far between. Very few guys breathe for the business in my eyes.

I think ratings would be slightly lower as it being an edgier product and with the way things are nowadays parents might shy away a bit from letting their kids watch. I also believe there would be no ECW, as a way to save money. Raw would still obviously be there and i believe Smackdown as well. I'm kind of leaning towards there being no brand exclusive wrestlers. I think Vince would want to maximize every show to its ful potential. Also because if you lose Cena, there are very few guys you could give the Raw or Smackdown "Ball" to and let them run with it. I really think the only guys who could be entrusted with that right now are Triple H for sure, probably Batista, and maybe Randy Orton as long as he continues to prove he wont screw up. HBK and Taker i think are to far up their in age to be given this pressure and the fact that they typically dont wrestler every week. People might say Jeff Hardy, but i stioll dont think he's earned that right to be given a shows "Ball" to run with. Top level main eventer sure, but not entrustee of a whole show. I really believe this is why HHH is on Smackdown right now. Everyone knows he has an ego and prob would rather be on Raw, but for the reasons i've just stated Vince wants him on Smackdown in case Jeff drops the ball again, seeing as Taker is more or less a part timer, and if Hardy screws up HHH can quickly be used to save the show. Without Cena, HHH....would would be the biggest star and would have to be on thte biggest show, which would prompt Vince to do away withe the whole brand exclusive thing just so Smackdown wouldnt be vulnerable.

Financially without Cena you lose tv ratings, ppv buys, national attention through commercials, public appearance, and most importantly a cash cow of merchandise sales.

This is the Cena Era, much like Hogan had his era, and Austin had his era. You take anyone of them completely out of the puiicture and the WWE is surely not as strong.

 

[Scorpio8975]

Now, by NO MEANS am I a Cena fan, I personally cant stand his work. He has had great matches though (Cena/Michaels at WM 23 and the one hour match they had) and he has proven that with the right guidence he could work. The thing that gets me is that for a guy who's dad has been a wrestling promoter for most of his life why is Cena so terrible?

This is a perfect example of a guy that to keep the product fresh in the eyes of fans like us he needs a heel turn. Vince won't do that because he thinks that the merch sales will drop, unfortunately he doesn't know that he can probably try on the Jeff Hardy hat one more time and have merch sales as good or even better than Cena's if he were to turn heel.

I'm a fan of great wrestling, both in the ring and in storyline, after I get my training done and my career started that's how I want to be remembered as a guy that has a great character and can get it done in the ring....that SHOULD be the standard for wrestlers nowadays. We shouldn't get screwups like Khali, or Big Daddy V. As far as PPV buys and ratings are concenred, sure the PPV buys were up before Cena made it, BUT the ratings for RAW and Smackdown were slightly higher than they were now. RAW I think hung around the 4.0-4.2 range and SD was drawing about what it does now, maybe slightly higher if I'm not mistaken.

I stick by my earlier point though, WWE would have had another big breakout star if Cena had flopped in their eyes (that means he was actually good by our standards) and he probably be where Jericho has been for a long time,

 

[DDPK7]

cena is a joke and only appeals to kids, as heel he was one of my favourite wrestlers with the rapping and stuff but as a face he makes top superstars and there finishers look weak such as jericho and jbl, i wish he would do a career in rap or as a movie star as i hate him in wwe triple h is well better and gets more cheers

 

[nailinthecoffin]

CENAtion, thats one rather long (but highly analytical post) you have there, and I can see where your coming from with all this. Cena after all has shown to be ratings, but lets get that clear, its ratings. NOT PPV BUYS. I can see where your coming from in that we probably still would be at 2000 esque WWE should Cena not have 'taken the wrestling world by storm' and by that I mean sold a shitload of Merch and then be pushed based off of that. But theres nothing wrong with that, pushing someone who makes money = more money.

However, I still don't agree with this overblown idea that should Cena not have become a sucess then "ZOMG WWE FAILZ !!!!one!!!!!!!!one!!!"

Anyway I did have something informative to say but so far its not come out, I'll probably remember in an hour or so.

 

[KingShaw3]

Cena is one of the worst workers ever. Everything he does looks fake and I cheer for anyone he wrestles against. I think he's probably a good human being but just sucks as a wrestler. He gets all depressed looking everytime he comes out to boos and acts like it's not fair or something that he is being booed. Cena gets booed half the places he wrestles because fans of good wrestling who have been watching WWE for decades now are sickened at his in-ring skills. Fans who have been watching the company and wrestlers evolve over the years are rightfully disappointed to see Cena sitting on the top. To go from watching wrestling progress through great workers like Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, Mr. Perfect, Macho Man, Ricky Steamboat, Rick Rude, Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Jericho, Triple, Orton, Edge, etc. it's hard to watch a guy that has nothing but the "wrestler" look perched at the top.

WWE would be better off without Cena. There has been so much more talent on Raw over the years and WWE could have kept both the kids and hardcore wrestling fans happy. Kids would have stayed hooked to guys like Mysterio, the Hardyz, HBK, HHH, etc. While the hardcore fans could enjoy those guys too and others like Y2J, Orton, Taker, Edge, etc.

This is all just my opinion so no one should spend too much time trying to pick this apart (or go ahead it's your time). I'm just saying that there have been so many talented guys and good possible storylines over the years that could have been used if most of the time wasn't spent on a Cena angle.

It's hard to keep watching week after week and continue to buy $40 ppvs every month to see Cena "do it again" in the World title match. I know the belts are just "props" but when you've watched WWE as long as many of us have and seen all the incredible guys who have defended that title it starts to mean something to you. Now, when you see Y2J get Cena in the Walls of Jericho and keep him in it for like three minutes just to have Cena power out of it and turn it into the STFU that Jericho taps out to after three seconds makes you sick. He's billed as someone with unmatched strengh and who will never give up, but unless you're a kid, it's obvious that nothing he does looks real or impressive. If this guy lives and breathes WWE like everyone claims he does, then he should live and breathe while watching some of his matches and try to decide what he can do better to make a real fan of in-ring competition want to watch him. I've often thought that Cena says "you can't see me" because he thinks that no one can see how bad of a wrestler he is, and wish I could make him aware, "we can see you John, unfortunately".

 

[DetectiveZelix]

Im going to provide a simple yet vague answer her, i dont know where wwe would be, simply because we all like something different and I dont know if the product could satisfy us all and also if there hadna been cena there would have been someone else, it bothers me when ppl say the business would be worse because how do you know someone else coulntve rose up and gained more populairty than cena or even rose to the likes of Austin rocky hogan bret etc..the word may never know but i myself coulld not give an honest answer as I do not like cena at all and am trying to be very unbiased in my answer. I truly wouldnt think the company would be worse or better because of the impact cena may or may not have made indirectly to the company

 

[Chill]

First of, I'm no huge Cena fan but neither am I a hater. In the ring, he isn't that bad in my opinion..yes his punches are sloppy and he isn't perfect. But on the positive he does have bucket loads of charisma and without doubt is a hard worker. I also like how he hasn't been featured as prominently on Raw as used to be the case...it's refreshing to have Orton and Legacy in the spotlight.

I feel that Cena would make a great heel. Firstly, he could have a new array of fresh feuds and chances are he would receive genuine heel heat from those who already boo him plus all the kiddies who will be angry at him for 'betraying' them. Yes, it might intially be damaging to WWE's merch sales but in the long term I think this could be a smart move. After all what else can he do as a face??

Without Cena we probably will survive just like when the Rock and Austin left but certainly I feel he does a great job carrying the company and I don't know if the WWE has another star who could fill his place- hell I don't know if even Cena is a suitable candidate as a replacement to the likes of Rock and Austin who were legit superstars but he is the closest thing WWE has atm. Perhaps with a few adjustments to his character, Cena could gain a whole new following of fans.

 

[RATEDRKO4LIFE]

the wwe would b down the pub celebratin his departure
only jokin

they would actually be lost with out him, i dont like him but he is a great competator in the ring and on the mic, i would love to see john cena vs mr kennedy as a major storyline

 

[Shocky]

Someone else would have taken his place. It's happened before, it'll happen again. The WWE has proven post Hogan that they can plug anyone into a position and for the most part, the machine will run, and the best will still rise to the top. If John Cena wasn't their, then inevitably someone else would have been there to fill his spot.

John Cena is the prime example of beinga beneficiary of this exact same scenario. The WWE had changed it's complete direction to be built around Brock Lesnar. Of course Brock Lesnar ended up leaving the company, and John Cena was the next guy to receive the Lesnar Push. John Cena now has Brock Lesnar's intended spot in the company. Just like Brock took Rocks Spot, like he took Austins Spot, like He took Harts Spot, like He took Hogans Spot....