If reports are to be believed, WWE is beginning to look beyond John Cena as their eternal number one guy, thanks to the increasing injuries the star has sustained over the last few years.

John Cena has been the number one man in the WWE for close to ten years now. Ever since he won his first World Title by defeating John Bradshaw Layfield at Wrestlemania 21 in 2005, Cena has been booked as the top guy in the WWE. He has main evented the wide majority of WWE events, as well as had two matches with The Rock. Cena has won 15 World Titles with the company, beating most legends in clean fashion along the way. Moreover, Cena sells more merchandise for the WWE than anyone else. He is also very popular with children, who are WWE's core audience.

But Cena has suffered a number of neck and shoulder injuries over the last few years. He came back from a tricep injury within four months to the Royal Rumble in 2008, though he was supposed to be out for double the time. Later on that year, Cena suffered a neck injury, and once again, he returned within months. Then he left WWE following Summerslam 2013 for surgery on his arm, only to return by the end of the year. While Cena has shown a remarkable tendency to recover quickly from major injuries, it is now reported that the repeated injuries have taken a toll on his body and that he is working injured most of the time. This cannot be good news for a company whose franchise star is Cena. WWE has resisted turning Cena heel for so long precisely because he brings in so much money. In this scenario, losing him altogether would be a nightmare for Vince McMahon.

It is then a matter of concern that Cena took 16 German suplexes against Brock Lesnar in their match at Summerslam this year. Lesnar also pounded him in quite a realistic fashion enroute his now-legendary victory. Besides, Cena has been on nearly every show for a decade, as well on every Pay Per View event. He has done live shows to add to the weekly RAW and SmackDown shows, traveled several countries, and been an ambassador for WWE as well. Therefore, the time has come for WWE to take a good look at how much they can push Cena from now on.

WWE's problem for the last several years has been that they have been unable to push any other wrestler to be an equal to Cena. No other wrestler has been given as much spotlight as Cena, or promoted so heavily. Main eventers have come and gone but Cena has remained at the top. If Cena has to step down from that level due to his health problems, someone else has to be built up to take his place. WWE have currently placed their faith (or so it seems) in Roman Reigns, but given Cena's popularity with children, replacing him will be an onerous task for WWE. Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan continues to be out with a shoulder injury.

Reportedly, Vince McMahon is upset that the company is unable to build main event stars as fast as it should. There are rumours that WWE is planning to move Cena more into an acting role. While Cena has taken time off to shoot movies recently, there is also talk of having him play a less active, less frequent role in the ring.

All in all, it does not look like the leader of the Cenation has too many years of his career left.