10 Reasons John Cena Is This Generation's Mitsuharu Misawa

Despite the criticisms against him, John Cena does what’s best for the company, even if he might personally dislike some of it. His reputation as a workhorse who sacrifices everything for WWE is legendary, and he does PR better than pretty much anyone else.

Even if some of his promos might be terrible, he swallows his pride and says what he’s told to. Finally, he takes very few breaks from WWE, fully aware of his important he is to the show. That’s how much passion he has for wrestling, and how important it is for him to be on the show.

This is (almost) the exact same level of sacrifice and passion Misawa demonstrated throughout his career. He worked tirelessly to ensure that his promotion was successful, even at the expense of his own health. By the late 2000s, his body was falling apart, but he kept wrestling not for his own sake, but for his wrestlers’ well-being and paychecks. 

The only real difference in this regard is that Misawa actually fought AJPW’s bookers in order to improve his fellow wrestlers’ lives, which is something that Cena hasn’t really been known for. Misawa left AJPW and formed NOAH because the company didn’t want to change their business models, even after he had spent years trying to make life better for his compatriots.