John Cena: How WWE Could Lose Their Top Man For Good If He Does Not Take Time Off Soon

John Cena has been the man in WWE for over 10 years now. Starting in the WWE in 2002, Cena has been a key member of the roster and has shown that he is certainly worthy of all the success he has had. He gets hate a lot from fans of all kinds, but he might be the best ambassador the WWE has ever hired. His work with charities and make-a-wish has been tremendous.

His popularity today might be at the highest it has ever been. He is a proven draw of whom the WWE loves to attach themselves to. However, that is where the problem starts. Due to the fact that WWE has lost several legends such as Shawn Michaels, The Rock, Steve Austin, Undertaker, and several others from active, day-to-day work….Cena is the left to be the top draw.

WWE has tried to mask this issue by bringing legends in from time to time. They have even gone out and brought back past names such as Batista, Rob Van Dam, Chris Jericho, and Brock Lesnar to help throughout the year as all four men are able to still contribute in a big way for TV.

WWE is in a transitional period where they find themselves developing the stars of the future, of which will be big for them 5 years from now. That is a big issue though as WWE needs success now and not just in the next 5 years. While all the young guys now will be big for WWE’s future, a business does not take time off for you to get your crap together.

Due to this, WWE puts a lot of pressure on John Cena. He is the only major draw they have these days that can be with WWE realistically week in and week out. While CM Punk was becoming a household name, he is now gone from the company and may never be back.

Daniel Bryan was slowly rising in popularity and was becoming a key part of WWE’s future plans. However, unexpected injuries have sidelined him for an indefinite period of time. So Cena is left all alone, being the only active guy WWE can turn to for help.

Sure, the young guys are great for WWE. Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns are becoming stars. Sadly, that is the problem. They are becoming….they aren’t yet stars. Cena is. So WWE has to put everything into him and that, in essence, is killing Cena’s long-term wrestling career and potentially hindering his future health.

WWE has seen in the past that using Cena too much can lead to injuries for the former WWE Champion. At one point, WWE was set to write Cena off TV in 2012 after he won against Brock Lesnar. They did not, causing Cena to need surgery due to bone chips in his elbow. He was away for WWE seemingly for a few months. He came back to WWE earlier than anticipated, and has been with them since…only missing small periods of time.

In the past, Cena has missed time due to herniated discs, torn tendons, and other random injuries. Most of them come from wear and tear in the ring over long-term wrestling. Cena rarely takes time off and he returns as early as possible from injury, which is always risky. If one returns too early, the repaired bone, tendon, etc. may not have had adequate time to heal. This can lead to being reinjured, or simply compensating with another part of the body, exposing it to issues.

Usually, Cena plays injured. This has been a fact for years with him. Over the last 2 months, it has been stated that Cena is running with half a tank and nursing several injuries from shoulder problems to neck issues. This does not include the fact that he has started to slow up walking backstage and even inside the ring over the past year.

Going back to bone chips he had, this is something that happens when you’re hurt and continue to expose the same problem area over and over to what it causing it to be hurt to begin with. In 2012, that is exactly what Cena did and has remained doing so in WWE causing more issues that could happen well beyond the minor bone chips problem.

While this is minor in comparison to other things he could have had at this time, Cena is now in a bad position once more. What is surprising is that WWE has not even come close to removing him from the ring. They have had him do more tag matches to let him rest a bit, but that is about it. He has still been seen doing live events.

The problem with this is, WWE is exposing Cena to more and more problems. John Cena is young enough that he could work another 5-7 years with his ring style. The problem is that WWE does not give him much time off. When he is not wrestling, he is doing media. The lack of time off can literally break a body.

At this rate, Cena is running on fumes and his nagging injuries could turn into serious ones. Cena will go as long as WWE wants him to, because he truly loves the business. WWE realizes however, that Cena does have some Hollywood love. Due to this, they realize that his career in the ring eventually has to end and could sooner than later if his career in Hollywood goes well.

This would also allow Cena to remove himself from a place that continues to kill his body. If used like this continuously, if he is not seriously hurt, Cena only has a good 2 years before he will literally be done all together.

A body, even one as ripped and in shape as Cena’s, cannot hold up to the kind of punishment he has put it through.

Cena needs time off to rest the injuries soon or he may not be able to be around ever again, costing WWE much more. So does WWE allow themselves to be prisoners of the moment or leaders of their long-term success?

WWE feels that need Cena, which is why over the last 10 years he has taken time off only when hurt. At the end of the day however, in that 10 year span WWE could have made other stars to be there alongside Cena. Meanwhile, they rode the hell out of the past names as well as Cena. Now, Cena is the only one left who is full time….and no star is with him.

Now WWE is building stars, and that is wonderful. However, it is being done in a time where only Cena is the major star and WWE has to keep him around or risk losing ratings for TV and buys for the WWE Network. A break could have been taken if another few stars were near Cena’s level.

So WWE’s past has now caught up with them, in essence.

John Cena is now exposed as a broken guy trying to do all he can for WWE. This is simply a case of a company riding their best horse until it dies. In reality, WWE could have had many horses but chose to keep only one good, top horse. Now they realize they need more, but it’s too late. So now this horse has to run until its death.

Cena is risking his career the longer he wrestles hurt. The injuries he currently has are very dangerous. WWE obviously feels he is fine and won’t be letting him work light. Cena is filming some movies in Hollywood this Fall, so he can stay away from live events a bit and only work TV. However, whether TV or not, he is risking a lot unless he only does promos….even a tag match could end it.

At the end of the day, WWE has a decision to make. Lose Cena for a few months after Night of Champions or continue to use him. It will be doubtful WWE will want to let Cena take time off, so we shall watch until the golden boy’s Midas touch is gone and WWE’s gold will turn into nothing.

[IMG Credits: Google, WWE.com]