By Sean Radican, PWTorch columnist

If you’re a fan of mainstream pro wrestling, it’s been a tough haul for a number of years. WWE has failed to build new stars and even the Rock couldn’t inject a much needed boost in ratings during WrestleMania season. Sure, WrestleMania XXVIII did great business, but the questions that lingers is whether or not WWE can continue to rely on names from the past to carry the company during each time WrestleMania rolls around.

How many names can WWE bring back to match up with the full-time acts on their current roster to put together lineups that break the 1 million buys mark every year when their current roster lacks star power outside of John Cena? Sure Triple H, Undertaker, and Rock likely have more WrestleMania appearances in them. Perhaps HBK and Austin will return for one more WrestleMania match at some point, but sooner or later, WWE’s inability to build a new star on the level of Cena is going to have a huge impact sooner rather than later.

During Cena’s run on top, he’s lacked that credible opponent to drive fans to buy PPVs, tune into Raw, and purchase house show tickets in large numbers. C.M. Punk broke through last year, but he still isn’t on Cena’s level. Perhaps one of the problems with fans that voice their displeasure with Cena in every city and town he wrestles in is that there’s no hope of someone dethroning him from his headline position in the company.

Perhaps boredom set in and Cena’s character has been allowed to coast as he goes through obstacle after obstacle, as in the back of those fans minds, they know he’s going to come out on top because the perception of him is that he’s above everyone else on the roster that wrestles full-time. There are numerous reasons why Cena gets such a mixed reaction, but the lack of a top rival that is equal or above him in star power has surely hurt his ability to get over as a babyface. In order for a face to truly be heroic, people have to believe he’s in danger. Cena has literally never been in danger in the minds of fans during his entire run on top of the company.

After his feud with Rock finally ended, it seemed quite certain WWE would coast along through numerous “B” PPVs until SummerSlam rolled around in August. Then something unexpected happened. Brock Lesnar returned to WWE and he’s going to be around more often than not for the foreseeable future. The build to a Cena-Lesnar match at “Extreme Rules 2012” seemed rushed and by no means was it perfect, but Lesnar was positioned as a force of nature and WWE made fans believe it was inevitable he would destroy Cena at “Extreme Rules 2012.”

Never before had someone so convincingly had the upper hand on Cena. Lesnar has the star power and aura that nobody Cena has faced in the past possesses. Lesnar hasn’t driven ratings up, but the Lesnar-Cena match at “Extreme Rules 2012” gives fans hope that maybe something bigger and better is around the corner.

For those complaining that Cena won yet again, perhaps you aren’t looking at the bigger picture. At “Extreme Rules 2012,” Lesnar dominated Cena in a brutal match with big time crowd heat. It was unlike any match that has been seen on WWE PPV before. The key here was that Lesnar’s heel work was so good that he turned a partially anti-Cena crowd into Cena fans by the end of the match.

The Cena-Lesnar match had as great as an atmosphere as any WWE match I can recall. Two huge stars, one face and one heel, going at it on the ring. Lesnar’s presence in the ring put him on the same level and maybe even a level above Cena in the ring. For the first time, Cena looked vulnerable and defeat seemed certain. The key here is that Lesnar is a heel and as a heel, his cockiness cost him the match in the end. Lesnar could have finished Cena off, but he wanted to dish out more brutal punishment. Once fans saw this, they began to gravitate towards Cena, who was nearly 100 percent cheered by the end of the match.

Suddenly, Cena winning makes an awful lot of sense. You see, depending on what happens going forward, it looks like Cena is taking some time off. What happens with Lesnar with Cena out of the picture is the key going forward. Lesnar, who was dominant against Cena, but too cocky, is likely going to be undergoing a transformation while Cena’s gone.

If WWE has Lesnar show a more ruthless side with Cena out of the picture, they can build up a huge rematch between Cena and Lesnar for SummerSlam. With a frustrated Lesnar running rampant through opponents leading into SummerSlam, WWE could be in a position to make a lot of money out of a long-term Cena-Lesnar feud.

The key to this will be what happens tonight on Raw and how Lesnar is positioned going forward. There’s a lot of potential to increase business from a ratings and PPV standpoint going forward with Lesnar running rampant through WWE until Cena returns. “Extreme Rules 2012” could be a launching point for WWE going forward and more than ever I believe the company could see a huge increase in business if the Cena-Lesnar feud is handled properly.

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