There were still huge chunks of time during that build where Hogan was absent!
Even though in both that situation and this situation we know who's gonna win in the end, I think the difference is that Sting really created an awesome gimmick, and fans genuinely WANTED him to kick Hogan's ass, even with the nWo finding themselves more popular than WCW in general.
Cena is, by contrast, not quite as universally popular as a face, and a lot of people are NOT looking forward to him winning, so therefore I'm not sure that any sort of build they could do would be viewed well.
Personally I prefer Cena as Champion fending off increasingly bigger heel threats trying to dethrone him over Cena as driven contender searching for the title over a 6-month span but somehow having it constantly elude his grasp until he finally reaches it.
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Thank you, Eddie Guerrero.
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