11 WWE Stars Quickly Elevated From Secondary To World Championships

3. John Cena (2005)

Another one that everybody saw coming, and at the time was actually welcomed. As of early 2005, Cena was the accepted next big thing, and was popular with the majority of the audience, if you can believe it. By the time Cena earned a WWE title shot against interminable despot JBL at WrestleMania 21, he still possessed the United States title. As if Cena's WrestleMania moment wasn't already telegraphed enough, he would drop the US title five weeks before the marquee pay-per-view to JBL's toady, Orlando Jordan, on Smackdown. What followed would be the first of about 613 World title reigns for Cena, although at first, the consensus was happy for him. Then Cena was drafted over to Raw and the 'We've Cena Nuff' venom came spitting out.