WWE preparing for John Cena to leave wrestling

- There has been talk in WWE about John Cena's movie career. Cena has missed WWE shows to film The Nest and has already signed on to appear in Trainwreck. A few wrestlers have joked that Cena will soon appear "via satellite". There is speculation backstage that if his movie career takes off he could be the next big star to leave WWE for Hollywood.

While Cena will always be considered part of the WWE family, officials are preparing for the day that he decides to slow down and reduce his WWE schedule.

Credit: PWInsider
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Who is going to be there next Alway's Face Poster Boy?

SBR wrote:

Was Heel

So was John Cena

Reigns is pretty clearly being groomed for the spot. Barring injury, WM 31 is going to be his big passing of the torch moment. Brock or Cena will put him over for the belt.

Swarles wrote:So was John Cena

When? Even through the attitude era in the 200's he was face, when he faced CM Punk for the title McMahon wanted to call the match and they had cena stop the goon.

Even when he is slightly a heel, he still acts like a face.

You were probably just a twinkle if your fathers eye, but Cena was a heel in late 2002 and early 2003

Swarles wrote:You were probably just a twinkle if your fathers eye, but Cena was a heel in late 2002 and early 2003

16 time WWE champion

Swarles wrote:You were probably just a twinkle if your fathers eye, but Cena was a heel in late 2002 and early 2003

i stand corrected, also that was a good gimmick for him to start with, plus he got mad rhymes

GolfClubNinja wrote:

Swarles wrote:So was John Cena

When? Even through the attitude era in the 200's he was face, when he faced CM Punk for the title McMahon wanted to call the match and they had cena stop the goon.

Even when he is slightly a heel, he still acts like a face.

SMH

Reigns isn't the guy to replace Cena in my opinion.

Cena turned face at a Smackdown in Buffalo right before Survivor Series in 2003. That was my first wrestling show I attended live. If I only knew then what was to come.

Don't worry they can always hire his non union mexican equivalent

I don't think 1 man can truly replace Cena to be honest, it going be a small group of guys that will. While Reigns may be the guy that gets the world title/main events more often than anybody else ... will he be able to sell the merch that Cena has? Can he and/or the WWE brain trust come up with slogans, catch phases that will get him to Cena level? Will he be able to grant the amount of wishes Cena does? Ect...

Reigns at this point anyways I would compare his potential more to a Batista then to Cena.. a Nice #2 Power guy, who with the right people leading, he will be able to have some good matches, be over with a large amount of the crowd but not be the Internet fan favorite, make him and WWE a nice amount of money and after several years as a face will have a fun heel run.

Swarles wrote:You were probably just a twinkle if your fathers eye, but Cena was a heel in late 2002 and early 2003

do you have that street fight match?

Yes, so do you. It's on youtube.

I am not 100% sold on Reigns but he is better than a lot of critics give him credit for. Look, no one is going to "replace" Cena, but as far as the #1 face, that is pretty clearly their direction for him right now. I think they need to take their time and keep him in the ring with guys that can help him along, but he is better than a lot of other options. He is more fluid than and will ultimately be a better wrestler than Batista


If I had my way Dragon would get healthy and they would put the strap on him for a long time and let him carry the ball. But I am not the WWE.

My absolute biggest problem with Reigns is that I find him dreadful on the mic and in segments. In ring, he's decent, a bit limited on what you can expect (spear/superman punch/repeat) but still decent. If Reigns was a bit less monotone vocally and just added a powerslam or belly to belly suplex to his arsenal? I'd be pretty okay with him.

The merch issue will be real interesting with Reigns because I'm really not sure what you do to merch the guy, how many black t-shirts are parents going to buy for their kids

And it's not like "Assess & Attack" is this generation's "Austin 3:16" either.

It really isn't how the guy is now. Give the WWE the tools and let him be booked decently and he'll get over. Selling shirts is easy, have you seen any of Cena's past few shirts, they're all atrocious and ugly. People will buy anything as long as it has their favorite wrestler's name, logo, or face on it.

Reigns currently has the fanbase and a crowd reaction to really get going his mic skills are not Lashley bad, he's got the Batista air about him and hey Batista got super over despite that so in the end even if he's hated by the smarks if the casual fan likes him it won't really matter.

But the thing about Cena's shirts, sure we might think they're ugly but kids love them, they get new colors every few months and it's awesome, I'm not saying Reigns won't sell shirts because he 100% will, and i'm sure they'll sell a ton of wrist guards so kids can do the thing he does before the superman punch, but I just don't see him being able to replace Cena's merch numbers unless they overhaul his look and character to make it more marketable

Yeah, if really look at Cena he is the perfect merch mover because he appeals to kids and the adults who fund them. Kids are where the money is. Older fans are probably less likely to buy shirts, at least more than one or two. If they are going to buy they are probably more likely to buy shirts away from the live show. Kids force impulse buys and "experience" related buys. Lots of people buy merch at live shows, but I would bet that a huge percentage of the sales are for families who go and everyone buys a shirt (and maybe a hot and a wristband) and a program and maybe a belt because it is a big event for the kids in the family. It is like Disney. Cena appeals to the people who go to wrestling shows like it is a Disney trip.

WWE is gonna not just need reigns, they can have some to sell merch and others for good matches (rusev, cesaro, wyatts to name some), and don't forget Zayn,Breeze or Neville in the future. Then again guys we would not expect rise out of nowhere, like Bo or Sandow (JK!).

They can't just draw with one guy after Cena leaves, but having reigns at the forefront is a good idea.