If you are a WWE fan of a few years, you may remember a faction called the Nexus. They were a gang that forced John Cena to join their group in order to push their nefarious agenda. Cena, while tested, eventually triumphed against this group- some would say almost single handed and at no time rise to the temptation of leading the group himself, nor seemed to lose any of his personality that grated against so many in the IWC. If you remember mid-2011, you'll remember the famous pipe bomb that CM Punk dropped, complaining that John Cena was a brown noser and his underdog status was nothing more than a facade to hide the fact that the WWE had given him everything on a platter while CM Punk had to scratch and claw for his winnings. However, Cena did not seem unsettled by this new challenge, nor did it seem to change his personality in any substantial way. He just kept being the leader of the Cenation. At both occasions the WWE had stars that were rising fast. Randy Orton was incredibly prominent at the time of the Nexus, while CM Punk during the time of his pipe bomb and after became huge. Furthermore, these were two occasions where Cena himself was under pressure and found his character threatened by people who were actually pointing out some fair claims. My point is that, if they wanted to turn John Cena heel, those were two perfect times to do it- there was an experienced rising star in waiting and the justification in turning Cena heel would have been strong. But both times, the WWE decided not to pull the trigger. Had they done so, they could have given these new rising stars an amazing feud and allowed them to be put over while passing the torch to someone who could carry the company for the future. And that really is the nub of this article, because now the WWE finds itself in a vacuum where Cena as a character is exhausted but absolutely essential as there is nobody around at the moment who he can pass that torch to. Orton is now out of the title picture and Punk, after working his posterior off for 18 months is taking a well-earned break. So the question is, have the WWE left it too late? And with more and more injuries beginning to nag Cena- a wrestler who has had a great record with injury before this- the WWE may find that it needs more and more to relieve some of his burden. It may not be too late to turn Cena heel- another star may rise to take the burden. But the WWE needs to be ready to take the risk. Because being cautious is not doing John Cena any favours.