What If? WWE Edition

Hey, everybody.  I hope you're doing well.

First off, let me say I don't normally do the "What If?" thing, because I figure that there are just WAY too many factors to anticipate for any predictions to be accurate.  However, I think I can look at this one relatively clearly, because it's a current situation.

John Cena, the WWE's Golden Boy is suffering from numerous minor injuries, including a hip pointer and a minor neck injury.  The WWE, and Cena himself, has been running Cena nonstop between wrestling, promotion, and movies for six straight years and the guy takes no time off except for injuries, which include a previous neck injury and tearing a pectoral muscle off of his shoulder.  The movies he has done have either been action movies, so I'm not really sure that counts as a "break," or the movie "Legendary," where he played a wrestler teaching his younger brother to wrestle.  That might count as more of a break than usual, but it's not like the guy just sat at home drinking beer.

Anyway, these injuries are starting to pile up and some fans of the WWE (even if they aren't Cena fans) are wondering whether they're going to accumulate to the point where he has to retire.  So, my question is:  What If John Cena retired tomorrow?

The first thing you have to look at is revenue.  Cena is the top dog when it comes to merchandise sales at live shows and on the WWE's online store.  With Cena gone, they would lose a HUGE chuck of their merchandise sales, which is a decent chunk of their income.

Secondly is the fan base.  Cena has a MASSIVE fan base between kids and women.  His mantra of "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" along with his never-say-die attitude makes him a sort of human superhero.  It give the kids something to look up to.  With Cena retired, they don't really have a "hero" to root for, so they may not watch.  That causes the WWE to lose advertising revenue, as well as possible ticket revenue.

Thirdly, and most importantly as a fan, who becomes the next "face" of the WWE?  I've seen arguments that Rey Mysterio would be the next "face," but Rey is also 36 years old and his wrestling style, a lucha libre-inspired high-flying offense, takes a hard toll on the body.  Rey has had surgery on his left knee six times already.  As impressive as the guy is in the ring, I honestly don't think he'll be around too much longer as a in-ring performer, simply because his body won't hold up to it.

There's Kofi Kingston, from Ghana, West Africa.  He's over with the kids and he can be mindblowing in the ring when he comes off the top rope.  He's 29, so still relatively young for the business, but he may end up suffering a little of what I talked about with Rey.  His style is high impact and he leaps so high off of the top turnbuckle that he's got to be damaging himself someone every time he lands.  As of right now, he also doesn't seem very natural on the mic.  He reminds me of Jeff Hardy.  He's a hit with the kids and his in-ring ability is fun to watch he has a natural charisma, but that doesn't translate well to talking on the mic.

Right now, the heir apparent seems to be The Miz.  Mike Mizanin, former reality show star turned pro wrestler is the current WWE champion.  He's done all of the things he's supposed to as a high profile champion.  He's on TV every week, he's making appearances on the talk show circuit and showing up for media appearances.  He has been an effective champion so far, regardless of whether you think he's a GOOD champion.  Miz gets a reaction from the crowd where ever he goes, which shows me that he's a good character.

The main problem here is that the WWE has no backup plan for John Cena.  They have thrown all of their money on this horse and that horse has given them everything for the race.  But what happens when that horse breaks a leg in the third turn?  Okay, bad analogy, because you can't bring in a backup horse.

The WWE seems to be trying to find the guy that has "it."  Hulk Hogan had "it."  Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock had "it."  John Cena has "it."  So far, though, nobody else really has "it."  Instead of pushing wrestlers to develop their character and make themselves more versatile, these guys are being trained some and then throw to the wolves, so to speak, to see if they have "it."  Personally, I think The Miz has "it."

Miz is 30, so like Kofi, still young.  He's pretty good in the ring and he's phenomenal on the mic.  He's got all of the tools to be the next face of the WWE, even if he's a heel (bad guy).  If Cena sticks around, this could turn into another Stone Cold/Rock era between Cena and The Miz.  They've already had a few matches together and they seem to have some good chemistry in the ring.

WWE, as a fan, I'm begging you to look to the future.  Start grooming a young guy (early 20's) to be THE guy in seven or eight years.  That gives you time to train him how you want and he has plenty of time to learn the business and to create characters that are believable.  No more of just HOPING someone has "it."  MAKE your new face of the WWE.  You have the time, you have the power.  You're yet to have (I hope) your finest hour.  Yes, I just quoted Queen.  Ah, well.