I grew up watching WWF.
Then it became WWE.
And over time, it quietly became something else.
When I was younger, wrestling was simple. Heroes were obvious. Villains were theatrical. Power was concentrated in a few larger-than-life figures who carried the entire enterprise on their shoulders. You did not need backstory. You just needed presence.
The John Cena era marked the peak of that model. One dominant face. One central narrative. One institution, WWE, deciding who mattered. It worked, spectacularly, for a long time.
What followed is what interests me most.
The post-Cena era feels less like mythology and more like biography. Instead of untouchable superheroes, today’s stars are defined by their journeys. Careers bend, pause, reset. Failure is not hidden. It becomes part of the story.
Take one modern example.
Cody Rhodes, a second-generation wrestler and the son of one of the industry’s most celebrated figures, once found himself constrained by the very company he grew up in. At the time, walking away from WWE at the height of one’s career was almost unheard of. Rather than stay boxed in, he did exactly that, rebuilding his credibility on the independent circuit, in Japan, and in other global promotions. He later became part of building a rival promotion, All Elite Wrestling, before eventually returning to WWE, not as a prodigal son, but as a proven equal.
The appeal of that story is not technical skill. It is authorship. He did not wait to be chosen again. He chose himself first.
That kind of narrative would not have resonated in the old era. Back then, power flowed top-down. Today, legitimacy is earned in public and negotiated back into institutions.
Watching this evolution, I understand why modern wrestling still holds attention, not just mine, but that of a generation that has lived through similar shifts. Careers are nonlinear. Reputation is portable. Credibility is built before re-entry.
I did not just grow up watching wrestling evolve.
I grew up watching how power, identity, and credibility are redefined.
That is why the ring still matters.