If not Cena, then who?

[(BP)]

Along the lines of some other threads.

 

The fates of Punk and Bryan this year have reinforced that Cena is still the WWE's most viable and reliable guy. Every "next top guy" that has come along during Cena's time on top hasn't worked out. There have been injuries, personal issues, politics; guys have quit and been fired. But, in 2014, John Cena keeps on trucking.

 

If Cena hadn't saved his job with the rap gimmick, who would've been their ace going forward? Is there anyone who would still be on top now like Cena is?

 

Once Brock, Angle, Eddie, and Benoit are dismissed for obvious reasons, there's Orton. He was very immature and probably wouldn't even be with the company now if put on top, as I think his personal issues and the pressure probably would have made him implode.

 

Would HHH have been pushed harder, for a longer time? Would this have affected business negatively? Would it have changed his development as an executive?

 

Would Batista have stayed if he was firmly the face of the company?

 

Would Vince have talked HBK and Undertaker into being on the road more, leading to their bodies breaking down even faster?

 

Would one of the Hardys have worked out, or would it have been similar to an Orton scenario?

 

Is there somebody that isn't mentioned often that could've been put in Cena's position longterm?

[DMJ]

I know not all talents below are considered great workers, but in this fictional universe, where Cena doesn't exist and Orton may or may not have lasted, I do think certain guys might have gotten additional chances to be stars, namely:

 

- Ken Kennedy: Poised to be a big deal and pushed pretty hard at times. Who knows what his ceiling was had he not fallen victim to his own "demons" and rumored heat with Orton and Cena.

 

- MVP: Another guy that seemed poised for a main event push at some point that just never materialized. Without Cena, there's less of a "hump" for him to get over?

 

- Shelton Benjamin: I'm not sure he was ever going to get higher than the midcard, but as the OP wondered, does a lack of top talent mean that midcard talent gets more opportunities and less "comedy-based" storylines? It is a huge stretch, but I just wanted to ask, does "No Shelton's Mama = Serious Shelton Heel Run"? I don't think so, but how would this apply to others?

 

- Christian: Obviously Edge's career wasn't hurt at all with Cena at the top, but how would Christian's be different? Does he go to TNA?

 

- More RVD main events? More Booker T title reigns?

[subatomic_elbow]

If John Cena didn't exist, mankind would have been forced to invent one. The Jorts hold the true power. Whomever wore them would be king. If they had given the Jorts to anyone else, they would have ruled the Universe.

[Matt D]

I think the answer is probably just more Batista.

[goc]

They MIGHT have done more with Rey & Eddie. And more Batista like Matt said.

[Matt D]

Batista got to end the night at WM 21, not Cena. In WWE's ideal world of the time, he was the guy who was going to break out.

[Loss]

Yeah, I think Rey is the answer. You need someone who can sell merchandise and draw kids. Sane Jeff Hardy is another choice.

[(BP)]

Edge, Rey, and Christian are names I hadn't even thought about, but I like it. In this universe John Cena exists, he's just been released, and the Prototype is the 30 time MWF heavyweight champion.

[Eduardo]

Probably Batista and Rey Jr. I haven't gone back to check, but I sometimes think we underrate Batista's drawing prowess. Him and Rey Jr. both seemed like strong picks if Cena never existed. WrestleMania 21 drew a huge PPV number thanks to the Batista turns on HHH storyline. Rey Jr. also was a huge merchandise seller and a strong draw for years.

[Steenalized]

Batista if he sticks around is the obvious answer. Orton too, even if he doesn't shape up personality-wise the WWE has shown that they're pretty damn willing to forgive him and try to make it work. Rey could get a bigger push because of the merchandise potential, but wasn't it always Vince who was uninterested in pushing him? I can't imagine him wanting to elevate Rey more than he ever did. Hardy's a good bet but his behavior is even worse than Orton. If he sticks around I think he goes up top. I'd put Kennedy up there, the WWE seemed high on him (until two guys they preferred more stepped on that), and he was getting over big.

[Bierschwale]

Perhaps we'd have nine-time world champion Marco Corleone.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I'd be shocked if they pushed Rey any harder than they did. He is an inverse Andre. He is a novelty because of his size, but not a long term world champion like a Cena. Orton or Batista are definitely most likely. I could see them trying Edge, but he was flopping as a face in 2004.

 

God, I wish Eddie though. He was just so damn entertaining in 2002-2004. By far, my family's favorite wrestler. The only time my parents have been really upset about a wrestler's death. I think Eddie had real crossover potential with Latin roots and the fact that even non-fans just got his act and how fun it was. Size and past demons working against him. Ultimately that past behavior caught up to him.

[SomethingSavage]

I can't remember if it was Greenfield or Court Bauer that talked about WWE wanting to push Cena to the top in time for WrestleMania XX. The whole "Where It Begins Again" tagline and all was going to be about crowning the new face as champ for the first time there.

 

If you look back at the buildup, you can see that they were positioning BOTH Cena and Benoit as the two top faces over on SmackDown. Both guys were pursuing Lesnar, and both were being primed to win the Rumble and make the jump over to Raw, in order to challenge Triple H at Mania.

 

I wanna say it was Court who spoke about it, but I could be wrong. Anyway, they went on to say that the nod eventually went to Benoit when they realized Cena wasn't ready yet, and they didn't want to risk pushing him too soon and have him be overly exposed in the upper mix.

 

So the idea was that they'd put the strap on Benoit with the mindset being that, "at least the matches will be great", while allowing Cena to grow and develop for another year.

 

Of course, guys like Orton and Batista would then become top priorities for them in that time frame as well, which led us to what we actually got at Mania 21 - Cena and Batista both being crowned, and Big Dave actually looking to be launched as the next actual ace for the company.

 

Whether it's true or not, I actually think it's a believable enough theory. They certainly seemed comfortable in doing big things with Cena - hot off his face turn with the rapper gimmick. He was getting strong reactions, and he was getting a lot of interaction & TV time in the "feud" with SD-GM Paul Heyman at the time. It was actually Cena/Heyman before it was Benoit/Heyman, which is what led to the enduring Rumble win from the #1 spot in the first place.

 

So yeah. I figure people will shit all over the idea as being totally false and completely conjured up in hindsight, but I don't know. At the very least, I think it's worth an interesting discussion. Was Benoit just given a near-year run for the sake of filling time? Were they really THAT high on Cena so early on? I could buy it.

 

But, with ALL THAT being said, we still arrive at WM21 with Batista. I think Big Dave winds up in the same position, regardless. He probably would have stuck it out on Raw with no Cena. That would leave the other brand (whichever Batista doesn't work) without a top babyface champ. Ultimately, I think we just would have had ONE breakout star that year - rather than two Superman babyface types existing simultaneously, which is precisely what we ACTUALLY got in Cena and Batista around the time.

 

Cases could be made (and have) for plenty of guys, but it's all going to be guesswork. Each one has their pros & cons. Personally, I like the idea of Christian filling the void for awhile. He was witty & clever enough on the mic. Hell, he actually won the people over in his interactions with Cena in '05 anyhow. Beyond the stick work though, the guy could always go in the ring. I think he works well as a sympathetic, overachieving babyface. In fact, I seriously dug his stuff in TNA's main event scene once he made landfall there. Christian could easily have worked a steady big match, "main event" style on consecutive PPV cards for most of the year or more.

 

Rey Mysterio was beloved, but he never had the support of Vince as THE guy. I don't see that changing in our alternate universe. With no Cena, they likely would have just piled MORE focus and luster onto Batista instead of attempting to split the spotlight between two top babyfaces. Rey likely would've still received a shot, but no way do I see him getting a lengthy reign like Cena at ANY point.

 

Jeff Hardy wasn't ready in '05. Hell, I don't think I really even LIKED Jeff's singles matches in the slightest until his '06 return. All his stuff prior to his '03 exile was good by proxy of Matt or just awful to look at. He was popular, but I don't see them putting that much faith in him until... well, until they actually DID around '08 and '09.

 

Eddie had his shot. As much as it sucks, he cracked under the pressure. And I don't see them rewarding him with another chance to run the same play just one short year later. That's not to say he wouldn't have gotten another date with the belt, since I absolutely think he was headed there eventually. But it wasn't going to be anything substantial enough to coin him the "besides Cena" guy.

 

Edge bombed as a face. And badly. He never would have reached the levels of success he did without the sleazy, sneaky character he cooked up with the Rated R stuff. Without the Lita relationship? Without the total attitude change? Without the Matt controversy? Make no mistake about it, so much stuff converged to form the perfect storm and catapult Edge. The guy had the character work down long before then, but it wasn't enough.

 

Benjamin? Christ. No thank you. For Smurf's sake, I hope to hell not.

 

Kennedy? MVP? Carlito? All range from passable and decent to pretty darn good at times, but nah. I don't see it. Carly had the flashiest "babyface" move-set of them, but it screamed mid-carder.

 

MVP had the right REAL LIFE story to connect on a broader plane and really resonate with people as a guy that had turned his life around, but I think the travel issues and restrictions of his criminal past kept him from going certain places or doing certain things. In that sense, I can see why the company would be hesitant to push him beyond a certain level.

 

Kennedy had a charisma and charm to his "loud, large" personality. But I still think he would have wound up being a bust when put through the meat grinder of main event after main event on the big stage. Maybe I'm wrong about that, but we'll never know.

 

I know I'm probably in the minority, but Booker T is a guy that I think COULD have carried the workload. He could work face. He could work heel. He could cover any & all talking points, handle extensive interviews, TV segments, adapt to all angles, etc. He was a very versatile character and well-rounded performer. But he suffered the same fate as Jericho, in that he had been buried on their TV for so long that he'd never truly feel like THE guy for them.

 

Again though, if they're running full throttle with Batista as their lone ace, then that's not as big of an issue. No. There's not another Cena to be found for a few years. But guys like Rey, Christian, and even Booker could have gotten them through the trenches with shorter, multiple reigns interspersed among them until that next guy is ready.

[Matt D]

Obviously the answer is AJ Styles.

[Loss]

Cena was also doing something at the time where he was promising to main event Wrestlemania XX.

[goc]

Perhaps we'd have nine-time world champion Marco Corleone.

I did consider that Mark Jindrak might have gotten more chances in WWE if there had been no John Cena. Maybe even Chris Masters, because I kind of feel like that's one of the reasons they never did much with Masters once he turned into a great babyface worker, although that was pretty late for a "if not Cena, who" scenario.

[Steenalized]

Regarding the Cena push before WM XX, I do distinctly remember that Cena was on the posters and the box art for the Royal Rumble that year. Not HBK/HHH who had the other main event, or Benoit who won it, or even Brock who was crushing Bob Holly. Of course, they still put R-Truth on those prominently today, so it's not exactly foolproof.

[Badlittlekitten]

Batisita and Jeff Hardy. Ryback should have been the man the last couple of years.

[KrisZ]

Lesnar is the obvious answer before he flaked out on them. Sure he wasn't as colorful as Cena but he was the golden boy until Sable corrupted him

[goc]

Lesnar is the obvious answer before he flaked out on them. Sure he wasn't as colorful as Cena but he was the golden boy until Sable corrupted him

Cena only got his chance BECAUSE Lesnar flaked out. We wouldn't be having a "If not Cena, then who?" discussion we'd be having that discussion about Brock.

[CaptCabana]

The real answer here is Matt Morgan...c'mon people. All they had to drop the stuttering gimmick and WHAM, instant superstar.

 

I'm kidding...I think.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

Roman Reigns.

[KrisZ]

If it wasn't Lesnar then Big Dave had all the forces behind him to be the ace

[Al]

Lesnar leaves, eventually Bautista gets injured. The next guy in line at the time is Bobby Lashley who was as heavily pushed in 2006-07 as you could be without being John Cena.

[goc]

I forgot about Lashley. That's a really good pick.