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#8. John Cena
Brock Lesnar's abrupt departure had WWE scrambling for a replacement to find the next big star that could reach the heights that Hulk Hogan did. Two men would wind up vying for the top spot in the company; Batista, a favorite of management due to his massively jacked body, and John Cena.
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The company initially went with Batista, but the charismatic rapper persona of Cena garnered far more fans and attention. Eventually he would rise to being midcard champion, and then finally take the steps up to the big leagues and defeat JBL for the big belt at WrestleMania.
What happened next: It depends on your point of view. With sixteen World Championship reigns to his credit, and over a decade spent as the no-questions-asked biggest star in WWE, Cena was a resounding success.
However, he was also polarizing as Champion. "John Cena Sucks" chants prevailed in many of the arenas he worked at, as the ostensible babyface. Cena's superman booking went over well with the younger fans, but older ones tended to reject him outright. Cena is mostly retired from the ring, spending most of his time making movies in Hollywood.
#9. Roman Reigns
The shield as a group was wildly popular. Inevitably, as all factions usually do, The Shield imploded on itself, with Seth Rollins betraying the group and becoming the company's top heel.
This positioned Reigns to be the top face in the company, and he won the Royal Rumble and was set to take on Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
However, Seth Rollins would spoil his initial title shot, but eventually Reigns would become both big belt champion and the undisputed face of the company.
What happened next: In an eerie parallel to John Cena, Roman Reigns sold tons of merch to the younger fans and received their support, while older fans resented both his 'superman' booking and the way he shoved past other stars like Daniel Bryan on his way to the top. Still, the WWE relentlessly pushed him as their top star, until a recurrence of cancer forced him to step away from wrestling for treatment. Reigns is currently on the shelf as of this writing, but has promised a dominant return.
