Why WWE Shouldn't Care Anymore That John Cena's Days Are Numbered

In a recent interview with Complex that was reported on by Cageside Seats, John Cena explained how he felt his “days are numbered” as far as his WWE career is concerned. This has been a sentiment that Cena, and many others, have expressed numerous times in the past year or so. It hasn’t been a secret that Cena has been slowly drifting away from his in-ring career. With his recent appearance in The Wall, a cameo coming up in Daddy’s Home 2, and a starring voiceover role in the animated film Ferdinand, Cena increasingly looks like he is more focused on breaking into Hollywood than he is in breaking up Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship reign. I am sure this has been a huge source of concern for WWE. There’s been rumors floating around that WWE has been unhappy with Cena’s Hollywood desires. Fortunately for Cena I suppose, once ratings took a hit, Cena was back in the WWE saddle again. I think it should be noted however, that WWE has survived the loss of a major star before, and looks to be ready to survive it again.

When Hulk Hogan left for WCW in August 1993, the WWE (or more accurately the WWF at that point) was left without the star who made the company a household name for the first time. It wasn’t long though before a group of superstars rose up to fill the void that Hogan left. This group, mainly comprising of Bret Hart, Lex Luger, and Shawn Michaels, became the main event stars of the company. Although neither one of them had the popularity that Hogan did, they all were able replacements for Hogan before WWE was able to find its next company carrying stars in Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.

2017 WWE is not unlike that transitional period in the middle of the 90’s for the company. The names may be different but their roles, and the fan’s reactions to those roles, have remained very much the same. Lex Luger, during the Summer of 93 when Hogan was mostly a house show personality, began his company-led tour around the US on the Lex Express. It was a huge push for a star who really hadn’t connected at that level with the audience quite yet. Needless to say, the Lex Express idea crashed and burned. In a way, it's very reminiscent of Roman Reigns’ main event run. Reigns had trouble connecting with the audience, despite the company’s best efforts, much like Luger. Although Reigns seems to have found his niche now in the tweener role he has adopted as a face to some and heel to others, Luger really didn’t have that option in the middle of the 90’s. That role had never been trusted, at least for a main event run at that time, and thus was not an option for Luger. In a way I suppose, that makes Reigns the better equivalent to that middle 90’s Lex Luger.

Not to be forgotten, Bret Hart main-evented the majority of the Wrestlemania’s in the middle of the 90’s in some way or another. He was a technically gifted babyface who was beloved by many for his in-ring prowess. His character, however, always missed the sort of spark that would carry someone to Hogan levels of popularity as a face. If that sounds familiar, it’s because it mirrors the face run of Seth Rollins thus far. Rollins is still quite the fan favorite though it would seem he can’t quite make that leap to a company carrying role. Rollins has experienced a variety of reactions, ranged from raucous to subdued, throughout his run. The fact that WWE seems committed to keeping him a face at this point, no matter the reaction, makes him a very Hart-esque character.

To finish this exercise in comparison, we reach Shawn Michaels. A slick, cool heel in the 90’s, Michaels was hated by some, yet still was loved by many due to his amazing ability to connect with the fans and put on tremendous wrestling showcases. It’s a bit puzzling that he never truly took the mantle of top face in a traditional sense, although his star was very bright at that time for WWE. It’s a lot like how AJ Styles is right now. He’s a smaller framed athlete, honestly what might be keeping him held back at least in Vince McMahon’s eyes, and a great in-ring competitor. He also was running with the cool guy heel gimmick for awhile before his somewhat recent face run. I can easily see why Styles himself would want to take on Shawn Michaels in a dream match. The similarities between the two are obvious.

At this point you may be thinking to yourself that all these comparisons are nice, but it still doesn’t prove that WWE is ready to move past the John Cena era. Believe it or not though, their is some hard evidence to suggest that WWE can survive in a Cena-less age. Fightful published a report that broke down some facts about which WWE superstars are being searched the most on Google recently. They looked at data from both Google and Google Shopping and compiled several interesting charts to analyze. While the graphs do show that Cena is still the top merchandise mover in the company, they also show quite a few metrics that would seemingly suggest that WWE could eventually move away from him. Roman Reigns is the second most searched superstar on Google Shopping in the past year, only second to Cena.

On top of that, AJ Styles search interest has been quadruple that of Daniel Bryan’s, even at Bryan’s peak, in the past year.

The fact that Styles has nearly quadruple the interest of one of WWE’s biggest stars in the past ten years seems to be a good sign for his future. Although this doesn’t provide a full picture of who is moving money for WWE, which the article itself even mentions, it does provide a good estimator for whom the company’s top stars are.

All together, the point I am trying to make is that this cast of characters right now is near identical to that of mid 90’s WWF. That lineup of main-eventers took the reigns from Hulk Hogan and carried the company all the way into the Attitude Era. The current lineup of main eventers seem more than ready to take the reigns from their Hulk Hogan to hopefully carry the WWE into yet another renaissance period for the company. The data would suggest it's possible and so would I. So even though John Cena’s entrance music still says his time is now, it looks more and more like WWE is ready to move on into the future without him.