John Cena

Monday's Raw will feature a special episode of "Miz TV" with Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair as special guests. WWE is promoting these appearances heavily, and this is part of the problem.

The company keeps relying on names from the past as an attempt to drum up ratings and get former viewers to tune in again. It's relying on fans being nostalgic for the so-called "good old days."

It seems like everyone over the age of 25 thinks wrestling was better when they were a kid, and while this is always a matter of opinion, WWE tries to appeal to them, which sometimes leads to a disastrous segment with someone whose time in the ring is long over.

Let's look at WWE's nostalgia problem and what can be done about it.

WWE Hasn't Created New Megastars

Hogan and Flair are just the tip of the iceberg. WWE has been relying on retired Superstars like Shawn Michaels, Edge, Bret Hart, The Rock and others because it has failed to create any bankable stars in recent years. Even Brock Lesnar falls into this category as a part-timer.

Some people will point to wrestlers like Roman Reigns and Becky Lynch as popular acts, but they have come nowhere near reaching the same level of mainstream popularity as John Cena or Batista.

WWE has had years to prepare for Cena becoming a part-time act before eventually retiring. It has tried to build new megastars, but the WWE Universe has not supported most of these efforts.

When Reigns was originally being positioned as the face of the company a few years ago, crowds would boo him out of the building in almost every city WWE visited. He gets a good reaction now, but part of that might have to do with the company choosing not to overuse him.

Seth Rollins remains popular, but he has yet to become a household name outside of the wrestling business. Other than Ronda Rousey, whose future seems uncertain, WWE has no one non-fans will care about enough to check out on Raw or SmackDown.

The Saudi Arabia Shows 

WWE has held three events in Saudi Arabia over the past two years and has another one scheduled for October 31. These shows perfectly illustrate the problem the company is facing.

At the first event, The Greatest Royal Rumble, WWE relied on Cena, Triple H and The Undertaker to fill big roles on the card when none of them had been part of major storylines leading into the show. Cena vs. Triple H was hyped by one or two promo segments only.

The following event, Crown Jewel, is where Michaels came out of retirement to team with The Game to face Kane and The Undertaker in what many would call a less-than-stellar performance.

The third event was called Super Show-Down, and it once again relied on The Deadman in the main event against Goldberg.

The former WCW champion suffered a concussion early in the match, which led to one of the worst bouts either competitor has ever had. Goldberg even took to Twitter to explain what happened afterward because he knew people wanted to know why the contest went downhill so quickly.

When WWE is forced to rely on retired and part-time Superstars to main-event pay-per-views, this is what happens. Plenty of people in the Hall of Fame can still put on good performances, but they haven't been the ones being featured.

The 'Good Old Days'

Unless you are a young person who is growing up with the current crop of Superstars, it almost always seems like people think WWE was better during a different era.

The '70s had big names like Bruno Sammartino creating world title records nobody will ever be able to break, and the '80s had an even bigger boom with the likes of Flair, Hogan and Randy Savage emerging as top stars in the industry.

The '90s had guys like Hart, Michaels and Sting leading the charge before The Attitude Era saw people turn to The Rock, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Kurt Angle and Triple H.

Even the 2000s had breakout stars like Cena, Edge, Batista and Randy Orton making their mark on the industry. Believe it or not, some people pine for the Ruthless Aggression era.

This is where things get a bit murky. WWE wants to appeal to everyone, which means it has to occasionally use some of these people to scratch that nostalgic itch we all have from time to time.

However, if WWE was able to build new megastars the crowd cared about as much as these legends, the company wouldn't need to keep bringing the old guys back.

The Only Solution

WWE is doing great financially, at least for now. Its stock price sits at $70/share as of the end of business on Tuesday, according to MarketWatch.com. At this point five years ago, its stock price was just below $14/share.

Being profitable is great for investors but means nothing to the average fan who doesn't own shares in the company. The WWE Universe just wants a good product, and the company was not delivering on a consistent basis until recently.

Instead of relying on part-timers and Hall of Famers to bring in lapsed viewers, WWE needs to focus solely on building new stars for the future.

Cameos from legends need to be saved for the Hall of Fame and WrestleMania. The rest of the year, it's should be up to the full-time roster to make the shows must-see programming. 

At one point, Braun Strowman was poised to be the next breakout star. He was being booked as unbeatable, and WWE was spending a lot of money to get him over with segments like the times when he flipped over an ambulance and ripped a Ford Mustang apart with his bare hands.

This is the kind of strategy management needs to employ with whoever it decides will be the next Rock or Stone Cold. The old saying goes, "You have to spend money to make money."

Instead of paying ridiculous sums to get people like Goldberg to show up, WWE should be investing that cash in putting over someone who can lead the roster for the next decade.

What the company is doing right now with Bray Wyatt is a perfect example of the kind of strong push it needs to give to some of its younger stars who have a chance of becoming popular in the mainstream.

WWE has no shortage of charismatic performers. It just needs to pick a few and commit to making them famous. It if keeps changing course and pushing different people all the time, fans might start flocking to other promotions as they did during the Monday Night War.

Who do you think should be WWE's next breakout star?

John Cena has been conspicuous by his absence on WWE programming in 2019, though it's hard to blame him for taking time off from wrestling while he focuses on acting along with other endeavors.

Over the last decade and a half, he has virtually accomplished it all within the world of WWE. His historic 16 world title wins, two Royal Rumble victories and multiple WrestleMania main events have cemented him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer and an all-time great.

That said, it's evident that in-ring retirement is on the horizon for Cena based off how infrequent his appearances have become since 2015. He is more of a "part-timer" now than at any other point in his career, raising the question of whether we'll see him lace up the boots again in the remainder of 2019.

Cena hasn't wrestled a match on WWE TV since the January 14 when he lost a Fatal 4-Way on Raw. Despite originally being advertised for the Royal Rumble, he was pulled the night of the pay-per-view, with WWE citing a storyline injury he sustained at the hands of Drew McIntyre as the reason why he couldn't compete.

A match with McIntyre would have made sense for WrestleMania 35, but in a strange turn of events, Cena was left off the card altogether. Although he did shockingly show up at the spring spectacle, it was for a talking segment with Elias, where Cena reprised his role as the Doctor of Thuganomics.

The leader of the Cenation disappeared from WWE until Raw Reunion in July. He gave zero indication on that show of when fans could expect to see him back in action or what his future holds for him as an active competitor.

Cena's last run with WWE earlier this year didn't last long due to his life outside of the squared circle being busier than ever before. Although he wasn't involved in anything of note, he did help elevate Becky Lynch and Finn Balor for the short period of time he was around for.

WWE likely brought him back in an effort to boost its record-low ratings and not because he was ever intended to be a focal point on the road to WrestleMania. To be fair, there aren't many matches left that are worth him returning for that haven't already been done.

It's no secret that the company has more talent on its roster than it knows what to do with and therefore shouldn't be calling upon part-timers such as Cena to take television time and opportunities from up-and-comers who need it more.

While Cena being around this fall wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, he is better off staying on the sidelines until WWE has a significant plan in place for him.

It's worth noting that WWE randomly added The Undertaker to its upcoming SmackDown taping at Madison Square Garden but reportedly not because of poor ticket sales. Rather, his return has been in the works for a while, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t SEScoops' Anutosh Bajpai), meaning an appearance from Cena might not be out of the question, either.

WWE tends to rely a little much on stars of yesteryear to sell viewers on its events, but Cena has proved to be the exception. He has been around a lot less than the likes of Undertaker, Triple H, Batista, Brock Lesnar and even Goldberg in 2019, so it's apparent he'd rather pick his spots than show up without purpose.

From a quality standpoint, Raw and SmackDown have been noticeably better as of late. Regardless of why that is, it's encouraging that WWE is taking the proper steps in improving its programming without moving backward and resorting to the same old status quo.

Whenever times got tough previously, WWE didn't hesitate to put the spotlight on Cena. He was tried and true for so many years that the company knew it could never go wrong with him on top.

Needless to say, the days of that being the case are long gone, and Cena has also realized that. There really isn't an appropriate time for him to have another run before 2019 is over, unless he's representing Raw or SmackDown at Survivor Series like he did in 2017.

To put it simply, WWE doesn't need Cena, and Cena doesn't need WWE.

We're years removed from when Cena was last a fixture on WWE TV, yet it's still strange to say that we're living in an age where Cena isn't prominently featured on Raw and SmackDown. As refreshing as it has been to see fresh faces in the spotlight, there will always be an opening on the roster for the franchise player whenever he decides to resurface.

In an age where there are so few real attractions remaining in wrestling, Cena will forever be among them. In his absence, one can only hope that WWE will continue to build up the talent of tomorrow so we won't be left wondering when a star the caliber of Cena is on his way to back to rescue Raw and SmackDown from the creative rut it often finds itself in.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

John Cena returned to WWE to kick off Monday's Raw Reunion show.

The 16-time world champion made a brief cameo at WrestleMania 35 in April, bringing back his "Dr. of Thuganomics" gimmick for a segment with Elias. Cena kept his throwback jersey in the closet this time around, instead hyping up what was to come on Raw:

He did provide a brief glimpse of his alter ego during an exchange with The Usos when he referenced their brushes with the law:

Hall of Famer Rikishi, father of the Uso twins, arrived shortly thereafter. All four stars teased performing the dance Rikishi made popular as a member of Too Cool.

The Revival and D-Von Dudley spoiled the occasion, however, as the Raw tag team champions prepared for their scheduled match with The Usos.

Still, Cena's appearance helped set the stage for what will be a nostalgic night of WWE action.

Monday's Raw reunion will feature some of the biggest names in sports entertainment history, but it appears one of WWE's most mainstream draws will not be making the trip.

Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio said there are currently no plans for The Rock to make an appearance in Tampa, Florida (h/t Joshua Gagnon of Wrestling Inc.)

However, John Cena is expected to be at the show, according to Meltzer, who updated his report after previously stating he was not scheduled to appear. 

"They say it's going to be one of the biggest Raws of all time, and it's certainly memorable. Um...we will see," Cena told Deco Drive on Thursday of potentially appearing on the show.

Cena hasn't appeared on WWE programming since WrestleMania 35, when he returned to his Doctor of Thuganomics persona and laid a rap verse and a beating on Elias. He hasn't wrestled since the Jan. 14 episode of Raw, which saw him be written out of the Royal Rumble so that he could go film a movie.

It's believed that Cena will return to WWE at some point this fall, likely coinciding with SmackDown's move to Fox. Meltzer reported that WWE is looking at another reunion special for SmackDown on Oct. 4 when that move becomes official, with Cena expected to make an appearance and The Rock being "up in the air."

The Rock hasn't made an appearance in WWE since WrestleMania 32, when he set the record for fastest WrestleMania win in history with a six-second trouncing of Rowan.

Monday's Raw reunion will feature nearly every other major player from wrestling's last couple decades, with Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, DX, Mick Foley and Stone Cold Steve Austin scheduled to make appearances, among others. While Austin has some level of fame outside the wrestling world, it's fair to say most of the returnees remain most famous for their time in the wrestling ring.

Cena and The Rock are two of the most high-profile actors in the country at the moment, with both parlaying their WWE stardom into worldwide fame. While Cena remains an active part of the WWE roster—and thus more likely to make these types of appearances—it's hard to expect either to drop whatever else they have going on for a relatively impromptu reunion special.