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Have ratings and buyrates gone backwards because John Cena has never had an equal ??

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dave 1981
I was reading through a column on another wrestling site late last night after watching the Arsenal/Barcelona game at a bar with my brother and some friends and this column made some very interesting points in regards to The Rock returning and the potential match up with John Cena born from the promo that The Rock cut on Raw. What we now have potentially is the most popular wrestler from 2000 through to 2004 against the most popular wrestler from 2005 through to present day which is a HUGE match up and a HUGE draw.

One major thing stood out for me from this column and that was the question asked about whether the fact that John Cena has never really had a true alternative to himself as main man or a true rival and for that reason ratings and PPV buyrates have gone backwards, i always had high hopes of Randy Orton being able to fill that gap but that is now something that will never happen. Back in their era The Rock had Stone Cold Steve Austin and also Triple H and between them they dominated their era and produced HUGE ratings whether it was Austin/Rock, Austin/HHH or Rock/HHH but John Cena has never had anyone like that who can really draw ratings like he could and he has been desperate for someone like that which now may have come along in the shape of The Rock.

Outside of his original feud with Triple H and to an extent his feud with Edge we have never once seen John Cena have someone who was believable in being his equal and the person who would be his long term multi year rival which would boost ratings like The Rock always had in his generation. We have seen so many people come in to a feud with John Cena and as good as some were they were never going to be any more than the latest feud for John Cena rather than someone who would be able to go on and off with John Cena like Triple H and Stone Cold Steve Austin did with The Rock.

Now though The Rock has come in and now we are seeing someone who is not only the equal of John Cena but someone who is actually bigger and now we are seeing potentially the biggest drawing feud and match if it were to happen since Rock/Hogan in 2002 and this isn't just down to the return of The Rock but also because of John Cena as well. John Cena has pretty much carried the company on his own since WrestleMania 22 and has been the go to guy without any equal or alternative, WWE were refunding tickets not so long ago on event's that John Cena wasn't appearing at which just goes to show exactly how big he is and just how important he is to WWE.

If and i say IF we were to see John Cena and The Rock begin a feud at WrestleMania 27 which would then go on to culiminate at WrestleMania 28 a year later it would do without question the best ratings for around a decade and would do the biggest buyrate at whatever PPV they were on for around the same time because both men are major draw's which is something that hasn't happenend since Austin/Rock at WrestleMania 19 or Rock/Hogan a year before. What we usually see is for one major draw and someone who is a great heel with John Cena working with heel's like CM Punk, Wade Barrett, Edge and Chris Jericho to name a few who whilst great heel's are never and have never been major draw's.

All that has to be seen is the buzz around the wrestling world and the internet in WWE potentially producing a feud between John Cena and The Rock to see what can happen when two major draw's get a chance to work with each other, everytime Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock ever worked together the world went crazy as they did when The Rock worked with Hulk Hogan. Now that John Cena has someone around like The Rock everyone's attitude has changed and they are genuinely excited by what may come next, whilst watching John Cena in there with people like CM Punk, Wade Barrett, Chris Jericho and all of the great heel's he has feuded with over the last few years has been great we have never seen John Cena in there with a superstar like The Rock which may be a reason why ratings and buyrates have gone backwards as no one has ever been built up to be John Cena's equal.
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Olympus

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Re: Have ratings and buyrates gone backwards because John Cena has never had an equal

wwefanatic89 said:
Cena doesn't have an equal because the WWE isn't pushing anybody but Cena. Think about it in this PG era the only reason Cena is the top draw is simply because his gimmick is made for the kids and the kids are the majority of the fans. Orton can't be the face of the company in this era he just can't. His gimmick isn't made for it. It's the WWE's own fault. They've dugged themselves into a hole.
Click to expand...
WWE posts on their site that 75.5% of their audience is 18 or older so...

WWE just needs talent. Ziggler, ADR, Barret, Zeke, Swagger, Kofi, Punk, Morrison, DiBiase, and Miz. Those are the guys WWE needs to focus on. THEY are the future. Sure ADR, Punk, and Zeke are in their 30s, but who cares? If you build them the right way they can go well into their 40s. With the exception of Punk, none of these guys have really established themselves.

The main problem is PG. Why is Austin, Rocky, HHH, and others so over and loved by millions? Because they were involved in memorable storylines. Storylines that stood out. Would Stone Cold become the same man he is today had his career started in today's WWE? Hell no. We would never have heard of Austin after a few months. It was the beer drinking, bird flipping, fuck you I'll do whatever the hell I want Austin that got him over. Sure the guys he worked with were great; Rocky, Vince, Michaels, Taker, etc. but that doesn't take away from the fact that those kinds of storylines got him over.

All the stars of today are being hampered by boring, vanilla characters. Morrison in '06 as Johnny Nitro was brilliant. Morrison today, while I mark for him, is just boring. I think you guys get my point. No one sticks out because they're just the same old cartoon character coming down the ramp. The way WWE uses PG hampers these young mens' potential. Plus the Divas can't wrestle right? Throw them in a kiddie pool filled with mud with bikinis on. Like Dawn Marie/Torrie Wilson in that Thanksgiving Smackdown match. At least they'll be fun to watch.
 
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