First, Cena's injury. Cena had just returned after a hiatus. He was not yet involved in anything too major, but the WWE would obviously want him around for Wrestlemania season. The WWE has obviously began pushing Roman Reigns as the new centerpiece, but John Cena is still one of the WWE's top guys. And there is a shortage of top guys right now. Randy Orton is out. Seth Rollins is out. The WWE is hesitant with Daniel Bryan. Is this another Wrestlemania season where the WWE will have to lean heavily on their top-tier part-timers, The Rock and Undertaker and Brock Lesnar?
What does this mean for Wrestlemania? I have seen the rumors about Cena taking on The Undertaker. I wasn't even ready to pencil that in to talk about it. The WWE has been very volatile recently. Part of it is obviously injuries ruining plans. Seth Rollins getting injured while holding the WWE Championship was the biggest injury of the last few months. Another thing that you sometimes see lead to the WWE changing plans is fan reactions. Roman Reigns seemingly winning over his haters recently seemed to motivate the WWE to change some things. When you put it all together, I would have waited to see how things played out. It doesn't matter too much what matches are suggested. What really matters are the matches they end up doing. There are plenty of part-timers and regulars still available to still build some great feuds.
How will Cena being out impact ratings? Ratings were not booming back up even with Cena back. They are not going to jump back up to over 4 million viewers and a 3.0 in the ratings just because football season ended. Raw got a 2.49 this week. That is around the same area as the week before. I know some people were expecting some kind of 10% increase. Numbers were disappointing. Considering January 2015 was disappointing, as well as the rest of the year, you really count not expect too much for the start of 2016. The WWE is in such a bad position, it seems no one man can really save them.
Onto AJ Styles. As I said, Cena getting injured changes what I originally had planned to say about AJ Styles and a few others coming to the WWE. Let me start by still saying what I had originally had planned.
I have said many times that the WWE needs to slow down with signing so many people. They are not doing a good job with the workers they have and many of these new guys they sign or are bringing back end up not being used right, either. They need to improve the quality of the product. Trying to create hype with all these signings, returns, repacking workers with new gimmicks, and other things like that is just not working. The only exception are those workers that really stand to energize the product and draw for you. The WWE can obviously use some of that.
AJ Styles does not fall into that category. I am not saying he isn't talented. I have said before that this is the guy TNA should have developed as their centerpiece. They never did. I don't care what he did in Japan. He doesn't have the star power to actually be a big boost for the struggling WWE main product. He will get a huge ovation from smarks, but the general audience will not care that much. Gail Kim made a big name for herself in TNA during her first run. The WWE brought her back. Her overness didn't carry over. Tensai/Albert made a name for himself in Japan. His return to the WWE was a flop. I am not saying AJ Styles will connect with the fans as poorly as that, but he is not someone that will draw for the WWE. He appeals to wrestling fans, fans already watching consistently for the sake of guys like Kevin Owens and Dean Ambrose. If he had developed some actual star power in TNA, it would be different.
And then Cena got injured. It isn't just him. There are a lot of men injured. The WWE has to be worried about any kind of injury for the few full-time top stars they have left. You also have to keep in mind that they like to make Wrestlemania a spectacle these days. It doesn't last just three hours. How will they fill all that time? Long matches and a lot of segments? Some people say Wrestlemania will still sell out. That is not the only issue. How about events in the months leading up to Wrestlemania? How about ratings? How about keeping fans interested even after Wrestlemania?
Because of the precarious position the WWE is in, I think bringing in AJ Styles, and the other names from Japan, is a good decision. They might be able to create something fresh very easily here. The WWE has not shown they are great with giving all their workers fair opportunities, and AJ Styles is unlikely to challenge Roman Reigns for his top spot, but the WWE has to be able to utilize AJ's potential better than TNA did. He might be able to develop some legitimate star power. The WWE cannot only treat him as some B+ player that is only good for appealing to wrestling fans. At the same time, they cannot foolishly buy into smarks getting excited and think this guy is more over than he really is. He will not save the WWE, but he can help the thinning roster.
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