Cena Thread #4,783

[George Steele's Barber]

Is John Cena the new Chris Jericho? I ask this in the same way Jericho has seemingly been around for the sole purpose for the last couple of years making other guys look good. The exception being that Jericho was more prone to losing, Cena is just there to make everyone look good but he ultimately wins.

I'm not saying it is a bad thing or that "Cena sux!". Far from it. I appreciate that he is using the years of cache he has built up as the best in the business to make others look good. I'm just beginning to feel like it doesn't mean as much to make a guy look good when you just made twenty other guys also look good.

Maybe this is all leading to someone beating him cleanly and getting that one extra point (the clean win) that others haven't gotten. Maybe WWE thinks this is the best way to get the smarks off of his back while they prepare to put him back in a high profile program. Maybe this is what Cena really wants to do. Maybe this is at least more entertaining for me and I should just get out of my smark brain and try to enjoy it.

All I know is that "Not as Super Cena" feels more predictable than "Super Cena" and what felt like a huge rub for a guy like Neville and Stardust now feels more like a light pat on the back. Damned if you do, damned if you do it a little different.

What do you think? Almost two months in to this open challenge with competitive matches - is having a competitive match with Cena making guys look better? Or should we (I.e. I) just enjoy the entertainment?

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

I understand what you mean, but he's not nearly at Jericho's level of jobbyness. Beating Jericho these days is akin to beating Hornswoggle. I mean, Cena did just win a feud against Rusev. But I will agree on a small level that challenging Cena doesn't seem like it used to. That said though, we all know Cena can still be put immediately back into the main event without much effort.

That said, they should at least throw a few squashes in there to remind people that Cena is still far better than most and can still dominate. Few people are going to be upset if, say, Heath Slater walks down for a challenge and gets completely squashed.

That's one reason I like the kind of thing that happened this past Raw with KO. I don't know KO at all and don't drool over his every footstep like too many around here. But it did provide something different than another weekly match for the US Title. It also began the build for some kind of feud (be it major or minor).

On a side note, GSB, I dispute the number of this thread. I'm pretty sure it's 4,784.

 

[chuckmdubya]

Well, as we all know, Cena has surpassed the average main eventer. He's up on a pedestal all by himself with the rest of the roster trying to reach him. Cena can be used anyway WWE wants and he will still be the same in the eyes of wrestling fans. It seems he has garnered some respect from the semi-old school attitude era fans with his open challenge. Many fans like to see quality matches more than "sports entertainment" and he has given fans that for a couple months now.

We also know that when your start getting up there in years, then its time to help establish young talent, so I'd expect Cena to over-achieve in that area too. But he can't be made to look to weak because we know he has that record coming, eventually he will have more title reigns than anyone in history.

Right now, Cena is sitting in the background, entertaining fans, and waiting for the top of the card to go stale, and its on its way there now. There's only so much you can do with former shield members, Kane, Big Show, and Orton. Cena will be a draw until he retires, and many more threads will be posted.

 

[Kamala316]

Cena's not going anywhere - he is Vince's "Franchise", the 'company guy', smiles for the cameras, has the muscle look, etc., we know that. Personally, I can't stand his over the top good guy gimmick (I couldn't stand Hogan either back in the day), but more important, I'm not a fan of his based on the fact that his in-ring work has not improved one bit (my opinion) since he arrived on the scene in '02. If you're going to be the 'top guy', then at least fine tune your craft. As many have mentioned, his STF is horrible, and don't get me started on his variation of the jumping stunner. He may now have slightly more than his "5 moves of doom" in his repertoire. That being said, what they are doing with the US Title open challenge is actually what I has said months back when I said WWE should reinstitute the TV title. There doesn't need to be any buildup, the champ has to defend the strap on TV once a week. It would open the door for so many possibilities (some better than others). Bring old timers back, bring up someone from NXT, throw out a jobber (Slater, Ryder, Axel, etc.) if worse comes to worse. I compare it to how Angle did the open challenge, and Cena answered the call - no one expected Cena to win, but he wasn't half bad in defeat. Zayn and Neville weren't buried by Cena, they were given an opportunity to show off their skills and they ran with it; no one expected either to win. Look at this past Monday - KO promotes the live NXT show, pomerbombs Cena (pleasant surprise), and now he gets a match at a PPV with him. Will he win? Who knows, but we are intrigued. Nevertheless, I've Cena 'nuff. See what I did there? Bwahahahaha....

 

[enviousdominous]

Cena is the WWE, his image is indicative of how the WWE would look personified. Right now, I think the writers who are wise to that understand that having NXT talent work with him is a good way to get the crowd interested in their national tv debuts.

Chris Jericho is Chris Jericho, he's a franchise unto himself. I see the emphasis on beating him being that he just owned you on the mic and the only way to redeem yourself is to beat him.

If you're in a triple threat versus 2005 John Cena and 2001 Chris Jericho, I don't have to tell you which person you'd have to pin to get the most prestige. John's playing the role of a stepping stone that nobody can get past, they just occasionally get to kick out of the AA as their penance.

 

[Navi]

What do you think? Almost two months in to this open challenge with competitive matches - is having a competitive match with Cena making guys look better? Or should we (I.e. I) just enjoy the entertainment?

I love the idea of an Open Challenge each week. Also the fact that guys who wouldn't normally have a chance to face Cena are getting it. The problem for me is it's a double edged sword. While we look forward to see who's going to answer the challenge, we all know deep down inside that Cena is going to pull off the win. After all they made him a brand new shirt for this occasion, so the challenge is in a way redundant.

The guy who does eventually win the belt will get a nice rub, and we'll have been able to see some great matches. But like I said, we knew who would win each week, so some of the glitz is off the rose.