8 WWE Superstars Who Could Have Surpassed John Cena As “The Guy”
Oh, what could have been.
From Bruno Sammartino to Hulk Hogan to Stone Cold Steve Austin, every era in WWE has had someone leading the charge as the face of the company. Once Austin called it a career and The Rock made the transition to the silver screen in the early 2000s, John Cena slowly but surely took over that role starting in 2005 when he won his first WWE Championship.
He's had a longer run on top than almost anyone else. Although he's become a part-timer in recent years and only appears every few months, the company still sees him as "the guy", despite having a number of fresh faces (a.k.a. potential replacements) waiting in the wings.
That isn't to say they haven't tried to phase Cena out of the spotlight before, however; there have been countless instances over the years where they have attempted to have someone succeed Cena but to no avail.
These eight stars in particular could have been a worthy replacement for Cena as the face of the franchise, but for whatever reason, they failed to fulfill their full potential.
8. Sheamus
It's no secret that officials had high hopes for Sheamus to be a top-tier talent in the company when he was called up from FCW to the main roster in mid-2009. Within a matter of months, he moved from ECW to Raw and became the first-ever Irish-born WWE champion by beating - who else - John Cena.
The victory came in relatively clean fashion as well (though it was a tables match), which was a major endorsement of the newcomer. Unfortunately, the aftermath was atrocious. He barely escaped his subsequent title defenses against Cena and Randy Orton with his title intact before dropping the strap at Elimination Chamber, never to receive his rightful rematch.
Yes, he was placed in a pretty prominent spot at WrestleMania XXVI in a match with Triple H, but lest we forget, he lost on that night. He went on to win his second WWE Championship that summer, but he was booked like a cowardly heel champion and not the destroyer he should have been.
It wasn't until early 2012 that WWE largely protected him in hopes he could be a breakout babyface on Cena's level. There's no denying he was popular with a majority of the audience, but it quickly became clear that his character had no depth and he was much better off as a heel.