John Cena: Can the WWE Get Their Ratings Without Him in the Main Event Scene

In a surprising turn of events, the WWE has not used its star player, John Cena, for over a week since being attacked by Mark Henry and Kane on the December 19 episode of Raw. Cena would then not appear on the TLC PPV last Sunday and then on this most recent Raw. Unfortunately, the Cena free Raw did not do wonders for the ratings, drawing a 2.92, continuing a continual slide over the past couple of months.

This is not so surprising as the NFL season and Monday Night Football, in particular, is murder for the ratings of pro wrestling promotions, even during booms like the Monday Night War. So with the season winding down and Cena not on TV at the moment, the question becomes, can the WWE still be a ratings earner without their top superstar John Cena?

If there is ever a time to test this theory, this would be it as the WWE now has two former indy stars as its World Champions, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, and a superstar who earned his push through an Internet campaign through his web show, Zack Ryder. If the WWE really wanted to test and build the drawing power of these three wrestlers, they should start now.

There are rumors that the WWE is banking on CM Punk's return to his hometown of Chicago to get a huge boost to ratings. The problem here is that while Chicago will give Punk a huge pop, Punk needs to show that he can draw elsewhere outside of his hometown. That's what separates the stars from the legends, is that they could bring in huge crowds or TV revenue outside of their safe zones of hometowns or areas where they started wrestling like many of the wrestlers from ECW and the love fest that they get in Philadelphia.

Guys like the Rock, Undertaker, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and Shawn Michaels showed that they were legends as they brought people in by the the droves. Cena has shown that a bit as his character thrives in the PG era which is aimed to younger fans, but if the focus of the promotion changes, his drawing power may be in trouble.

So for the WWE to see if they can get back to the ratings that they had earlier this year, they need to make new top stars, because let's face it, John Cena won't be around forever. If the worst case scenario happens and he gets injured to the point that he has to retire, the WWE would be up a creek without a paddle in terms of stars with drawing power.

So for all intensive purposes, the WWE is on the right path by giving the pushes that they have to Bryan, Punk, and Ryder, but if they drop the ball, they may find themselves in another ratings drought like they were in during the early to mid 90s.

So, can the WWE still get good ratings without John Cena? Of course, but it all depends on finding the right star that can bring the fans in who are willing to spend their hard earned money on the WWE product.

It just depends on who that person is.