Why Vince McMahon is in No Hurry to Move on from John Cena

Don’t be surprised if Vince McMahon sticks with John Cena as his guy.

At Battleground, all three former Shield members will clash in a much-anticipated triple threat match for the WWE Championship; the champion Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins, and Roman Reigns. While on paper, the three are vying for the richest prize in all of wrestling, perhaps even more significantly, they are fighting for the position of “the man” in WWE. Especially with Roman Reigns’ suspension, the top spot is wide open for Rollins or Ambrose to take.

However, with all the controversy and scandal involving what happened to Reigns, it would not come as a surprise if Vince decided to play it safe and stick with the guy of the last 14 years, John Cena. Since his crushing defeat at the hands of Brock Lesnar at the 2014 Summerslam, Cena has resided in the upper mid-card, tasked with restoring the United States championship to prominence.

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Kevin Owens’ WWE career shot straight into the stratosphere when he not only had an amazing match with Cena, but pinned him clean

Though Cena won all of his US open challenges up until he lost it clean to a returning Alberto Del Rio, Cena’s role was to essentially put his opponents over by having competitive matches and making them look good. Talents such as Neville, Cesaro, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Seth Rollins benefited from having match of the night on Raw during Cena’s reign as US champion. Kevin Owens’ WWE career shot straight into the stratosphere when he not only had an amazing match with Cena, but pinned him clean. Since then, Owens has become one of the most popular stars on the main roster, rivaling that of the Shield members, despite not holding the WWE Championship; all due to his series of matches with Cena.

Although Cena’s role ever since he main-evented back to back Wrestlemanias in 2012 and 2013 has been to lay the foundation for the future and create new stars in the court of public opinion, don’t be surprised if Vince once again turns to Cena to become the standard-bearer, a role that Cena has taken on TV as “the face that runs the place” who the future must go through.

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Vince’s like and appreciation for John Cena extends beyond Cena’s look and charisma, although both of those qualities certainly endeared Cena towards the boss. Nevermind his “lack of ‘wrestling abllity'”, Cena has proven to be one hell of a worker; dependable and gives clutch performances in huge matches throughout his career, earning the moniker “Big Match John” from JBL. Neither Hogan nor Austin in their days as the top guy were known for their technical prowess, but Cena is definitely in that conversation as far as being able to go in the ring is concerned.

If WWE were to bring back those “Desire” videos during the late 90s and early 2000s, Cena would most certainly have one made about him

Outside of the ring, Cena’s passion is WWE; he eats, sleeps, and breathes WWE. He speaks fluent Mandarin simply because he wants to help expand WWE’s presence abroad to China. If WWE were to bring back those “Desire” videos during the late 90s and early 2000s, Cena would most certainly have one made about him. His work ethic is unparalleled; the first guy to arrive and the last to leave. Cena has made the most Make-A-Wishes in the history of that organization. When he isn’t wearing his trademark jorts, Cena’s exudes what a professional athlete is supposed to dress like and how to carry themselves with his sharp suits. All in all, in the eyes of Vince McMahon, John Cena is the model WWE superstar.

However, perhaps most telling, is that John Cena is Vince McMahon’s longest tenured homegrown megastar. Cena has been with WWE for 14 years, and for each of those 14 years, Cena was always either in a meaningful program, or in the title picture, whether it was the US, the World Heavyweight, or the WWE Championship. The lowest he’s ever gone down the card is to the mid-card.

A common criticism levied towards Vince was that he never made his own stars

A common criticism levied towards Vince was that he never made his own stars, especially the top guys he would build his company around. He inherited Bruno Sammartino from his father. He acquired Hulk Hogan from AWA, Bret Hart from Stampede, Austin from WCW (with the genesis of the “Stone Cold” persona originating in ECW), and Punk from ROH.

However, during the post-Attitude Ruthless Aggression era, Vince had finally developed his own homegrown talent through the company’s developmental territory, OVW. Here, Vince found stars in Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Batista, and John Cena, with the latter three being the three top guys during the PG Era after Brock departed WWE.

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Prior to that OVW class, the only true megastar that Vince could claim as his very own was The Rock, however, Rock would only be with the company for seven years before he left for Hollywood. Cena’s entire run is double that of The Rock at an impressive 14 years. In fact, Cena’s tenure as the top guy eclipses Hogan’s run (1983-1993), Bret’s run (1994-1997), and Austin’s run (1998-2003), making him perhaps the most durable main eventer Vince has ever had.

Cena is the quintessential company man. He is unabashedly loyal to WWE, and will most likely be a lifer when he hangs up his boots. Much like his catchphrase, “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect”, Cena’s loyalty to Vince and WWE is probably the defining reason as to why he has been Vince’s paradigm for nearly 15 years.

Much like how Sting was labeled as WCW’s franchise player, John Cena is very much the franchise of WWE

He has the look and the charisma. He can talk on the mic. He gives clutch performances in big time matches. He’s durable and dependable. He draws crowds and consistently gets a reaction from the crowd on a nightly basis. He moves an insane amount of merchandise. He’s charitable and the consummate professional, on a level that is equal to other professional athletes in other sports. Much like how Sting was labeled as WCW’s franchise player, John Cena is very much the franchise of WWE; it’s not just a lyric on Cena’s entrance theme, he truly is Vince’s franchise player.

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Above all else, Cena is loyal to Vince. During Vince’s time as the boss, Vince has seen many of his top guys leave for greener pastures. Over the years, Vince has had strained relations with many of his money-making, company-carrying main eventers. Bruno. Hogan. Bret. Austin. Brock. Punk. And yet, out of all those names, it is John Cena who has remained by his side, with WWE, from beginning to now. And that is perhaps the biggest reason why Vince won’t be so quick to move on from John Cena.

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