Last time I remember talking about John Cena being injured and possibly taking time off, he ended up not taking any time off and bounced back like he usually does. That was earlier this year, when Brock Lesnar "injured" Cena in the same manner as he would later "injure" Triple H and Shawn Michaels. This time, it seems real.
There were initially some conflicting reports on how long Cena will miss action, like there usually is in situations like this, but Cena himself gave some info about how long he will be out. He will be out for over a month. Big Show has been scheduled to cover house shows for him. Cena may very well end up missing a title match against CM Punk at Hell in a Cell.
Just because Cena is injured, that does not mean he will not still show up on Raw for promos. It will depend on him, his doctor, and the WWE. Of course, it is more fun to talk about what will happen if you do get no Cena for about a month. Last time this kind of thing happened was all the way back in 2008. Cena was injured and missed about two months. Chris Jericho got a good push during that time. CM Punk would be the obvious choice to benefit in the next few weeks. The WWE Champion might finally start getting main-event attention without Cena needing to be involved again. But who is pushed as the top face until Cena returns? Smackdown has Sheamus, so he is out. Would they really turn Big Show completely face for this? Seeing as how you will only need a face to work on Raw to further some kind of feud with Punk, they could go with Randy Orton. He has that movie, but it is not impossible to make a movie and still have a part-time push in the WWE. Cena has made a few movies in the past few years. How much time has he missed on Raw for that? You also have Rey Mysterio. Point is, you have options.
If Cena does miss time on Raw, seeing what happens to the ratings will be very interesting. Football season is already here and making an impact on Raw's ratings. Three hours of Raw are already causing lower ratings. In the last few weeks with this 3-hour format, Raw has failed to average at least a 3.0. Cena is pushed as the centerpiece. He is the top guy. Ratings are already doing badly with him there, but what will happen when he is away, if he does leave? A huge bump in ratings is not going to be likely. If Cena is so vital, you would assume ratings to dip without him. However, if ratings don't, is that even more reason to start developing a new centerpiece or change how you handle the booking altogether?
No comments:
Post a Comment