So lets just say HHH got hurt and retired tomorrow...

[Rob]

... and it's decided to revamp the company and build it around one man.


Who would you pick? Serious answers only please. I'm interested in the answers.

[SuperSlim]

I would say Angle but he has his neck problems so he wouldn't be able to stay for too much longer.

Cena doesn't seem to have what it takes.

Orton, right now doesn't seem like a candidate.

I want ot say Eddie but I'm not to definite on that.

I can't think of any one guy right now.

[TerranRich]

Who would I pick? Shelton Benjamin. Hands down.

[Astley316]

I'd give Y2J a serious chance, he'd need a hell of a buildup, but with the right story and people to feed off, he could seriously shine

[Cool King]

Christian

[Aussie Skier]

Cena, I feel is already the main man in the WWE.

I certainly think that if Cena had the ball, he'd run with it, no doubt about it!

[SuperSlim]

I just can't Cena as being the number one main man.

Jericho could but he would need serious serious build up.

If Shelton could get his mic skills down pact then he'd be a definite that could run with it with a few more key victories

[Mr. JL]

Kurt Angle

[RP]

It honestly would have been Hassan. My opinion of wrestling charachters is this... The more hated you are, the more loved you will be. Hassan could have been the most hated person for the next 2 years. Give him the title. Let him dis America. Then one day he starts a face turns. Slowly momentum would have build til he did a all out face turn. He would have been the biggest thing since the Rock .

[Londoner]

Eddie is the only one i can think i can think of.

[Skippord]

CM Punk

[G-wrath]

Christian or Chris Jericho

[PureHatred]

Angle. He's said that he's finally back to where his neck is basically 100% and he has the ability to elevate anyone he works with in the ring. If he was used as the monster heel, cutting monster heel type promos and headlining PPVs, instead of working filler programs with Booker T and Eugene, he'd be everything Triple H was back in 2000 and then some.

[Xero]

I'd have to go with Jericho. With the right build up, he could lead the WWE for a long time (at least a few year).

[Londoner]

I'd have to go with Jericho. With the right build up, he could lead the WWE for a long time (at least a few year).


Yeah but Robs question was about if HHH got retired or hurt tomorrow, you couldn't build the company around jericho right now. Only with the right build up because they've stuck him in the mid cards and just thrown him into title feuds without any reason..with Eddie however, even though he's lost alot, it'll be very easy to build the company around him without having to build him up in the next few months or something.

[Innovator]

Samoa Joe

[Morrisey]

I'd say Jericho as my first choice. He just has everything that a main eventer should have.
Also, if you watch the 2005 Hall Of Fame Ceremony, mostly everyone who speaks on stage namechecks Triple H, Jericho and Angle as the future of WWE.
I agree that Kurt is also the complete package, except his body will not hold out much longer. Seriously, I give him 5 years at the most before he can't even walk.
Guerrero is a great wrestler, and has good mic skills etc, but unfortunately he seems to buckle under pressure, so would not be capable of being the top guy, and even if he was, WWE probably wouldn't be confident of hid abilities to do so.

I have to agree though, WWE with any of these men as the top guy would rule.

Let's be realistic though, knowing the WWE, JBL would be their number one choice! :nono:

[Londoner]

I'd say Jericho as my first choice. He just has everything that a main eventer should have.
Also, if you watch the 2005 Hall Of Fame Ceremony, mostly everyone who speaks on stage namechecks Triple H, Jericho and Angle as the future of WWE.
I agree that Kurt is also the complete package, except his body will not hold out much longer. Seriously, I give him 5 years at the most before he can't even walk.
Guerrero is a great wrestler, and has good mic skills etc, but unfortunately he seems to buckle under pressure, so would not be capable of being the top guy, and even if he was, WWE probably wouldn't be confident of hid abilities to do so.

I have to agree though, WWE with any of these men as the top guy would rule.

Let's be realistic though, knowing the WWE, JBL would be their number one choice! :nono:


Er wtf?How does Eddie 'buckle under pressure'? Explain please.

[Kane Knight]

Shelton: He's young enough to be in it for the long term, can seriously light it up, and would be spectacular to build feuds around. Give him some more mic work, and you've got yourself an all-rounder for a new generation. ;)

I'd choose other people (Kurt, Eddie, etc) but for their age, and the fact that they're established. What we'd need is relatively new blood, not guys who have done WCW/ECW, been around for years, and might be on their decline any day now. No offense to Eddie, or Kurt. Kurt does marvelous for a guy with so many neck probs.

[Londoner]

Shelton is too young right now to have the company built around him, he's not even been WWE Champion yet, i get your point about the age thing with Eddie though.

[Shadow]

Knowing the WWE...if HHH got hurt and retired...the WWE would fold quicker than a cheap house of cards.

[Xero]

Yeah but Robs question was about if HHH got retired or hurt tomorrow, you couldn't build the company around jericho right now. Only with the right build up because they've stuck him in the mid cards and just thrown him into title feuds without any reason..with Eddie however, even though he's lost alot, it'll be very easy to build the company around him without having to build him up in the next few months or something.
If we're going with someone over RIGHT NOW who could run with the company, it's Cena. No matter how you look at it, whoever it's going to be, besides Cena, they're going to need at least a month or two of build up. Even Eddie can't go straight into running with the company.

Jericho is in the number one feud right now. You can give him the title at SummerSlam and build him from there.

[Londoner]

Jericho's too stale, i really wouldn't chose Cena, but that's who the WWE would chose, either him or JBL, if not both actually.

[Rob]

Yeah I did mean right now but it would be VERY possible in my opinion to put Jericho over like a million bucks on Raw tonight and start to make him the top man in the company.

Now a few people have said their picks, I'll say mine - Jericho and Rob Van Dam

Samoa Joe works for TNA so it's not a sensible pick. Whoever said CM Punk needs their head examined.

[iwantviral]

John Cena is the most perfect candidate. He is young, skilled and has great fan following.
Another option is Randy Orton. He is also young and skilled. But unlike Cena he does not have a great fan following. But the WWE can show his character just like Triple H and he could do the job as well.
But of course, first choice is John Cena.

[Joey Slugs]

Cena. Hands down. Like him or not, he IS the new Rock. The fans love him and he does have good mic skills. Might not be much in the ring (like an Angle or Benoit), but neither was the Rock. You could even flip-flop his character from face to heel and back again and the crowd will be there. He even has the "crowd pop" move like the Rock (the Five Knuckle Shuffle).

As much as I would love to see guys like Orton, Carlito (the new Honky Tonk), or even Jericho have the top spot for awhile... you have to give it to Cena. Get used to him, he'll be around for quite sometime.

I, for one, couldn't stand his character on SD! but now that he has the top spot on Raw... he's growing on me. I hate to compare so much, but I had the same reaction to the Rock at first.

[What Would Kevin Do?]

Cena. Hands down. Like him or not, he IS the new Rock. The fans love him and he does have good mic skills. Might not be much in the ring (like an Angle or Benoit), but neither was the Rock. You could even flip-flop his character from face to heel and back again and the crowd will be there. He even has the "crowd pop" move like the Rock (the Five Knuckle Shuffle).

As much as I would love to see guys like Orton, Carlito (the new Honky Tonk), or even Jericho have the top spot for awhile... you have to give it to Cena. Get used to him, he'll be around for quite sometime.

I, for one, couldn't stand his character on SD! but now that he has the top spot on Raw... he's growing on me. I hate to compare so much, but I had the same reaction to the Rock at first.

Cena is Cena, that's it. He is not, and will never be the Rock. No one will be. As good as he is on the mic, he can't touch the Rock. The Rock had IT

With that said, turn Cena into a sellout millionare who turns his back on the fans and goes corporate (Like Sin LaSalle in Be Cool) He could be a mega heel, and may be a big enough heel to head the company.

Others would be Hassan, or dare I say, JBL.

[Joey Slugs]

Cena is Cena, that's it. He is not, and will never be the Rock. No one will be. As good as he is on the mic, he can't touch the Rock. The Rock had IT

With that said, turn Cena into a sellout millionare who turns his back on the fans and goes corporate (Like Sin LaSalle in Be Cool) He could be a mega heel, and may be a big enough heel to head the company.

Others would be Hassan, or dare I say, JBL.

I know he'll never be the Rock, but he's the only one to come that close to the pure popularity that he had.

And as for the mic skills, you are right. Rock had that gift. No one could ever come close.

Hassan and JBL would fit with the heel lead as well.

[NoRoolz]

Although right now he's not in the position, I still think it could be Orton to lead the company :-\. However with my choice I'd build Carlito, Christian and Shelton as top draws. As much as I love Angle, Guerrero, Benoit and Jericho - they're just too old, Angle is 37 I believe, and has way too many injuries to worry about. He himself said he'll only be in WWE for about 2-3 more years. The other 3 are simply too old, granted Jericho is not THAT old, only 35 I think, but we really need young-bloods, people who can carry the company for 10-12 years, plus Jericho has his band commitments.

Cena just doesn't seem the guy to me, as a midcarder he's fine, but top draw Cena doesn't seem right. Whereas he does have a big following, that following consists mainly of girls, 12 year olds, and plain and simply MARKS, and what with Cena's wrestling ability constantly being questioned, I don't see him being top-draw for the next 10 years, a main-eventer - yes, but not top-draw. Besides Cena will probably 'pull a Rock' soon and become a full-time actor :-\.

I have a feeling the true 'company-carrier' hasn't been seen yet, a few wrestlers will get runs at top-draw for now. The next company-carrier may even be Paul Levesque, JR :shifty:... the sad thing is, I can see that happening.

[Chavo Classic]

Eddie for Smackdown and Shelton for Raw.

Easily two of the hardest workers and both good on the stick.

[Morrisey]

Er wtf?How does Eddie 'buckle under pressure'? Explain please.
When he was WWE Champion last year, there were constant reports of him being stressed out and not being able to cope with the pressure, as he felt he was being blamed for the declining ratings of SmackDown!.
Oh, and let's not forget his personal demonds. I believe he is over all that, and has come out of it a stronger person, but WWE wouldn't necessarily believe that.

How about Brock Lesnar if/when he comes back? He could still improve his mic skills, but other than that he is the total package. Obviously walking out on WWE could be held against him, but I see no other reason why it shouldn't happen.

Oh, and Edge, Shelton and Carlito are all strong possibilities, and the level of their pushes suggests this could well happen.

[Tornado]

I'd have Raw built around Shelton Benjamin, once he improves on the mike.

If he could buff up just a tiny bit, Smackdown should be built around Christian.

[McLegend]

I would built around the two greatest wrestlers ever

HBK and Kurt Angle

[Mr. Nerfect]

Er wtf?How does Eddie 'buckle under pressure'? Explain please.

His last WWE Title reign ended in part because Eddie buckled and said he didn't want the responsibility. Or something like that. He didn't want to be World Champion again, anyway. As a heel things may be different, thoug.

Personally, I would not build the promotion around Cena. You can't argue about his popularity now, but I swear the guy is like a house of cards. He WILL come crashing down, it is onl a matter of when. Until they start having Cena wrestle real matches, he's just a gimmick.

Chris Jericho is the guy on RAW I'd choose. He has the charisma, the attitude, the background, etc. If you put him over Cena at Summerslam, he'd pretty much be accepted as top guy. He'd be a two-time WWE Champion, a two-time WCW Champion, a seven-time IC Champion, multiple time WCW & ECW Television Champion, two-time World Tag Team Champion (I think), one or two-time Hardcore Champion, four-time (according to WWE.com, I think) Cruiserweight Champion. The guy's done it all, and could be easily made believeable. Have him beat Hogan cleanly the RAW after winning the belt and you have yourself a megastar.

Jericho can then have matches with Kurt Angle, Shelton Benjamin, Carlito, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Matt Hardy, Rob Conway, Nick Dinsmore, RVD and anyone else you want to put in front of him.

On SmackDown!, I'd probably pick Batista. Yes, I know the guy's old, but I think he is the most markettable Champion in the WWE right now. Have him completely obliterate JBL at Summerslam, then have him beat Randy Orton and Eddie Guerrero in respective feuds. Have him lead a team successfully at Survivor Series, and maybe slap him in a pairing with Paul Heyman or Jim Cornette (signing him back). Give him a mouthpiece and as a face or a heel he is right to go. Have him defend the title past WrestleMania, and keep him strong. I GUARANTEE he would bring money.

[Marcyo]

I'd go with Shelton, Carlito, Christian and Eddie Guerrero.

[Dave Youell]

I think this is being approached in the wrong way.

Who in all the roster has the most casual fan appeal? As that is really what you would want, the die hard fans, i.e us, will watch it every week anyway, they need to draw in new fan and regardless of his average work rate, Cena right now is the guy who is in the mainstream the most, with the album and his film coming out, they are whoring him for publicity everywhere right now. Although to us he's not the most popular choice, he makes the most sense IMO

[Loose Cannon]

Tough Call.

I say Angle as heel because he's the most well rounded guy in the WWE right now and if they keep booking him like they did in his segment with Eugene yesterday, I'm all for it. I wish Benjamin would turn heel and he, Angle and possibly Brock form some sort of "shoot" team. And they headline Raw every week as the top heel stable.

As a babyface, I'll just stick with Cena since he's the most over guy right now.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Kurt Angle pairing himself up with The Minnesota Stretching Crew would be some seriously aweomse stuff. :y:

[Pepsi Man]

Christian or Stevie Richards, just because I'm a mark for both of those guys, and they can both draw reactions pretty damn good, and both have a shitload of experience despite both being fairly young in pro wrestler years.

I would've said someone like Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, or Eddie Guerrero, but they're all getting up there in years, and I wouldn't want to pick someone only to have them forced into retirement shortly thereafter and putting me right back into the same predicament.

I think this is being approached in the wrong way.

Who in all the roster has the most casual fan appeal? As that is really what you would want, the die hard fans, i.e us, will watch it every week anyway, they need to draw in new fan and regardless of his average work rate, Cena right now is the guy who is in the mainstream the most, with the album and his film coming out, they are whoring him for publicity everywhere right now. Although to us he's not the most popular choice, he makes the most sense IMO
That's why his little concert barely drew 200 kids, right?

[Londoner]

When he was WWE Champion last year, there were constant reports of him being stressed out and not being able to cope with the pressure, as he felt he was being blamed for the declining ratings of SmackDown!.
Oh, and let's not forget his personal demonds. I believe he is over all that, and has come out of it a stronger person, but WWE wouldn't necessarily believe that.

How about Brock Lesnar if/when he comes back? He could still improve his mic skills, but other than that he is the total package. Obviously walking out on WWE could be held against him, but I see no other reason why it shouldn't happen.

Oh, and Edge, Shelton and Carlito are all strong possibilities, and the level of their pushes suggests this could well happen.

Why would they build the company around someone who stabbed them in the back?That wouldn't set a very good example.(i'm talking about brock)

But thanks for reminding me about Eddie, totally forgot about all that.Edge/shelton and carlito would not be good choices.

I would chose Cena or Jericho.None of them would get the company built around them though because HHH hates both of them, cena may have a chance, but it depends on what HHH thinks...

[Londoner]

Oh and on smackdown it would have to be JBL.Like him or not, he's the only real choice, if not him then Christian, but i just can't see that happening.

[Morrisey]

As I said, they could hold the whole last year and a half against Brock, and they probably would! I just named him as a possibility because that is the only thing that stands in his way if he comes back.
If you think about it, most of the guys mentioned have something standing in their way:

Jericho: Possibly too small, and would take a lot of work for marks to find him credible, outside talent

Guerrero: Possibly too small, possibility WWE views him as indirectly responsible for ratings decline while WWE Champion, didn't like the pressure of being on top, problems in past could also be a negative in eyes of management, outsude talent

Benoit: Possibly too small, lacks promo skills, outside talent

Angle: Injuries will catch up with him at some point in the near future

Christian: Possibly too small

Cena: Long-term appeal is questionable, weak in-ring skills

JBL: Weak in-ring skills

Orton: Seems to be injury prone

Shelton: Possibly too small, lack of promo skills, is black(not me being racist by the way, am merely voicing a possibility that WWE may not want a black guy on top)

Edge: Actually, surprisingly, I can't see much wrong with him except that he can't be trusted with other guy's girlfriends.

Carlito: Needs more in-ring experience

Batista: Weak in-ring skills, weak promo skills

HBK: Getting too old

RVD: Possibly too small, stiff in-ring style

Hassan: Bad press from last angle, new gimmick will be overshadowed by old gimmick, possibly too small

I have listed everyone who I consider to be current or future main-eventers who could be the "top guy", and obviously things that may stop them from getting pushed. I myself was surprised that I couldn't really fault Edge, of all people, but if you think about it, he is pretty good in the ring, his promo skills are decent, and he has maintained credibility and gotten heat from the crowd(albeit mostly through his questionable antics). It could be worse! I wouldn't choose him myself though, although I would like to see him as a main-eventer.