WWE required a significant changing of the guard in the main event scene in the mid 00's with the departures of The Rock and 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin from full-time in-ring competition.

A new generation of talent was being brought up from the OVW developmental system to the main roster. Among them was John Cena, who eventually became a 16-time world champion and the face of WWE for many years. 

In the most recent episode of his "Something To Wrestle" podcast, Bruce Prichard, a seasoned WWE executive, openly acknowledged the extensive deliberations that took place surrounding the identification of the next top star in WWE.

"Cena was in that discussion, Batista, Brock [Lesnar] had been in that discussion at one point –- there were a lot of guys," Prichard shared. "Dusty [Rhodes] was in love with Randy Orton ... that's the only way to go, third generation wrestler, youth and all this stuff. Cena , he's got the look, he's got the charisma, he's got everything and the best attitude out of all of them. All of them were fighting hard ... being the top talent is a shoot and you've got to fight to get there, and if you can't do that and you aren't willing to do that, then you're never gonna make it."

According to Prichard, the top spot was not simply handed to John Cena, or any other wrestler before or after him, for that matter. It required someone truly exceptional to earn that position.

"The top guys weren't people that just got it handed to them. Guys like Cena, Austin, Rock, Hunter [Triple H], [Mick] Foley –- those guys all wanted to be the guy," he added, "and they wanted everything that came with it... they really wanted to be the best at what they did. They were willing to sacrifice and do whatever it took to be the best."

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