John Cena sits proudly as the top babyface in WWE. It's no coincidence that he also shifts the most merchandise for the company. At every TV taping, pay-per-view and house show, hundreds and hundreds of children arrive adorned with all manner of 'Never Give Up' paraphernalia in various bright colours. It seems that a WWE superstar's position within the company is judged almost entirely by how much merchandise they shift. The company's protection of Cena cannot be a coincidence, given that he still beats pretty much every superstar in terms of merchandise sales. The same goes for Dean Ambrose, who has seen his push accelerated in almost direct proportion to the number of "unstable" t-shirts on show in the crowd. On the flipside, guys like Cesaro are not as marketable to fans - particularly young ones - and therefore have not received an accompanying push. This is the wrong way to run a wrestling company. It shouldn't be the case that the measure of a wrestler's success is how many people want to buy a gym towel with their name written on it.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
