John Cena knows what it takes to be successful in the sports entertainment business. 

During his full-time run with WWE, the 16-time world champion was undoubtedly the face of the company, drawing in crowds every single night. 

It's fair to suggest that since his departure, we haven't seen any other Superstar quite reach his level. There has been no passing of the torch, as they say. 

That's something Cena himself discussed in 2020, claiming that WWE doesn’t have 'one person you go to see' like they did when he was around. 

"SmackDown, Raw, NXT, you don’t have one person you go to see. If you go to a show, you go to see eight or nine people," he told Corey Graves' After the Bell podcast. 

Cena made those comments 10 months ago and a lot has changed since. So much so, in fact, that speaking this week, the WWE turned Hollywood star actually backtracked on that idea. 

Now, he believes there are at least three 'marquee' stars in the company. 

Cena has named WWE's three marquee stars

"[You] did an article on me back in 2020 where I had said that I don’t believe that WWE will ever have a marquee star," he told Forbes.

"And here we are, less than a year later, and I can blatantly say I was wrong. You wanna talk about being too close to the product?

"I was just too close. Having seen it, having lived it myself, I should have just realized that the company is in transition. 

Cena has backtracked on comments he made in 2020

"It takes a long time - I would say it’s three-and-a-half years or more - to build a certain talent because I’ve walked in those shoes."

As well as admitting he was wrong to claim WWE may never build another marquee star, Cena named the three people who have already reached that status. 

“Now you have Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks can be in that conversation," he revealed. 

Cena has picked out McIntyre and Reigns for praise

"WWE has just refocused, re-shifted and now is consolidating on marquee stars. They have their marquee stars and going forward they will have their big names.

"As far as those names being larger than life, the enormity of their impact is up to the individuals themselves."

There are very few who would dispute that Reigns, McIntyre and Banks are the three top stars in WWE right now. Cena has certainly made a good call.