John Cena was the face of WWE for more than a decade, which propelled him to become one of the most popular personalities of all time. He was the leading superstar when WWE transitioned from the Ruthless Aggression era to the PG Era, further enhancing his legendary status.
However, since he shifted to a part-time schedule over the past several years, WWE has encountered considerable difficulty in filling the void left by the 16-time World Champion. Let’s delve into his insights on this matter.
John Cena explains WWE’s lack of “frontman”
WWE has recently seen a surge in success, with record-breaking gate numbers and merchandise sales worldwide. The roster is overflowing with talent, and since Triple H took over, there has been a significant improvement in the quality of the product. The company boasts several superstars who could arguably be considered the faces of WWE, such as Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and LA Knight.
Roman Reigns, who was initially rejected by the WWE Universe during Vince McMahon’s continuous pushes as The Big Dog, has truly come into his own as The Tribal Chief and is now a contender in the G.O.A.T. debates. However, there has been a noticeable absence of a clear frontman like Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold, The Rock, and John Cena.
John Cena spoke on the matter on WWE’s ATB Podcast and explained how WWE in the current day and era requires a frontman but the crowd is so mixed that it’s difficult to unanimously choose one wrestler to push to the moon. He explained how universal popularity is impossible as there will always be someone who’ll hate you.
With regards to this current era & how it will be remembered, John Cena states it’s missing a “frontman” to “define what an era” is:
— Wrestle Ops (@WrestleOps) November 3, 2023
“It needs what I’m not sure it can produce & that’s just a state of where everything is right now, it kinda corrects itself, so we’re in a day &… pic.twitter.com/Vqyhfkqphb
Cena heavily discussed his retirement in recent weeks
It’s been a long and illustrious career brimmed with achievements one can only dream of for John Cena but even he himself has acknowledged that he can see the end of the road of his career as a professional wrestler. It’s been over 2,000 days since John Cena won his last singles match where most matches happened when he wasn’t wrestling full-time. He’s been hinting at retirement in the near future.
He acknowledged his recent shortcomings on the latest episode of SmackDown where the WWE Universe chanted ‘You still got it’. But Cena replied with ‘What if I don’t?’ which was an incredibly sad and compelling piece of television scene produced by WWE. But he proceeded to hype himself up and believe in himself again before his match against Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel.
John Cena has been feuding with The Bloodline ever since he came back and even teamed up with and endorsed LA Knight. People have been satisfied with his recent run but it’ll be great to see him involved with much higher stakes and bigger capacity. It’ll be great to see Cena in the ring for a singles match for the first time since he lost to Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39.
Who’ll come out on top between John Cena and Solo Sikoa after Crown Jewel? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments.
