Will Cena Save The Day?

Raw's ratings have been pretty terrible this year. The annual average for 2016 so far is already below the average for 2015, and we haven't even touched football season yet. Obviously, the WWE will not be able to save themselves at this point.

One of the problems has been injuries. The WWE has lost people they would be pushing as top stars. That includes Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, and John Cena. John Cena is the only one I want to talk about here. He is due to return very soon. Will his return lead to at least some kind of ratings spike to help things before the WWE goes against NFL action?

Why is it even an issue to talk about John Cena and the ratings? Why not bring up Orton and Rollins? Because Cena has been pushed as the centerpiece for almost a decade. Even though Roman Reigns is the new guy, Cena obviously will not be buried. One of the justifications for Cena being pushed as hard as he has for a decade is because he is a draw. I have seen even his critics bring that up as a justification for Cena being where he is. Well, if there was ever a situation to test if Cena is a draw for the WWE, this is it. His new show on Fox certainly isn't pulling amazing numbers, but how will he do back on Raw? The star power there right now is obviously lacking. The WWE isn't creating any big angles that are producing results. If the return of John Cena can create a good boost to the ratings for a few weeks, then you have to give the WWE credit for what they have made with John Cena. If not, his critics might have even more to criticize him about. And you have to wonder if that would be a sign that the WWE won't get anywhere with Reigns. If they couldn't make Cena into a proper draw, what are they going to do with Reigns?

Do I think the return of Cena will be enough to bring results? No. He's not The Rock. You might get your ratings boost after PPVs, but there will likely be no substantial, lasting improvement just because of Cena. It all comes down to how he is pushed. Cena has benefited from frequently being a part of big storylines. How likely is it that he will get a big storyline when he returns? The big storyline right now, whether you say it is Shane/Stephanie or AJ/Reigns, is pretty dull. Cena getting involved in any of that might not improve it. I don't think he has the star power to interest the wider audience with just his presence in these storylines. The WWE will need to step up to create better hype. Simply continuing to run a product that speaks mainly to smarks isn't going to cut it. The WWE will never turn things around like this.