Will WWE's next top guy trump John Cena?

So word on the street is that WWE are set to pick their next big star.  The man that John Cena will pass the torch to.  But this time, can they get it right?

No one can deny the popularity of John Cena amongst kids and families but he has never been that top guy to the wrestling die-hards.  The reasons for that are simple.  It has taken over a decade for the WWE to recover from the hangover of having both The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin in the company at the same time.  It created an era of unparallelled success.

Looking back it has to be said that Austin was the catalyst that sparked the Attitude Era which produced so many larger than life Superstars.  A few years later The Rock would become another break out star.  The best thing that could have happened would have been that Austin would have retired when he did in 2003 and passed the torch onto The Rock, who would have continued to be the top babyface for the next few years until he passed it.  But as we all know this is not what happened.  The Rock left the company months after Austin and so there was no natural follow up.

The WWE was left without the two main talents who had elevated it to such heights.  The WWE simply had to pick someone and run with it.  Inevitably the guy who was chosen to fill those shoes was always going to fall short.  Enter John Cena.  Because he never faced Austin or Rock when they were still in their prime it is impossible to compare them but people do anyway.  So they take the best of Rock and Austin which Cena will never measure up to.  This has dogged John Cena's entire run.

That is what makes this next stage rather intriguing.  The next star that WWE chooses will have a fresh start.  They will not be dogged by the shadow of the Attitude era.  The question is do they have what it takes to go into that top tier of Superstardom? 

There are already some fantastic main eventers who have emerged in the last few years but probably won't be chosen.  Sheamus is already 35 and in fact the same age as Cena so it won't be him.  CM punk is the company's top heel and has already been tried as a face which came close but just didn't have enough gas in the tank.  In my opinion there are currently two men on the roster that could make it.  If the company babyfaced up Dolph Ziggler and gave him a bit more time on the mic, we could be looking at the next HBK.  The other is Daniel Bryan.  His current success seems to be all of his own making but how long can he maintain it?

Now there are a lot of great wrestlers in the second tier such as Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Rick Flair, Randy Savage etc. but the top is reserved for the best of the best.  Men who transcend the industry and are known all over the world by fans and people who have never seen a wrestling match in their life.  Currently there are only three in this exclusive club.  Austin, Rock and Hulk Hogan.  Will Vince McMahon be able to pick one more before he finally retires?  I sure hope so.

AP