10 Reasons John Cena Is This Generation's Mitsuharu Misawa
6. He Brings In Viewers Consistently And The Shows Suffer Without Him
John Cena’s presence on WWE programming is crucial to its ratings; so much so that the company experiences severe drops in ratings whenever he disappears from TV. In fact, according to weekly ratings reviews, Cena’s segments on RAW are the ones that are viewed the most.
Moreover, in 2011, WWE put the WWEWHC on Alberto del Rio; but when ratings dipped, the company panicked and put the belt back on Cena, aware of his superior drawing power.
Cena’s influence on ratings is identical to Misawa’s importance to NOAH’s survival during the 2000s. Although he only booked himself into the World Title picture as a last-ditch effort to boost ratings, by 2007, that was a major factor in keeping the company competitive.
For a decade, NOAH’s survival depended almost entirely on Misawa, which led to him showing up at every show in order to keep fan interests consistent. Although that says a lot about how beloved Misawa was by the Japanese wrestling audience, it also left NOAH with few options outside of putting him on the show.
Misawa’s inability to stay off NOAH programming without the show suffering is one that Cena finds himself in currently. WWE must find a way to create new stars as soon as possible, so that they don’t end up depending on an ageing Cena to carry the program going forward.