Who REALLY Carried WWE Every Year (1985-2026)

If someone was feeling brave enough, then they could throw a spanner in the works for 2010 by claiming that Nexus carried the promotion's TV from the summer onwards. That'd be fair, but they needed a focal point to target, and that man was John Cena. So, in other words, (and rather ironically given what happened next) it's Cena that squashes this group of upstarts.

Their storyline hogged the headlines in 2010, but Cena was prevalent throughout all of it. He won the WWE Title at Elimination Chamber before losing it to Batista minutes later, then fought Dave in killer bouts at 'Mania XXVI, a 'Last Man Standing' effort at Extreme Rules, then in an 'I Quit' cracker at Over The Limit.

Coming along at just the right time, the Nexus story started in June. Sure, squashing the faction at SummerSlam was a low point, and so was Cena joining the group for a cup of coffee, but he was still WWE's main guy and the one Vince McMahon relied upon to sell merchandise, tickets and pay-per-views. No WWE Network or modern-day PLE structure quite yet, people.

WWE needed featured attractions and trusted box office talent to shift buys on monthly PPVs, and Cena was the most trusted of all. His walking cartoon character approach was grating on older fans who wanted raucous 'Attitude' and 'Ruthless Aggression' from their top babyface, but you can't deny how important John was to everything the E banged out as a new decade dawned.

Besides, that vocal portion of the fanbase grumbling around his presentation would get their man the very next year.