John Cena's Latest Injury Update Ensures WWE Must Further Lean on Fresh Stars

With the moment that John Cena rides back onto the WWE landscape not coming for a while, there will be more room for the company's emerging stars to climb toward the ring he has long stood on.

WWE's cornerstone for over a decade is set to not only miss WrestleMania, but months-worth of shows beyond that. It's a frustrating update for WWE officials, but one that Dean Ambrose, Cesaro and others have to see as a prime opportunity.

Cena has been out since early January, recovering from shoulder surgery. Fans speculated whether he could pull off a miracle in order to get back to the ring before The Shows of Shows. Instead, it looks as if it won't be until well into the summer before he is adjusting attitudes again.

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Wrestling Inc), the internal expectation is that Cena will be out until July.

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That would have him miss at least three pay-per-views following WrestleMania—Payback, Extreme Rules, Battleground. That means three more months without him on Raw. It means WWE won't be able to plug a highly reliable draw in any marquee spots for most of 2016.

Once WrestleMania comes and goes, star power at the top will lessen elsewhere as well. Triple H is likely to not be WWE champ anymore. Undertaker and Shane McMahon will likely scale back their roles. Who knows how much Brock Lesnar will be around?

All that adds up to center stage being less crowded.

WWE is already investing in a number of fresh faces, but more Cena-less time will force the company to keep it up. Ambrose is set for a semi-main event match at WrestleMania, Roman Reigns is poised to become world champion. And two former NXT titleholders in Kalisto and Kevin Owens are heading into WrestleMania with the U.S. and Intercontinental Championships in hand respectively.

Until July, Cena won't be around to challenge Reigns or tangle with Ambrose. He won't be thrust back into the U.S. title scene.

That will translate into WWE asking less established stars to take up those roles.

And the roster is loaded with wrestlers armed with plenty of potential. This is a good time as any to lean on those warriors and see if that potential can lead to true stardom. 

Ambrose is looking every bit like the top babyface WWE has tried to position Reigns as. As PWInsider's Dave Scherer wrote of The Lunatic Fringe, "If they push him properly and protect him, he has showed he can be a top-of-the-card guy."

Bray Wyatt would be an intriguing challenger for Reigns' title. Reigniting their feud with higher stakes and brighter lights would serve as a test run for both men as marquee wrestlers.

Making Owens more of a priority, having him hold tight to the IC crown and face top-flight competition is more of a possibility with Cena's absence creating a void.

Cesaro is poised to come back from his own shoulder surgery. Pushing him is a no-brainer. Chris Schubert of Today's Knockout offered WWE advice on how to showcase him, "Give him a title, booking meaningful feuds and let the guy go for 20 minutes and every pay-per-view."

Cena's extended absence should be seen as a chance to experiment. See who most affects viewership and who looks most like the next flag-bearer of the company.