Championship Match: (1) John Cena vs. (3) Andre the Giant

[klunderbunker]

This is championship match in the tenth annual WrestleZone Tournament. It will be held at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. This match will take place on the same night as the fifth and sixth round matches so the wrestlers will not be coming in fresh. The amount of damage will be gauged by the margin of the previous matches and the length based on the total number of votes (read as a match with few votes would be short and a lot of votes would be longer).

#1. John Cena

Round 5: 65-19
Round 6: 43-38
Total: 108-57


VS.

#3. Andre the Giant

Round 5: 54-19
Round 6: 48-23
Total: 102-42


​

Polls will be open for seven days following a one day period for discussion. Voting will be based on who you feel is the greater of the two competitors. Post your reasons for why your pick should win below. Remember that this is non-spam and the most votes in the poll win. Any ties will be broken by the amount of posts of support for each candidate, with one vote per poster.


Also remember that this is a non-spam forum. If you post a response without giving a reason for your selection, it will be penalized for spam and deleted.

 

[enviousdominous]

For those who might wonder if Andre the Giant can match Cena's worldwide appeal:

https://obeygiant.com/engineering/sightings/

Not long after introducing "Obey" as a rallying cry for street artists in 1989, the idea became a worldwide phenomenon. The stoic stare of one of the world's greatest wrestlers is enough to not only clash with the dreary monolithic presence of your average city-scape, but to show that we can imagine that it is our duty to watch the watchmen. While Cena made the show fun for some people, Andre's image captured the imaginations of those who would seek to balance the power struggle between the few and the many. Thanks to the Obey movement, Shepard Fairy is one of the wealthiest street artists in the world today with a net worth of 11.5 million USD.

Today Andre the Giant fights John Cena. John Cena is a man who has proven that he can stand alone against a sea of popular opinion that's driven to drown out his message with malcontent hatred, and emerge victorious without betraying his character. John Cena has toppled giants like The Great Khali, Umaga and The Big Show in long hard fights while displaying superhuman strength.

Of all the giants who've ever existed in the pro-wrestling world, none of them have the track record of Andre the Giant. In his prime, Andre was famous for winning handi-capped matches against his fellow greats. For a visual example, here's a vid of Andre in 1972 taking on Larry Hennig and Paul Vachon:

[YOUTUBE]n8Uvl_quZks[/YOUTUBE]

Notice what happens at 3:50. That Andre took a hard body-slam and got up with his soul burning to return the damage he'd received, that Andre didn't take half a minute to get back to his feet. Imagine slamming Andre, only to turn around and see him staring you down.

Andre doesn't just beat the biggest names in pro-wrestling, he beats them up. His wins over such names as The Iron Sheik, Billy Graham and Hulk Hogan proved that he was always well aware of his reputation as the man on top of the pro-wrestling world. Many people have been able to call themselves "the best" at one time in their pro-wrestling career, Andre has been able to stay "the best" for longer than any of his contemporaries. While an opponent like Cena is damn resilient, he's nothing that Andre hasn't dealt with in his heyday.

This one goes the distance with both men showing that to win this tournament it'll take more than they've ever given in their careers. Both men fight to the point where they're unlike any opponent that either man has ever had to face, and in the end this one goes to the man whose greatness persists well beyond the test and time and well beyond the confines of the pro-wrestling world. This match goes to Andre the Giant.

Just for fun, how about we answer critics of Andre's athleticism with a brief video:

[YOUTUBE]z7vyJMwOFAo[/YOUTUBE]

That was 21 year old Andre the Giant as a karate badass in the film "Casse-tête chinois pour le judoka", and oddly enough he seemed to perform the standing fireman carry long before it became a John Cena's thing.

Vote Andre.

 

[Rayne]

Yikes. This one's a lot closer than I thought it would be. Neither man (to my knowledge) ever beat his wife or murdered anyone.

 

[nightmare]

If Cena has had his face carved in the Mt. Rushmore of wrestling, the surely Andre is the giant man-beast who lives atop the mountain, guarding it against vandals, villains & scoundrels. Spending his days eating bears & drinking wine by the gallon.

There is only one thing left to do. Vote for Andre to win this tournament, because he is better. Need proof? We dont see a battle royal named after John Cena, now do we? Was anyone ever nervous about putting a title on John because he they may not have a way to get it back? Has there been any wrestlers that John has put the fear of god in if they chose to not do business? No? None of those? Ok, then.

 

[Tastycles]

There is only one thing left to do. Vote for Andre to win this tournament, because he is better. Need proof? We dont see a battle royal named after John Cena, now do we?

Because he isn't dead and because he hasn't spent his career winning battle royals, he's spent it winning main events.

Was anyone ever nervous about putting a title on John because he they may not have a way to get it back?

They literally had to invent the concept of the bullshit MITB cash in to get the title off him for his first reign. It wasn't until his 8th reign, when CM Punk beat him, that anyone ever beat him in a straight up 1 on 1 for the title.

Has there been any wrestlers that John has put the fear of god in if they chose to not do business? No? None of those? Ok, then.

What does that have to do with anything? Bad News Brown made Andre apologise to him for being racist, does that make Bad News Brown a better professional wrestler than him?

These points are ludicrous.

I'll decide who to vote for later, but if you continue in this manner, it's going to be Cena.

 

[Matyy256]

Cena lost to Great Khali clean. Khlai is no where near what Andre was. Cena may eventually win the feud overall but Andre would win their first bout. Vote Andre.

 

[Khalifa]

Man could you imagine all the people hating on John Cena if this match were to happen and he actually won. I mean it's the perfect scenario for Cena isn't it? Overcoming something that looks impossible. It's not like John Cena is facing his first big guy in his career either. He has beaten the likes of Big Show, Great Khali and Kane. He has beaten the worlds strongest man (Mark Henry) in an arm wrestle. Well pretty much beat him. I know arm wrestling doesn't always mean strength but I think it was obvious that Cena was using power to win, not technique or his non existent years of experience when it comes to arm wrestling. He brushed off what could be considered almost attempted murder in his I-Quit match with Miz (and Riley). He has defeated a freak in Brock Lesnsr. If this match was to go for 40+ minutes I would find it hard for Andre to go at that intensity as effective as John Cena. Really, What Andre is and can do, John Cena has beaten.

None of those guys I mentioned though had it all in one like Andre did. His sheer power and size are on a level no one has seen before or will probably see again and I'm not sure John Cena will be able to defeat this demon the first time around, which eould be this championship match. Imagine a prime Andre getting the exposure and all the media perks John Cena gets now. You can argue no one would ever be on Andres popularity level, whether that be past or future.

I'm definitely on the fence for this one at the moment. Hopefully I get swayed to a person but I'm pretty sure this year will be Andres year anyway and I'm more than fine with that. My vote can still go either way but.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I'm not entirely sure what the condition numbers mean, but it looks like Andre had an easier time in his previous match compared to John Cena. On the flip side, John Cena is one of the best conditioned power wrestlers WWE has had. Have you ever noticed, no matter how long the match is, Cena has to pretend hard to be tired, he's not even sweating at the end of the match. Now Andre doesn't have that luxury. He'd be gassed if this final match lasted a long time. I'd have no doubt Cena could heft Andre on his shoulders and give him the AA. Andre in a match this late in the game would have to rely on long rest holds to survive. Perhaps he could catch Cena in a butt splash and win it out of the blue for a big win. That's where Andre is dangerous. But I can't ignore that conditioning would be a major factor at this point and Cena finds a way to win against the original giant of wrestling.

 

[enviousdominous]

Since some folks are understandably on the fence with this one, I'll make another case for my favorite in this match. I'll also preface this by saying here and now that; if John Cena wins this, he's done more to earn this tournament win than anyone else in the history of this tournament. His bane had always seemed to be either Stone Cold or Lesnar. I'm fine knowing that we'll get somebody new this year, and that the final match would have been a barn burner of a close finish.

Many of us have seen John Cena at his absolute zenith, I imagine that it would between when he was still riding a wave of momentum from his WrestleMania 21 win up until getting crushed by Brock Lesnar at Summerslam in 2014. That's a pretty long time to be the guy who can't be decisively beaten. As much as I love Punk, I'll admit that his wins over Cena didn't make him look better. John Cena got those wins back, with interest, in later matches.

Andre the Giant hit the scene under various names, and was a smash hit anywhere he went. He would take an odd loss here and there, but that would often be as a fluke unto an opponent considered to be one of the greats of that era. His biggest moment was revealing himself to the wonderment of Japanese crowds in 1970, and his lowest moment was when he passed the torch to Hogan after laying down for a leg drop.

To analyze their potential vulnerabilities in this match; how about we look at Andre and Cena for when they slipped up during and after their epic runs on top of the pro-wrestling world?

John Cena was pinned by Umaga in 2006, The Great Khali in 2007, The Big Show in 2009 and 2010, Lord Tensai in 2012, Alberto Del Rio three times from 2012 to 2016 and Daniel Bryan in 2013. If we really want to count Orton's pinfall wins over John Cena, I'm sure we can just accept that it was a lot but that John Cena got the better of their insanely long feud with more pinfall wins.

From what I've been able to research; Andre the Giant was pinned by Karl Gotch in 1971, Killer Kowalski in 1972, Hulk Hogan in 1987 and then four times by The Ultimate Warrior throughout 1989. Please correct me if I've missed some pinfall loses on part of Andre, but all that I can find of the over two thousand matches that he's fought are only four men that have managed that. There's also the fact that if we stop Andre's status as the greatest at his loss to Hogan, then the Warrior wins don't even count.

Also; let's not forget that Johnny Ace and Kevin Federline currently hold pinfall wins over John Cena, though they (and most of the losses I've mentioned that he's endured) were the result of a ridiculous amount of interference. The difference in my mind is however, I can't imagine any amount of interference granting either of those two men the ability to pin Andre the Giant.

My brain is getting tired, so I'll wait to go into the potential of both men when it comes to a submission or knock out win. I highly doubt either of these two men would force a countout or dq at this point. If for no one else, it'll be for my own satisfaction to share what I've found.

When looking at pinfall statistics, I don't see an Andre -- who's in the middle of his 15 year hiatus from suffering a pinfall loss -- taking a pinfall loss here against a man who's more than proven that he can be beaten even when he's at his best.

 

[nightmare]

They literally had to invent the concept of the bullshit MITB cash in to get the title off him for his first reign. It wasn't until his 8th reign, when CM Punk beat him, that anyone ever beat him in a straight up 1 on 1 for the title.

Pretty sure the idea of 'anywhere, anytime' was part of the deal upon creating the match & before they decided to let Edge use the loophole. Implying the whole thing was just to get the belt off Cena is a stretch.

As far as your second part there....

Not counting his early OVW stuff- did Carlito not beat him for the US strap in his debut match? I think Jordan beat him as well, but that was kind of wonky. If you are talking about just the main titles..... Pretty sure Orton kicked John in the fucking head to take his belt during a HIAC match well before he ever fought CM Punk. Would have to go look up the matches, but that right there alone kind of shoots holes in your statement.


The guy is not as bulletproof as you are implying.

These points are ludicrous.

I'll decide who to vote for later, but if you continue in this manner, it's going to be Cena.

If you continue to imply Cena was more than he was, then I surely will vote for Andre to negate your ludicrous vote. Cena is great, but Andre is the stuff legends are made of.


The fact that Andre was booked to lose only a small amount of times & Cena has the arguably worst record out of all the truly top tier guys he is usually listed with, should give you an indication of who was a bigger deal. Andre was much more than the lumbering giant of his later years & a prime Andre would have not lost to Cena. He was much more dominant & untouchable during his prime than John was\is & John has fallen to lesser men during his runs than those with the size\skill of Andre. He was so much of a force, that again, promoters were hesitant to give him a belt because they may not have a legit way to get it off him.



Cena has his glory here, but in the end, all his strength is not enough to keep this giant down. Great match & a long awaited final to this tournament- but Andre takes this one.

 

[klunderbunker]

Something to keep in mind here: this really depends on which Andre we're talking about.

If you want to go with the more famous Andre from later in his career, it's very likely true that Cena can't AA him and there's a good chance he can't get him in the STF. However, that's the Andre who is pretty much done once you get him off his feet. Yeah he was undefeated for a long time but there came a point where he was losing short matches (as in like thirty seconds) to Ultimate Warrior or even Hillbilly Jim (albeit by DQ). If Cena can drop him with some shoulders etc., Andre is in big trouble in a hurry.

On the other hand if you go with the physically prime Andre, as in from the mid to late 1970s, Cena can certainly AA and STF him (remember that Andre was closer to 400lbs back then which is certainly something Cena can handle). However, that's the same Andre who could move around on the mat and even come off the top.

On the third hand, you have John Cena, who is one of the best big match players of all time. Cena does very well against big men and could more than handle his own against Andre. I'm not sure if he could beat him though and I'll be voting later on. This is a VERY interesting final though and I could easily see it going either way.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

I have no clue who I'm voting for here. At this point going on about how great either guy feels pointless and damn near everyone voting is aware of who these guys are and what they've accomplished (if you haven't do yourself a favor and just don't vote, go watch both guys and enjoy the show).Andre in his prime was as close to unbeatable as they come but he DID in fact lose to top stars like Inoki and El Canek so given the right circumstance he would take the fall here and I can't imagine him refusing to put Cena over if asked given his stature in the wrestling business.

Given the situation here and the fact Andre isn't in much better shape than Cena is going in (like it would matter with Cena anyways) it really comes down to what would be the best possible way to end this tournament, do we want to see Cena overcome the odds, give the worlds largest Attitude Adjustment and win it all or do we want to see Big French dominate and crush the top babyface. For myself I'd like to see Cena overcome the odds and I can't help but think it would be the likely scenario but this is one match up where there's no wrong answer and both guys deserve to win. Right now I'm leaning towards Cena for no other reason than I like that ending better given Cena's story arc through the tournament and who he's beaten to get here. Truthfully though I'm an open book at this part and my vote could go to either guy, it all depends on how well the Andre enthusiasts defend the guy at this point.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Two men with very different careers and different successes. It is believeable for either man to beat the other in their prime. Andre's advantage in damage helps his cause. So does the fact that anyone who voted Andre over Rock would have a hard time justifying Cena over Andre. But to me the difference comes down to Andre's popularity and drawing appeal being more universal. I also look at the fact that while it took almost thirty years to top the WM 3 gate, WWE was able to "do it" without Cena even on the card. No way WWE hits whatever fake WM 3 number without Andre's popularity and worn out carcass on the card.

Vote Andre.

 

[JGlass]

Two men with very different careers and different successes. It is believeable for either man to beat the other in their prime. Andre's advantage in damage helps his cause. So does the fact that anyone who voted Andre over Rock would have a hard time justifying Cena over Andre. But to me the difference comes down to Andre's popularity and drawing appeal being more universal. I also look at the fact that while it took almost thirty years to top the WM 3 gate, WWE was able to "do it" without Cena even on the card. No way WWE hits whatever fake WM 3 number without Andre's popularity and worn out carcass on the card.

Vote Andre.

Um, absolutely the WWE would have been able to hit whatever figure they give for WrestleMania 3 without Andre. No doubt, Andre being the huge, unstoppable giant that they billed him as definitely helped make the legend of WM3, but we all know that show was 100% about Hulk Hogan.

 

[Tastycles]

Pretty sure the idea of 'anywhere, anytime' was part of the deal upon creating the match & before they decided to let Edge use the loophole. Implying the whole thing was just to get the belt off Cena is a stretch.

But the timing of him using it, immediately after the

As far as your second part there....

Not counting his early OVW stuff- did Carlito not beat him for the US strap in his debut match? I think Jordan beat him as well, but that was kind of wonky. If you are talking about just the main titles..... Pretty sure Orton kicked John in the fucking head to take his belt during a HIAC match well before he ever fought CM Punk. Would have to go look up the matches, but that right there alone kind of shoots holes in your statement.

I said he never lost a straight up 1 on 1 for the title, you preceded to bring up matches that weren't for what I obviously meant by 'the title' and a HIAC which is not a straight up 1 on 1, so no, it doesn't shoot holes in my argument, it is a series of irrelevant points.

If you continue to imply Cena was more than he was, then I surely will vote for Andre to negate your ludicrous vote. Cena is great, but Andre is the stuff legends are made of.

You're clearly going to vote for Andre anyway, so this doesn't make any sense.

The fact that Andre was booked to lose only a small amount of times & Cena has the arguably worst record out of all the truly top tier guys he is usually listed with, should give you an indication of who was a bigger deal. Andre was much more than the lumbering giant of his later years & a prime Andre would have not lost to Cena. He was much more dominant & untouchable during his prime than John was\is & John has fallen to lesser men during his runs than those with the size\skill of Andre. He was so much of a force, that again, promoters were hesitant to give him a belt because they may not have a legit way to get it off him.

Did Andre regularly compete against and beat the champions of the 70s? That's not a rhetorical question, it's pretty much what I'm going to base my vote on. If he regularly beat Race, Sammartino, Rhodes, Graham, Funk etc, even if by count out or whatever, I think I will vote for him. They needn't have been the champion at the time. But if, as you say, the only reason he wasn't a champion was because promoters wouldn't know what to do otherwise, he would have beaten most of these guys when they weren't the title holder. If he generally only beat bums in squash matches, then I don't care how popular he was, that makes him a sideshow.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

Um, absolutely the WWE would have been able to hit whatever figure they give for WrestleMania 3 without Andre. No doubt, Andre being the huge, unstoppable giant that they billed him as definitely helped make the legend of WM3, but we all know that show was 100% about Hulk Hogan.

You make it sound like I am giving Andre all the credit for the 94,000 or whatever number. I'm not. You however are really off base if you are giving 100% credit to Hogan. Hogan couldn't have drawn that well alone. I would argue that there was no one in WWF at the time or maybe even the world that Hogan could have faced that would have drawn even close to so well. Andre/Hogan did that. Much like Taker sacrificing his streak to Lesnar, Andre sacrificed his streak and unbodyslamabilty. The biggest difference being not many expected Lesnar to win while most everyone was sure Hogan would. They just wanted to see it for themselves. They wanted to see all those years of legacy sacrificed. They wanted to see the slam. It was so predictable but still so important because it was Hogan doing it to Andre. I don't think you were alive then but trust me when I tell you that while Hogan mattered at that time, it meant so much more because it was Andre that he was facing.

But tell me why WWE was able to break the record despite Cena not being on the card. Was WM 32 100% about Roman?

 

[King Patrick Star]

Let's go Cena!!

Of course I'm going under the premise that Cena has and will overcome the odds, as he always does. Andre may be the Giant, but John is the biggest Star in the history of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. The "damage" taken will not be a factor for both men. I expect run-ins from Ric Flair, Harley Race, and Kurt Angle, who are trying to help Andre win, but I also expect Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldberg, and Sting to make the save, and even out the odds. Sorry, fantasy booking is a habit.

Let's go Cena!!

 

[enviousdominous]

Let's go Cena!!

Of course I'm going under the premise that Cena has and will overcome the odds, as he always does. Andre may be the Giant, but John is the biggest Star in the history of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. I expect run-ins from Ric Flair, Harley Race, and Kurt Angle, who are trying to help Andre win, but I also expect Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldberg, and Sting to make the save, and even out the odds. Sorry, fantasy booking is a habit.

Let's go Cena!!

Andre would use interference!?

I'm trying to be as civil as I can here, but for fucks' sake.

What is John Cena!? Is he a God of wrestling who would easily bounce Andre out of this tournament because he's just so fucking kayfabe badass, or is he the one overcoming the odds against a seemingly insurmountable force who will feed off of the courage invested in him by his fan-base to win this one for the good guys?

I'm honestly shocked that people are willing to use Andre as a prop to validate their love for John Cena. Hell, at this point I think I'm not even a Cena hater anymore. I could write a book about why either of these two men would deserve to win a tournament like this, but I wouldn't devote chapters meant to discount the potential of their opponent and I would try like a motherfucker to not contradict myself. I really don't like the idea of Andre the Giant being put into the category of typical Cena fodder.

No doubt, Andre being the huge, unstoppable giant that they billed him as definitely helped make the legend of WM3, but we all know that show was 100% about Hulk Hogan.

I... can't even figure out where to begin.

Hey JGlass, do you remember when Hulk Hogan beat The Iron Sheik for the world title and thus reaffirmed that the USA kicks ass? Do you remember when Hulk Hogan beat Superstar Billy Graham and took pro-wrestling into a new era? Do you remember anything, and I mean ANYTHING about Hulk Hogan before he pinned Andre?

Right now I'm leaning towards Cena for no other reason than I like that ending better given Cena's story arc through the tournament and who he's beaten to get here. Truthfully though I'm an open book at this part and my vote could go to either guy, it all depends on how well the Andre enthusiasts defend the guy at this point.

I agree that John Cena has overcome a Hell of a lot to get here. He beat Stone Cold Steve Austin, the perennial WrestleZone Tournament Champion. He beat Harley Race, the man who knocked out Bret Hart and last year's winner Shawn Michaels. That's damn inspirational and a valid factor in determining John's potential in this match.

You didn't mention what Andre has overcome in this tournament. Andre beat Brock Lesnar, whom you might remember beat (a horribly gassed) Cena in last year's tournament. Brock was an early favorite according to the prediction thread, and so was Cena for that matter. Andre beat The Rock in a ladder match, which I think is self-evident as the greatest accomplishment of Andre's in terms of this tournament. Andre beat Ric Flair, another name that was recognized as being so great that it deserved its own region. Andre came out of nowhere, he's the guy that I see wanting this win more.

It was no easy road for either man, both men had to have a strong enough presence on our minds to get past opponents who we could easily see winning this entire tournament. Both men would have their first tournament win by getting through this match.

My argument is that Andre has more to win, and for that reason he wouldn't take John lightly just for being a little shorter. This is a more rare moment for Andre in that John Cena will be fresh on our minds for the next decade as he will surely earn a few more world titles in epic fashion, while Andre's potential will suffer because his greatest accomplishments will be less noteworthy for having already been reflected on. John will have one of these tournaments given the fading popularity of Stone Cold and Brock Lesnar, that is if he doesn't win fifteen of them over the course of future tournaments. This may be Andre's last chance to be a strong presence on our minds.

When we talk about "Who would be willing to lose here?", I think that both men would be willing to grant a win to the other one. Andre would be willing to lose to Cena because he would see Cena as the future and as someone who truly respects the business. Cena would be willing to lose to Andre because Andre has more credit to his name than anyone else that John Cena has ever been willing to lose to, it's because John respects the business that he would be willing to humble himself and give this one to Andre.

 

[nightmare]

I said he never lost a straight up 1 on 1 for the title, you preceded to bring up matches that weren't for what I obviously meant by 'the title' and a HIAC which is not a straight up 1 on 1, so no, it doesn't shoot holes in my argument, it is a series of irrelevant points.

Irrelevant to Mr. Invincible being stopped in single opponent title matches?

You're clearly going to vote for Andre anyway, so this doesn't make any sense.

I actually was going to wait to see if anyone had something to offer on team Cena that wasnt just more of the same lame shit from before. Nothing new to report. Especially after gems like King Patrick threw up.

Did Andre regularly compete against and beat the champions of the 70s? That's not a rhetorical question, it's pretty much what I'm going to base my vote on. If he regularly beat Race, Sammartino, Rhodes, Graham, Funk etc, even if by count out or whatever, I think I will vote for him. They needn't have been the champion at the time. But if, as you say, the only reason he wasn't a champion was because promoters wouldn't know what to do otherwise, he would have beaten most of these guys when they weren't the title holder. If he generally only beat bums in squash matches, then I don't care how popular he was, that makes him a sideshow.

Bockwinkel, Flair, Hogan, Hansen, Sheik, Vachon, Kowalski, Inoki, Race, Brody, Graham, Rhodes & both Funk brothers are just a few names that have fallen numerous times at the hands of Andre. He may have racked up wins over jobbers & in handicapped attraction matches... but he also has many names on his hit list comprised of the best of the best.

Let's go Cena!!

Of course I'm going under the premise that Cena has and will overcome the odds, as he always does. Andre may be the Giant, but John is the biggest Star in the history of Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment. The "damage" taken will not be a factor for both men. I expect run-ins from Ric Flair, Harley Race, and Kurt Angle, who are trying to help Andre win, but I also expect Stone Cold Steve Austin, Goldberg, and Sting to make the save, and even out the odds. Sorry, fantasy booking is a habit.

Let's go Cena!!

That is a very ridiculous and overbooked way to finish this match & no reason any of them would come out to interfere. Weak ass argument for Cena.

 

[OYDK]

Honestly, I went with Cena strictly because I like the story arc of him overcoming all the odds to inevitably meet the ultimate boss in Andre the Giant at the end. John Cena is a carbon cutout, a modern day version of Hulk Hogan and, like Andre was for Hogan, he would have been the absolute perfect opponent for John Cena to overcome, ESPECIALLY in this type of scenario. Andre has basically walked through his opponents on the way to the finals whereas Cena is coming in after a dog-fight with Stone Cold... I can clearly picture Cena taking a beating but ultimately catching Andre with an AA for the "stunning" upset victory. That's been his MO for 10 years and while Andre has beaten the best of the best, he has never had trouble doing the job for the guys bringing in the money. I see that being the case here.

As for the argument that Cena wouldn't be able to get Andre off his feet, one thing John Cena has been known for over the years has been his amazing feats of strength, usually when people believe he can't do something he proves them wrong. Like heaping Big Show and Edge on his shoulders at the same time... I can easily see Cena creating another incredible moment by hoisting up Andre and delivering the AA to win his first tournament. I understand why somebody would vote for Andre and had his opponent been anybody but John Cena or Hulk Hogan my vote probably goes his way as well. But Cena is a known giant-killer and while he's also lost his fair share of matches against big men, he regularly beats them on the biggest of stages.

This is going to be close so I thought I'd get a written vote in for Cena early. Remember, they don't call him "Big Game John" for nothing.

 

[King Patrick Star]

I started watching Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment in the spring / summer of 1989. Do you know what Andre was doing at that time?? He lost his WrestleMania V match against Jake the Snake Roberts, and followed it up at SummerSlam 89, by teaming up with the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man and Akeem), and losing to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Demolition (Ax and Smash). If Andre was in his prime today, he would be in a tag team with the Big Show and they would lose a 2 – on – 1 handicap match against John Cena. Let’s be real here…or more appropriately, let’s be kayfabe here.

John Cena is Hulk Hogan minus the sex tape, but I’m sure there are more ladies who would rather see Cena than Hogan in a similar video. John Cena is Stone Cold Steve Austin minus the domestic issues, and I think Brie Bella would interfere anyway and hit him with Twin Magic. John Cena is the Rock minus the Heel turn, because no matter how much the people boo, Cena will never give up…on the fans.

Don’t get it twisted. Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock are tied at the number 2 spot on my own favorites list. Hulk Hogan is tied at the number 5 spot on my own favorites list with Ric Flair. John Cena is somewhere between number 9 and number 10 on my own list. I’m not the biggest fan of John Cena, but my son is. Andre’s time is up, Cena’s time is now.

Andre would use interference!?

I'm trying to be as civil as I can here, but for fucks' sake.

What is John Cena!? Is he a God of wrestling who would easily bounce Andre out of this tournament because he's just so fucking kayfabe badass, or is he the one overcoming the odds against a seemingly insurmountable force who will feed off of the courage invested in him by his fan-base to win this one for the good guys?

I'm honestly shocked that people are willing to use Andre as a prop to validate their love for John Cena. Hell, at this point I think I'm not even a Cena hater anymore. I could write a book about why either of these two men would deserve to win a tournament like this, but I wouldn't devote chapters meant to discount the potential of their opponent and I would try like a motherfucker to not contradict myself. I really don't like the idea of Andre the Giant being put into the category of typical Cena fodder.

If Andre is accompanied to the ring by Bobby the Brain Heenan, then yes, he would use interference. After all, Ric Flair and Harley Race, members of Heenan’s Family, are two of the three Heels coming to his aid. John Cena is a God of wrestling who would easily bounce Andre out of this tournament because he's just so fucking kayfabe badass. John Cena is the one overcoming the odds against a seemingly insurmountable force who will feed off of the courage invested in him by his fan-base to win this one for the good guys. I’m actually envious of your seriousness, in an imaginary tournament, in a kayfabe reality. HAHA!!

That is a very ridiculous and overbooked way to finish this match & no reason any of them would come out to interfere. Weak ass argument for Cena.

I’m not trying to make an argument for Cena. I’m just telling you who I voted for and why. Plus, if this is WrestleZoneMania, and if this is the Main Event, then there is no such thing as overbooking. The idea of Ric Flair helping Andre the Giant, after Andre defeated Flair earlier in the evening is a great twist. The idea of Stone Cold Steve Austin helping John Cena, after Cena defeated Austin earlier in the evening is a greater twist. Have some fun with this a little. You sound like a nightmare to be around. HAHA!!

Lay your @$$ down for the 3 second tan!!

 

[Slyfox696]

As much as I could have picked Andre in nearly any other match, he has no chance here. John Cena would win this in a walk. Cena has a long history against giants, even Andrew's own son, the Big Show. And Cena's history against guys like Big Show and Great Khali is very good.

If Andre is accompanied to the ring by Bobby the Brain Heenan, then yes, he would use interference.

If Bobby Heenan is escorting Andre to the ring, then this match is even more one sided in favor of Cena than it was before.

I'm not saying Andre isn't great or that I wouldn't pick Andre against a lot of other opponents in a championship match. I'm just saying Cena would go over Andre.

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I started watching Professional Sports Wrestling Entertainment in the spring / summer of 1989. Do you know what Andre was doing at that time?? He lost his WrestleMania V match against Jake the Snake Roberts, and followed it up at SummerSlam 89, by teaming up with the Twin Towers (Big Boss Man and Akeem), and losing to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Demolition (Ax and Smash). If Andre was in his prime today, he would be in a tag team with the Big Show and they would lose a 2 – on – 1 handicap match against John Cena. Let’s be real here…or more appropriately, let’s be kayfabe here.

So because you're to young to have seen him in his prime when he was undefeated for a decade and a half and to lazy and/or stupid to look it up that negates it? If I hadn't already voted for Andre this right here would have swayed my vote against John. Please keep it up Andre needs all the votes he can get.



Both would be willing to take the fall if this match had been able to take place, both are 2 of the All time greats and rightfully called legends so I went a route I don't usually go. I read this entire thread and weighed the arguments for both men that were there and stacked that up with how much I liked each competitor and by a rather close margin chose Andre.

 

[Papa Pillman]

Here's a quick write-up in case this is close enough to need it:

We've seen Cena hoist both Show and Edge onto his back for an AA, so I think we can safely assume that he could also position Andre comfortably. And as a result, I think this is perfectly set up booking for the tourney to have Cena win it all here after a Giant AA to Andre.

Andre got to make the deep run, even beating history's greatest heel in the semifinal match, but does the job to(cliche coming) this generation's Hogan, ala WM3.

Cena "Slamming the Giant" to get the victory is the big time culminating moment that leaves the lasting impression on this year's WZT. This ending honestly seems to write itself.

 

[justtxyank]

First of all, please do not use the "undefeated for a decade" nonsense that the WWF put out there. It was not true. Andre the Giant never went a decade without taking a loss.

I've never cared about John Cena. He debuted right at the time I quit watching wrestling on any regular basis and the times I've jumped back in I've found him to be someone that I just didn't like. It's undeniable how long he has been on top of the WWE, but I don't think anyone is arguing that his time on top has been the golden era for the promotion.

Kayfabe would surely see Cena win this match, but I'm voting for Andre. Andre was a global phenomenon that promotions in every region of the world wanted to book. He was so over that even when he couldn't move he could sell out a tour data in Japan to just stand on the apron and deliver a slap.

Andre with the win.