10 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About Brock Lesnar & John Cena's History

1. Cena Would Have Less WWE World Titles If Lesnar Never Left

The final point is opinion more than fact, but needs to be stated anyway. That point is that nobody benefited from Lesnar's absence more than Cena. When Lesnar left WWE in 2004 it left a huge void and nobody took advantage of the opportunity more than Cena. During that period there were three guys that were seen as the future of the company: Lesnar, Cena & Orton. Guys like Batista were there too, but he was older. These three were in their 20s and they were the ones WWE wanted to build around. Two out of those three worked out as decade long stars that are still going today. Lesnar came back although we can't ignore ten years away either. Cena likely would have been a big star whether Lesnar was there or not, but it certainly helped his cause that Lesnar tried out for the NFL and ended up in the UFC. Vince McMahon invested millions in Lesnar with a reported contract that was ten years long and when Lesnar left suddenly in 2004 there were all kind of legal problems that both sides had to go through. While we don't expect Cena to personally thank Lesnar for leaving WWE ten years ago and opening the door for his singles career to blossom at a faster rate, it's definitely notable that Cena became a big deal once Lesnar was out of the company.