You know what's amazing? Ted Dibiase was pretty much THE heel for years in WWF and he never won the main title much less the IC title.
I'm not sure if I'm pissed he didn't get it or if I'm amazed at how good the booking was that he could stay as a main eventer without relying on a title run. And also, as much as people shit on WWE's midcard and praise the Golden Era, you have to remember. The midcard in WWF was so good because the main event was SO bad. It was 'Hogan and whoever Hogan's feuding with this week.' At least now you've got John Cena and whoever John Cena's feuding with and Daniel Bryan and whoever Daniel Bryan's feuding with
That's actually worse, because there's not enough heels to feed both the kid's champion and the smarks champion. Bray was growing steadly, the feud with Bryan put a rocket on his back and now Cena is destroying him. But those long months ago are over, now Bryan is the champion, but Cena still is the merchandising champion, by a lot apparently, so he will not be touched or turned or lose his spot or made interesting whatsoever. He will stay there, that big cloud of poison just, you know, there, eating the heels other people build and leaving scraps to the actual champion. Extreme Rules, Bryan is the champion, he won't lose the belt, it's the perfect moment to do a good match against a midcard heel, of winning a hard fought battle against someone who will survive another day, but the only ones left are the ones who were there before Cena existed, i.e., Kane and Triple H; Bryan could be going against Sandow or Ryback or Bray round 2 or even the Miz due to their backstory, but there's no one in the middle of the road between humiliated and in shambles or too hot for a lower ppv like Extreme Rules.
Cena is a problem, I think, without a solution at the moment. You can't do stuff to him that would be good in terms of storyline without the risk of it being a horrible busisness decision. I wish I could say "he probably knows that", but if he knew he wouldn't be such an asshole in these feuds knowing full well what it does to other people's careers.