The Champ Was Here

John Cena - the WWE Champion - was injured during his match against Ken Kennedy on the recent edition of Monday Night Raw. The wrestler was hurt during a hip-toss manoeuvre. He carried on the match but was in obvious pain.

He went to famed sports surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, yesterday and was diagnosed with a torn pectoral muscle. He needs to go under the knife and it will sideline him for six to eight months.

The WWE released news on their website that the title has been held up thus ending the longest reign as a champion since Hulk Hogan's championship run between between 1984 and 1988.

Vince McMahon also addressed the situation on ECW. Viewers in the UK will be able to see the episode of ECW on Thursday night.

This injury is devastating for the WWE both from a financial and storyline standpoint.

Cena was the number one babyface in the company. He was the main merchandise seller and fans turned out in droves to cheer or boo him. Yes, there are fans out there who pay to see John Cena because they hate him so much that they want to heckle him. That shows what kind of an attraction he is.

This injury couldn't have come at the worst time for the company. They are about to meet with Congress and there will surely be a lot of negative media attention directed towards the WWE.

John Cena was the kind of person who would offer a positive to a negative time for the company due to the mainstream appeal he has. Don't get me wrong - He is no Austin, Hogan or Rock but he is the number one guy in wrestling right now.

I started liking Cena as a performer in the Spring of 2005 when he feuded with John Bradshaw Layfield. From then on I enjoyed most of his main event matches. There were many pay-per-views that was dull up until the final match. He saved the show on numerous occasions.

The loss of Cena changes the WWE storyline leading to next year's Wrestlemania. It was assumed that he was going to face Triple H in the main event. Ironically, this match was meant to have been done at this year's event but Triple H's quadricep muscle tear forced the WWE to scrap that plan and Shawn Michaels became the challenger to the Doctor of Thuganomics.

The company must now look at someone who they can use to market as the lead babyface for the next six to eight months. My personal decision would be to go with Chris Jericho.

He hasn't wrestled for over two years but if the 'Save_Us.22' commercials really are meant to be hyping his return then it would certainly rescue the WWE from their current dilemma.