What should WWE do to get the crowd behind John Cena?

[John McCass]

John Cena is one of the most hated babyface in wrestling history. Whenever his music hits,the crowd boos him out of the building. This supercena gimmick has spread the hatred about him. He gets 50-50 reaction even in his hometown. He doesn't even puts young talents over and many many more reason to hate him. Some people chant "You can't wrestle" towards him but he had put on some great matches throughout his career. So,i want to ask is this his fault or creatives' fault? Why so much hatred towards him? He needs to pass the torch to someone at Mania. So,how to make Cena a fan favourite babyface?

 

[MartialHorror]

Cena does put over younger talent more than people give him credit for and he is one of the only successful conquests Ambrose has had. The problem is that Cena is still the most over person in the company, as much as people don't want to admit it. When Cena is involved in a match, you will hear more "Let's go Cena, Cena sucks!" chants than "Roman Reigns" or "Ambrose!". I remember during a Tag Team with Ambrose and Cena, people were chanting Cena's name while Ambrose was fighting. Roman was somehow upstaged once by just mentioning Cena's name (although to his credit, he did come back with a cool "Your damn right Cena sucks when Roman Reigns is in the building" line.

Detractors tend to over-exaggerate his weaknesses to the point where I find their opinions to be mostly irrelevant. Cena can't wrestle? Then you must hate Roman Reigns. Cena doesn't sell? Ziggler is worse in my opinion because while he (oversells), his timing always seems to be off. He practically jumped back up from a chokeslam, whereas Cena would've been down for a longer amount of time.

Whose fault is it? Probably both Cena's and Creatives. You never know though. CM Punk and Jericho have implied that Cena does have a certain degree of control, but Cena has stated dissatisfaction with how WWE won't let him do anything different with his character. So who knows. Admittedly Cena gets involved with some idiotic storylines and while his face pandering techniques aren't as blatant as...lets say Daniel Bryans, they feel very desperate. I imagine that doesn't help him much.

But above everything, Cena's persona has grown stale. It happened to Hogan, whose reception in WcW got kind of scary. But Hogan turned heel from it. The same thing happened to the Rock. He turned heel and made it work. WWE doesn't want to do the same for Cena, so he's stuck in this position.

How to get the crowd behind him? Maybe a feud with Rusev? Maybe just have him turn into a tweenerish villain. I suspect that audiences sort of want to see a new attitude era, as most of the 'over' performers tend to be more like anti-heroes. If Cena added an edge to his character, maybe it would work.

 

[MERPER]

Simple: put him against Rusev.

Love or hate Cena, no American is rooting AGAINST him in a rivalry with a russian a-hole who has gone out of his way to insult all Americans over and over again.

 

[John McCass]

Yes the best way is to turn him heel as this is what some people are asking for.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Here's the thing about the perceived unpopularity of John Cena: it doesn't exist to nearly the degree some want to claim.

Booing John Cena is sort of the "thing to do" at WWE events just like the dueling chants. Cena still sells more merchandise than anyone in WWE, his segments & matches are always big draws and people, whether they claim to hate or love him, are invested in whatever he's doing.

Now that's not to say that a lot of people aren't burned out on Cena. John Cena has been on top for so long, has been the undisputed "face" of WWE for about 10 years now, constantly gets preferential booking on orders from Vince McMahon and is 100% loyal to WWE. The biggest problem is Vince's stubborn refusal to allow Cena's character to evolve and do anything to alter the formula a bit. The formula has been a winning one, there's no doubt about that, but that still doesn't mean that people aren't burned on the blandness of seeing Cena painted in the light of the morally superior, near invincible superman that Vince insists on the "face" of WWE being.

At this point in time, I don't think there's anything that WWE can do to reignite Cena's fire other than turn him heel or allow him to develop into an edgier babyface. You know, to be come less like the corporate flag bearing, upright Hulk Hogan of the 21st Century. As John Cena is probably in the final years of his time on top, it's unlikely that the formula will be altered, especially as long as Vince McMahon is in control.

 

[Ultimate Randy Savage Fan]

The WWE doesn't want nor need every fan to be behind Cena as a fan...Probably about 75% love him & 25% hate him but they all do it with such passion unlike any other Superstar we've seen in a long home....and as long as he is getting such a passionate reaction from fans that is all that matters to the WWE

 

[jamesubrown1]

WWE chose to get behind CM Punk. Punk's heel like action to criticize the company, Punk to turn from a heel to a face.

 

[GOOZEKING]

On the topic of cena's reaction I never truly understood how to react toward them. I was wondering how are those people who are burned out on cena and or just don't like cena supposed to react to him.. The cena sucks chant seem to not working because wwe considers that a reaction good or bad so they see no problem with cena. They cena haters can't just not give him a reaction because then all the kids will be the only one chanting and wwe will believe cena got an amazing pop lets keep him face. It'd sort of like a lose-lose situation are cena haters supposed to boo cena and give him the reaction he wants or stay quite and let the kids keep chanting let's go cena. Although we don't really know off camera truly how much the cena sucks chant really affect cena. If I was him I would be furious at them... Here I am working every event going to all the charity all for you guys and some of you dare to boo me.

 

[WhiplashUnited]

It's not the WWE's job to get the crowd behind him. Cena gets a reaction no matter what he does. That's the name of the game. Reaction: good or bad. You can't tell the crowd to cheer someone they don't like. They'll boo them twice as loud. Just look at every time he goes to Chicago.

 

[Kidpolean]

You can't take chants as a measure of anything. The Cena back and forth chants have become fun and just the thing to do. Remember how Angle would come out to You Suck chants? What a lot of fans dont understand is that Cena is in a perfect spot that is actually a bonus for the WWE. Because of his unique reactions he can easily put over both heels and faces without it affecting his character or popularity. Why would the WWE get rid of someone that has that ability? Personally I think that the reactions he gets are the best reactions a wrestler could have. Take Punk vs Cena at MITB for example, what other face could have help create that atmosphere? NOBODY!!! If it was DB instead he would have been cheered. Cena being the face and Punk being the heel yet completely flipping the reactions is a really rare thing. Seriously how many other times has that happened?

 

[Khaosom]

Alright, I've been a dedicated wrestling fan for around 25 years. The attitude era for WWE was the best era, we saw at the end a heel that we couldn't help but like in John Cena. The powers that be in WWE took the ball and ran with it, creating a stale Hogan 2.0. This being said, Cena is still one of the best on the mic, he brings passion to his promos. Yes, he gets a mixed reaction from the fans, but as stated before a Boo, is still a reaction. Vince has always been stuck on certain formula's for his company, look at The Rock. He has creative push people with charisma but little in ring skill, with the exception of HBK and The Hitman. He has creative hold back the people who don't fit "the champion" look, due to size or on mic ability. Face it, Bray Wyatt is the best on the mic WWE has but is too husky to be champion. People like Kofi Kingston, Dolph Ziggler, Evan Bourne, Tyson Kidd, and many more never make it out of midcard due to their size. John Cena was able to fit the "champ" build on WWE. Unfortunately they let the character, and the 5 moves of doom get stale.

To get the fans behind Cena, you'd have to turn him heel. You would most certainly have to let him go back to being his former attitude and self.

 

[CyberPunk]

I don't think turning heel is the solution, not for the time being because you need a face as well to play off him. What my pet peeve with John Cena character is at no point does he show vulnerability. He is inhumane in that aspect. I'll give an example.

John Cena, 15 time world champion, goes against Brock Lesnar and for almost 16 minutes gets his ass handed to him. He loses in one of the grandest fashion of all. Even the best of the best would have self-doubts after that. Look at the promo after that. He comes back, puts down Lesnar and his achievement in breaking the most revered streaks in history of sports entertainment and.... almost wins the next one. There's no moment of self-doubt, no moment of vulnerability, no weakness, nothing. In process, he goes on to destroy Bray Wyatt, the man who he was feuding with just a month ago.

I get it, he's supposed to be Superman. But where is his kryptonite? Even Superman had his moment of self-doubts and vulnerability. Where is that for Cena? Even when he's playing an underdog, does he feel like one? WWE, or Vince in particular, has always shown that Cena can't be beaten, and when he is, it doesn't affect him in the slightest. All they need to do is to show Cena being a more normal human being who has his moments of weakness. It just never shows.

 

[StevieJ]

The solution is to "Hollywood Hogan"-him and turn Cena heel. Only other way is to "Dwayne Johnson"-him and bring Cena back after 5 years to be another crappy part-time champ, if they're still continuing that trend.

 

[StevieJ]

Face it, Bray Wyatt is the best on the mic WWE has but is too husky to be champion.

WTF is wrong with you? To husky to be champion? So does that mean Rollins wears too much leather to be champion? Or is Ziggler too blonde to be champion? I bet you also think Dean Ambrose can't be a champion because he wrestles in blue jeans.

 

[Navi]

John Cena is one of the most hated babyface in wrestling history. Whenever his music hits,the crowd boos him out of the building. This supercena gimmick has spread the hatred about him. He gets 50-50 reaction even in his hometown. He doesn't even puts young talents over and many many more reason to hate him. Some people chant "You can't wrestle" towards him but he had put on some great matches throughout his career. So,i want to ask is this his fault or creatives' fault? Why so much hatred towards him? He needs to pass the torch to someone at Mania. So,how to make Cena a fan favourite babyface?

If you've ever been to a live WWE show you wouldn't even be asking this question. I've been to a few this year and I'm telling you right now half the crowd looks like mini John Cena's. Another quarter of them are Daniel Bryan clones, and the last quarter are made up of Bray Wyatt wannabe's and other assorted wrestlers.

The amount of Cena merchandise that is sold is staggering, and the amount of signs that appear when his match starts is even more stunning. Kids and young women love him. Although a lot of the female vote is starting to swing Roman Reigns way and rightly so, he is gorgeous. Cena will always get a reaction, mainly because he has legitimate fans who are excited to see him, and of course you have the assholes that just like to chant anything.

Cena always puts on a good match, and never has disappointed yet. I would prefer not going to shows when he is there, just because the audience is mostly kids under the age of 12, and it does change the atmosphere. They aren't really into anyone but him. So the WWE doesn't have to get the fans behind Cena, they are already there, and not leaving anytime soon.

 

[TheICChampion]

Face it, Bray Wyatt is the best on the mic WWE has but is too husky to be champion.

The name Yokozuna ring a bell to you, bro? Guy was 500+ pounds and he had someone do all the talking for him. Hell, he had 2 people talk for him. Still won the WWE title twice, although the first only lasted about a minute, thanks to Hogan's politicking.

 

[FromGlasgow]

Wrestling is just so open now everybody seems to have an opinion on who should be on top and I think anyone on top for so long now would create some resentment, Long gone are the days of the past when the guys owning the company would book themselves or their own family members as their main eventers and champions of the company. I don't think fans buy it anymore, An Example using Hogan even though as a kid I pretty much knew wrestling outcomes were pre determined Hogan still seemed like some kind of unbeatable superhero type character and because of the openess of wrestling today I think its difficult to recreate that atmosphere.

 

[BestWrestlingOpinions]

Eh, at this point, I don't know what the same Cena can do to get a good reaction. You can even put him against Vince and HHH, defending Punk and using that real life story as a storyline and Cena would still get booed.

I don't know what can happen. He can ever turn heel and I still don't know if people will cheer him. Maybe if we finally see that we are moving away from the Cena era and not everything is about Cena, maybe then he might get some positive reactions.

It's really hard, there is so much bad will between WWE and most of its fans now, especially when it involves Cena, that it makes it pretty impossible to turn it around. Maybe if he leaves and comes back to put a heel over, then maybe.

Another poster said that if he goes against Rusev, then he will be cheered by at least Americans. I'm not American, but I will take a guess and say that it doesn't matter. People wanna get involved in storylines, but the patriotic thing isn't big anymore. People don't really care about patriotic gimmicks anymore, so they will just cut through the gimmick and see a young guy trying to make a name for himself going against "Career Killer Cena".

 

[chuckmdubya]

All of the super good guy gimmicks get stale in time. Even Hogan sucked for a few years before he re-branded and took over the nwo. Society was changing from where we liked good guys to where we liked bad guys. It will take a similar transformation for Cena to become a legend with the status of Hogan, Austin, or Rock. Problem for Cena is that the ultimate heel turn has already happened, and it was done by Hogan. There has to be a whole new concept of what a sports entertainer is for him to make the switch. Nowadays, if he just came out and said he was tired of the fans and switched to heel, he would be hated even more, and not in the way a heel is supposed to he hated.
As far as what to do I have less ideas than creative does. It may take a huge storyline involving him to do it. Or maybe a whole new concept has to be formulated, similar to the concept of the Attitude era where the bad guys became anti-heroes. Its really a tough one, no wonder he has been stuck with hustle loyalty and respect for so long.

 

[bioshock]

Cena's problem is he hasn't progressed with in ring moves. And he hasn't turned heel since his first year in WWE.

One of the reasons a wrestler gets so red hot as a heel or face is because they are coming off a run as a heel or face, and fans just get behind them and push them further. If Cena turned "heel" and did all the cheating and what not that goes with being a good heel, he would be loved by all the fans who hate him, and I think his shirt sales would go thru the roof just because he might have more edgy shirts and adults can spend all they want compared to kids.

But plain and simple: turn Cena heel before no one cares, which is going to happen, father time will pass Cena and no one will care what he does. And then once he does become a heel, has a good run as heel, he can eventually turn face with plenty of fans behind him. I mean everyone thinks Orton is great playing a heel, but after a while the fans eventually get behind him and turns him face.

 

[Pedigree1]

Like JH said,booing Cena is sorta the cool thing to do. I dont know why they do it,maybe because some dont want to get ridiculed for being fans. At this point in his career though,is there really anything that can be done to get him a tad more over with the audience?

Cena has been the man for about 10 years now. John is 110% loyal to the company and eats,breathes,sleeps WWE. Cena does put over talent,more so than hogan did.

As long as Vinnie Mac sees Cena as superman nothing will ever change. His character will remain the same as it always has been.

 

[MrGameTime]

Simple: put him against Rusev.

Love or hate Cena, no American is rooting AGAINST him in a rivalry with a russian a-hole who has gone out of his way to insult all Americans over and over again.

THIS IS DEFINETLY WRONG, if its a smark crowd or maybe even a normal crowd if they hate cena enough i can see them cheering for Rusev and cena will get boo'd. cenas time is over its the same thing for 12 years people have had enough. Fans thinks its cool to go against what WWE tries to make them do and will cheer Rusev.

 

[MERPER]

THIS IS DEFINETLY WRONG, if its a smark crowd or maybe even a normal crowd if they hate cena enough i can see them cheering for Rusev and cena will get boo'd. cenas time is over its the same thing for 12 years people have had enough. Fans thinks its cool to go against what WWE tries to make them do and will cheer Rusev.

This is 100% wrong. Sorry, but even if you hate Cena, no smart or decent fan is rooting FOR Rusev.

Everyone wants to see the guy lose. It's plain and simple.

Just like if you hated W. Bush or Obama as president you still wouldn't want to see another country get the better of them or America. It would be the same premise.

Would you have a few a-holes still boo'ing Cena? Sure. You will in any and all situations.

But to the OP's question. The best way to get a vast majority of the crowd behind him is in a feud with Rusev.

I'm not even sure how this is debatable.

 

[Messiah]

WWE doesn't need to get the audience behind John Cena.. Regardless of his reactions he'll always be the biggest draw in WWE.. As long as he keeps making money they should leave him the way he is.. Cena's reaction is mostly negative, but he always get's one of the biggest reactions of the night.

He doesn't need to be cheered. He just needs to be John Cena.

 

[streicher187]

Simple

Have him get "Injured" at Royal Rumble and say he is out for a while, don't mention him on TV or anything..

Mania Hogan in ring and Rusev comes down and threatens to attack him, challenging him to a match. Just before attacking Hogan the music hits and Cena comes out and takes out Rusev leaving him laying in the ring for Hogan to pin.

Hogan gets one more Mania moment, Cena stopped the unbeatable Russian fans cheer..