Punk's gone out on a limb and said he would probably retire sooner rather than later and I don't blame him.
Im not the biggest Punk fan but he has been working hard and has been credible in doing so - Cena is a tireless sleuth who won't say no or quit, even when he should take some time off but in the position WWE is in... he, or WWE, can't afford to lose him for any set amount of time, as sad as it is for both parties.
WWE is entering into a new era and they definitely need to establish new guys and role models, make new villains and write new stories for fans to weigh their interest into to help alleviate the work load for the top guys.
With the veterans like Taker, Triple H, Mysterio, Jericho and others slowly burning out and going to rest, Cena and Punk carrying the majority of the workload and guys like Sheamus, Bryan still reaching that plateau of established main stays.. WWE has no real stand out golden tickets, or "icons" or "legends" to appeal on a regular basis. Especially when guys they have invested time into have already left, or are leaving. (Batista, Orton, etc)
You could count the Rock, but he only shows up once in a blue moon. He was gone for seven years and since resigning his deal has only showed up on RAW like seven times. I don't blame him, but the situation is dire - WWE is losing confidence in a lot of guys they deemed "superstars".
I think many feel that guys like ADR, Miz, Barrett, Sin Cara, all these newer-guys who were and somewhat still are considered to be "top level" are slowly becoming less and less likely to reach that level due to injury, suspensions, the Diesel effect and just plain old bad timing.
Punk and Cena have their work cut out for them, but WWE needs some new hands to help hold up the brands - these two can do it on their own for a moderate time, but if they are still making ALL the rounds in a year from now, something is terribly, terribly wrong from both a business and personal stance from every superstar and member of management in the company.
