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WWE Super Show-Down 2018 marked another senseless appearance for John Cena, who teamed up with Bobby Lashley to defeat Elias and Kevin Owens.
Credit: WWE / TwitterCredit: WWE / Twitter
Cena observed this trend this year, while WWE had very little success in "The Champ" as his Hollywood career continued to take off. In 2018, Cena only had a few appearances in WWE programs, and virtually none of them was really significant. At Royal Rumble 2018, Cena made a rather forgotten appearance in the 30-man Royal Rumble match. He then followed up with a very strange fight with WrestleMania 34 with The Undertaker (when Taker did not even appear on television before pay-per-view), a unique match against Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble later in the months and then his most recent appearance in a random team match at the Super Show-Down.
What a remarkable waste of the man who was labeled The biggest draw in the WWE since the era of Attitude and who, at Super Show-Down, hinted that the future of WWE was uncertain.
In recent years, WWE has struggled to create stars that can be considered identical draws. Cena is one of the few exceptions. Although Cena was recently adopted by Roman Reigns as the company's leading freight carrier, Cena is perhaps the only remaining star that consistently makes a marked and measurable difference as a must-see attraction. In fact, an analysis of Fightful.com 2017 showed that Reigns did not live up to Cena while the YouTube audience survey site in 2017 showed that Cena was ranking also among the best in this category. Ditto for a 2018 analysis that showed that the power of Cena's attraction is still strong.
Indeed, Cena is essentially responsible for two successful exploits that might surprise you. At the end of 2016, Cena's return to SmackDown catapulted the blue mark to a Raw ranking victory, the first and only time in its history. Just two months later, after Cena's return to SmackDown, SmackDown beat Raw in terms of live support, while the red mark was the undisputed king of the WWE.
Of course, this shows how much WWE can get out of Cena when it's used to maximize its power of attraction. A random team fight without a story behind, however, is not exactly the solution.
The new philosophy of WWE is that the brand counts more than individual stars, but Cena's stars are what made the brand what it is today. While the WWE network recently peaked with an average paid subscriber base of 1.8 million in the second quarter of 2018, a record in its history, a look at the key performance indicators of the company shows that the number of WWE subscribers has always declined in Q3 and Q4. year.
This can be attributed to a wide variety of factors, including the low booking rate and the questionable use of part-time stars, ranging from Lesnar to The Undertaker, via Triple H. Cena. WWE Star should find something better for. Beyond his quarrel with Reigns in 2017, Cena has not done much in the last 18 months, which can only be described as a missed opportunity when he became the "next megastar of Hollywood" and that he has the power to attract with that.
Cena may not be The Rock, but it's the closest thing to WWE for Rock at the moment. And society must take advantage of it by reserving it in brand quarrels, big scenarios and great moments on the rare occasions when it is around it. After all, it's impossible to say how long Cena, which is not advertised for future WWE shows, will remain an active ring superstar for WWE as his acting career continues to take off.
This means that the WWE should give up team fights by pedestrians or random solo matches for "The Champ" in glorified shows. No, WWE needs to find a way to utilize Cena's talents by involving him in as many dream matches as possible.
Before it's too late.
Blake Oestriecher is a primary school teacher by day and a sports writer at night. It contributes to @ForbesSports, where he mainly covers the WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
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WWE Super Show-Down 2018 marked another senseless appearance for John Cena, who teamed up with Bobby Lashley to defeat Elias and Kevin Owens.
Credit: WWE / TwitterCredit: WWE / Twitter
Cena observed this trend this year, while WWE had very little success in "The Champ" as his Hollywood career continued to take off. In 2018, Cena only had a few appearances in WWE programs, and virtually none of them was really significant. At Royal Rumble 2018, Cena made a rather forgotten appearance in the 30-man Royal Rumble match. He then followed up with a very strange fight with WrestleMania 34 with The Undertaker (when Taker did not even appear on television before pay-per-view), a unique match against Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble later in the months and then his most recent appearance in a random team match at the Super Show-Down.
What a remarkable waste of the man who was labeled The biggest draw in the WWE since the era of Attitude and who, at Super Show-Down, hinted that the future of WWE was uncertain.
In recent years, WWE has struggled to create stars that can be considered identical draws. Cena is one of the few exceptions. Although Cena was recently adopted by Roman Reigns as the company's leading freight carrier, Cena is perhaps the only remaining star that consistently makes a marked and measurable difference as a must-see attraction. In fact, an analysis of Fightful.com 2017 showed that Reigns did not live up to Cena while the YouTube audience survey site in 2017 showed that Cena was ranking also among the best in this category. Ditto for a 2018 analysis that showed that the power of Cena's attraction is still strong.
Indeed, Cena is essentially responsible for two successful exploits that might surprise you. At the end of 2016, Cena's return to SmackDown catapulted the blue mark to a Raw ranking victory, the first and only time in its history. Just two months later, after Cena's return to SmackDown, SmackDown beat Raw in terms of live support, while the red mark was the undisputed king of the WWE.
Of course, this shows how much WWE can get out of Cena when it's used to maximize its power of attraction. A random team fight without a story behind, however, is not exactly the way forward.
The new philosophy of WWE is that the brand counts more than individual stars, but Cena's stars are what made the brand what it is today. While the WWE network recently peaked with an average number of paying subscribers of 1.8 million in the second quarter of 2018, a record in the company's history, a review of key performance indicators of The company shows that the number of WWE network subscribers has historically declined in Q3 and Q4.
This can be attributed to a wide variety of factors, including the low booking rate and the questionable use of part-time stars, ranging from Lesnar to The Undertaker, via Triple H. Cena. WWE Star should find something better for. Beyond his quarrel with Reigns in 2017, Cena has not done much in the last 18 months, which can only be described as a missed opportunity when he became the "next megastar of Hollywood "and that it has the power of attraction with that.
Cena may not be The Rock, but it's the closest thing to WWE for Rock at the moment. And society must take advantage of it by reserving it in brand quarrels, big scenarios and great moments on the rare occasions when it is around it. After all, it's impossible to say how long Cena, which is not advertised for future WWE shows, will remain an active ring superstar for WWE as his acting career continues to take off.
This means that the WWE should give up team fights by pedestrians or random solo matches for "The Champ" in glorified shows. No, WWE needs to find a way to utilize Cena's talents by involving him in as many dream matches as possible.
Before it's too late.
Blake Oestriecher is a primary school teacher by day and a sports writer at night. It contributes to @ForbesSports, where he mainly covers the WWE. You can follow him on Twitter @BOestriecher.
