WWE Extreme Rules 2012: John Cena and Stars with Most to Prove

The WWE Extreme Rules PPV is almost here, and there are a ton of questions that need to be answered.

Is John Cena washed up? Will CM Punk be able to successfully defend his title against Chris Jericho? Will Sheamus-Daniel Bryan last more than 20 seconds?

While it may not be the premiere PPV event, many of the biggest stars of WWE are currently at a crossroad. Extreme Rules will help clear everything up.  

Here are the three superstars who have the most to prove Sunday night in Chicago.

Match Card:

United States Championship: Santino Marella vs. The Miz

Divas Championship: Nikki Bella vs. Beth Phoenix

Randy Orton vs. Kane

Big Show vs. Cody Rhodes

WWE Title Match: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

World Title Match: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena

John Cena

Cena hasn’t been able to “Rise Above” his defeat to The Rock last month and is going to be in a very difficult position if he loses.

After getting his lip bloodied with an F-5 and being seemly dominated by Lesnar in their brief interactions, it seems like Cena’s confidence is at an all-time low right now.

He has to beat Lesnar to show him that he can’t just take eight years off and come back expecting to dominate. Cena is the WWE, and I fully expect him to remind us of as much.

Chris Jericho

His comeback has featured lots of losses and little success. With Y2J likely leaving WWE again this summer to re-join his band, he has to win something.

My guess is that he defeats Punk, pours a bunch of whiskey on him, and the feud rolls on into SummerSlam.

There is no way Jericho would have agreed to return without being guaranteed some sort of championship belt. If he loses, the feud with Punk would be all but over, and the WWE would have no real direction to take for Jericho with only a limited amount of time left.

Daniel Bryan

After the embarrassment that was WrestleMania, Bryan is in deep trouble if Sheamus beats him again. We all know AJ is going to be involved somehow, but Bryan needs a clean win to ensure his fanbase doesn’t bail on him.

Bryan is teetering on taking the next level to superstardom, but he needs a convincing win without the help of AJ to continue down that path. He is possibly the best pure wrestler in WWE right now, and he needs to show as much on Sunday.

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.