Could John Cena have made it in WCW?

[CM Steel]

Let's alter the time frame here shall we?...

Let's say John Cena made his debut in WCW around the time of the infamous monday night wars on Nitro. There a bluechipper John Cena would make his way up the rankings in WCW as a bright new star. But by this time in WCW Hulk Hogan would turn heel going by Hollywood Hogan forming the New World Order (nWo) with Scott Hall & Kevin Nash fresh from the WWF. The nWo grows with more members. We have the Nature Boy Ric Flair rolling with the new Four Housemen. Diamond Dallas Page, Raven and his flock, Bill GOLDBERG! And the wrestling icon Sting updates his gimmick and look.

Many saw Sting as the face of WCW like how John Cena is to the WWE in this modern era. But if wrestling history was done differently, could John Cena have made it in WCW? Because at that time in wrestling WCW was the shit!

 

[RJ Fletcher]

I honestly think he would have been as relevant as Johnny the Bull. The powers that be back then would have him on their Saturday morning shows jobbing to the NWO's B-team.

 

[PsychoBlack]

It would have been bad timing. The atar power back then in WCW was ridiculous. Luger, Flair, Sting, Savage, Giant, and the nWo. Not to mention the rise of Goldberg. Little room would have been left for Cena. Guys like The Radicalz, Raven, and Jericho were all treated Like second tier workers, not necessarily even because of the other talent in the company at the time, but, due to politics and Bischoff getting tunnel vision with the nWo. So to answer the question, no, Cena would not have made it in WCW not for a lack of talent on his end but a lack of any idea of what to do with talent on Bischoff's

 

[Slyfox696]

John Cena is one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history and is one of the hardest working pro wrestlers in history. It wouldn't matter when John Cena came through, he would have been a star.

Contrary to popular belief, stars are not made by companies, but rather make themselves. John Cena has made himself a star and it doesn't matter what time period you discuss, Cena would have been a star.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I think if Cena had appeared in 1994 in WCW he would have got over as a mid carder. His "wrestling talent" would have not been good enough to be a star in WCW. With the exceptions of Sting and DDP then WCW never made any stars. They were always stars before they entered WCW (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Hogan, Savage etc) or after they left (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Lex luger - although some may argue he was a mild star before he went to WWF in late 1992, Chris Jericho, the Radicals etc) or they left as nobodys and became major stars in WWF - like Diesel and Razor and then returned to WCW.

In my opinion Cena would have bombed in WCW but had a job for a while. I think Bischoff would have let him go and he would have debuted under WWF banner and Vince would have made him a star; so long as it was after June 1994 ..

 

[Rulk25]

Steve Austin would bed to differ. Bischoof had no interest in him..saw nothing in him and others like Flair wanted him not to suceed....so tell me how you are positive anyone would have got over

John Cena is one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history and is one of the hardest working pro wrestlers in history. It wouldn't matter when John Cena came through, he would have been a star.

Contrary to popular belief, stars are not made by companies, but rather make themselves. John Cena has made himself a star and it doesn't matter what time period you discuss, Cena would have been a star.

 

[MCMG]

Logic would suggest yes but logic wasn't always applied in WCW. Cena is a wonderful in-ring performer and superb on the mic. He has had numerous great matches with a range of opponents so he should be a success in any wrestling company. There were a lot of problems in WCW. Talent like Austin, HHH, Foley, Jericho all left before they could make a massive impact. Benoit and Guerrero were in similar situations - all talented wrestlers no doubt.

In reality it is difficult to tell. Cena is "better" then everyone that was on the WCW roster but he may not have got the opportunity. So Cena may have stayed in the mid-card doing fuck all or would have been a refreshing superstar in their main-event giving them new and exciting options. Impossible to tell but, judging on ability, Cena would easily make it.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I don't see why not. He is far more flexible as a character than what we have seen the past nineish years. He would be held back behind the Horace Hogans and David Flairs temporarily. But it is not like no one could succeed besides the NWO guys and Sting. Cena could very easily work his way in to a spot like Goldberg and DDP. Lots of guys got chances in WCW despite what fans like to say. Most of the guys that people complain got held back just really didn't catch on (which should sound familiar to today). Cena would have caught on or at least shown the work ethic to be kept around long enough to eventually catch on. I have a hard time believing his current gimmick would have been given a chance but there are plenty of other parts Cena is capable of playing.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

There were exceptions, but making it in WCW was mostly about who you knew. It was a collection of cliques, not a locker room. If Cena had been able to buddy up to Hogan, Flair or Sting, then yeah, he'd have been something.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Contrary to what some want to believe, Cena's proven himself time & time again as one of the top guys in the game of the past quarter century. Contrary to what some want to chant at various times, Cena can wrestle. He's had FAR too many great matches with such a BROAD range of opponents that claims of his performances being flukes or being all about his opponent "carrying" the match are utter nonsense. Don't get me wrong, Cena isn't some master grappler or in-ring technician, but so what? The vast majority of fans have cheered for wrestlers for decades who haven't exactly been a Catch As Catch Can legend. In terms of Cena's in-ring capability, he could work circles around Hall, Nash & Hogan in WCW and we know that Cena can more than hold his own in delivering promos with anybody.

Is that an automatic guarantee he'd have made it in WCW? Well no, not necessarily because, in some ways, Ted Turner essentially gave Eric Bischoff carte blanche to do whatever he wanted while Hogan, Hall & Nash used WCW as their personal playground where they ultimately helped call the shots. Meaning that if they didn't want Cena to be elevated, he wouldn't have been. However, Eric Bischoff would have had to have been an absolute fool not to be able to see that there'd be money in John Cena. John Cena circa 1998 would have been a young, virile 20-21 year old guy with a great look, a lot of physical strength, great overall physical conditioning, could deliver strong matches consistently and was loaded with personality. In other words, Cena wasn't a "vanilla midget" as some other guys would be labeled, wrestlers who were the workhorses of WCW in the late 90s like Jericho, Guerrero, Malenko, Benoit and some others unfairly were.

 

[OldSchoolWrestlingFan]

John Cena is one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history.......

Hahahaha - you are so very wrong my friend. He is not even close to being one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. He is nothing more than a walking billboard/TV commercial. He is one of the best "entertainers" is WWE history but he doesn't even make it into the top 25 of greatest wrestlers.

If you would take Cena, his stiff predictable "wrestling" style, and his horrible pouting babyish backstage antics he would have gotten destroyed in WCW. If you would have taken Cenas old Dr. Of Thuganomics character he could have possible been a strong mid card heel but his current character would have slowly faded into obscurity.

Just the thought of him facing Arn Anderson, Vader, Muta, etc is laughable - he is lucky that he arrived on the scene when he did.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

He is one of the best "entertainers" is WWE history but he doesn't even make it into the top 25 of greatest wrestlers.

WWE since 1985 has mostly been about entertainment, though. Cena's not the greatest worker, no, but he's easily one of the top 10 greatest wrestlers of all time. As far as I can tell, there's a solid argument for him being the single greatest wrestler in history.

 

[Woodstuff]

With the exceptions of Sting and DDP then WCW never made any stars. They were always stars before they entered WCW (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Hogan, Savage etc) or after they left (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Lex luger

Goldberg? Booker T? The Giant?

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

The fact is, it is IMPOSSIBLE to supplant a character into a completely different era - especially one before their time - and be able to guess whether or not that character would get over.

Both major organisations have dropped the ball at times; both of them have made diamonds out of coal.

The thing Cena has going for him is his ability to connect with fans. Not everyone is able to - and some who can't have still been pushed to the moon - but Cena's ability to garner a reaction, which he has managed his entire WWE run, would give him half a chance in WCW BUT who knows what they would have done with him.

I'm sorry but it's an impossible hypothetical question

 

[Tastycles]

Hahahaha - you are so very wrong my friend. He is not even close to being one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. He is nothing more than a walking billboard/TV commercial. He is one of the best "entertainers" is WWE history but he doesn't even make it into the top 25 of greatest wrestlers.

If you would take Cena, his stiff predictable "wrestling" style, and his horrible pouting babyish backstage antics he would have gotten destroyed in WCW. If you would have taken Cenas old Dr. Of Thuganomics character he could have possible been a strong mid card heel but his current character would have slowly faded into obscurity.

Just the thought of him facing Arn Anderson, Vader, Muta, etc is laughable - he is lucky that he arrived on the scene when he did.

Of all the wrestlers in history, there's perhaps no two big stars closer to each other in style than Cena and Old Sting. Sting became a superstar by beating precisely the people you mentioned there. So you're adding to the evidence there.

Also, to call Cena stiff and predictable whilst heaping praise on Vader is beyond ridiculous.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

I think if Cena had appeared in 1994 in WCW he would have got over as a mid carder. His "wrestling talent" would have not been good enough to be a star in WCW. With the exceptions of Sting and DDP then WCW never made any stars. They were always stars before they entered WCW (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Hogan, Savage etc) or after they left (Stone Cold Steve Austin, Lex luger - although some may argue he was a mild star before he went to WWF in late 1992, Chris Jericho, the Radicals etc) or they left as nobodys and became major stars in WWF - like Diesel and Razor and then returned

Lex Luger was a World Champion, Starrcade headliner and major challenger for Ric Flair, as well as a multi-time US Champion and tag team champion, in WCW BEFORE leaving to the WBF and then WWF in 1992. Clearly WCW made him a star.

Also the Steiner Brothers were for a time easily the most popular tag team in wrestling, and they achieved their greatest fame in WCW either side of their year long sojourn in WWF.

They also brought Big Van Vader to the attention of North American wrestling fans, and though it didn't work out, attempted to make a headliner out of Ron Simmons.

You can also make a case that the likes of Austin, Pillman, Marc Mero, Cactus Jack and Dustin Rhodes would never have been picked up by WWF if they weren't given national exposure by WCW.

WCW's record was a lot better than people remember (and that's not including the likes of Booker T and Goldberg who others have mentioned), but their legacy is blotted by the Hogan years where they focused more on buying in established stars.

 

[Pedigree1]

Cena is one of those guys,no matter what time period you stick him in,he would have been a star.. Cena is everything he says,Hustle,Loyalty,Respect.. More important he busts his ass,is a tireless worker..

Its no secret Cena could work circles and circles around Nash,Hall,and Hogan in WCW.. Even during hogan's prime,Cena most certainly would have equaled him in terms of Drawing power.. Hogan would be no match for Cena in the Ring,or even on the mic.. Not to say Cena would have been a bigger star than Hogan in his day,but certainly would have given him a run for his money..

Also its fair to say,he would have been given the shaft in WCW.. Bisch had full control of who got pushed aided by buddies Nash,Hall,Hogan.. Maybe those guys would have seen Cena as a huge threat and felt enormous jealously towards him.. That would be the only thing i could see Cena being put on the backburner in WCW

 

[waylonmercy]

John Cena is one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history and is one of the hardest working pro wrestlers in history. It wouldn't matter when John Cena came through, he would have been a star.

Contrary to popular belief, stars are not made by companies, but rather make themselves. John Cena has made himself a star and it doesn't matter what time period you discuss, Cena would have been a star.

Tell that to HHH, Kevin Nash, Undertaker, Edge, Austin who were all jokes in WCW. Undertaker went from absolutely nothing in WCW for years to the fast track to become a WWE HOF. The others were given a character to play that suited who they were as people and their careers took off.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

John Cena is one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history and is one of the hardest working pro wrestlers in history. It wouldn't matter when John Cena came through, he would have been a star.

Contrary to popular belief, stars are not made by companies, but rather make themselves. John Cena has made himself a star and it doesn't matter what time period you discuss, Cena would have been a star.

We're talking about WCW here, Sly. Does Cena having potential to be an all-timer matter at all in Eric Bischoff's world? Ask Steve Austin...or Chris Jericho.

Cena would have been misused. He would have been a workhorse, but end up being fed to Hogan and the NWO... or if he debuts earlier, being fed to the Four Horsemen. The politics and bullshit around this time would have swallowed him whole... no matter how hard he worked in the ring.

Also WCW doesn't take that kindly to Northerners. Being from Boston and having a weird accent would have drawn heat from the bipartisan, gun-toting nutcases that mostly watched WCW during it's heyday.

So my answer's no. As good as Cena is now, he wouldn't have been given a fair shake in WCW. Anyone who thinks otherwise should know better.

 

[MWRedskins]

this is a tough question. really to answer it, you would have to answer this question...Would Eric Bischoff like John Cena enough to push him and get him over?? and before we answer yes, we also have to look at guys like Stone Cold, Triple H and Chris Jericho. Jericho in particular should've been pushed to the moon. the man was cutting really good promos in WCW while also wrestling really hard, yet, his biggest push was to the TV title. he wasnt pushed enough to even win the US title. so the answer would've been more on if Bischoff liked Cena enough to push him. if that answer is yes then he either would've been like Goldberg or DDP or he would've joined up with the nWo, but it's also likely he wouldnt be world champion much as WCW loved pushing guys that Bischoff (and later Russo) liked. so again, this is a tough question to answer.

 

[Slyfox696]

Steve Austin would bed to differ.

Really? So Steve Austin didn't get over anyways and become one of the biggest stars the business has ever seen? Yes, actually, he did. And that was even after being given the Ringmaster gimmick.

So, like I said, superstars aren't made by the company, they make themselves. And, yes, you are more than welcome to ask Austin or any other wrestler who was successful and they will tell you the same thing. Many of them are on record saying the same thing. Hell, it's obviously one of Jim Ross's biggest pet peeves if you watch the Legends of Wrestling series.

Hahahaha - you are so very wrong my friend.

No, I'm not. He has been the top draw in the wrestling business for close to 10 years. And not only has he been the top draw for nearly 10 years, he's done it during the national TV era, when he's on TV every week has a PPV every month.

There is not another professional wrestler in history who can make the same claim.

He is not even close to being one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history.

You're obviously a dumbass if you truly believe this.

He is nothing more than a walking billboard/TV commercial. He is one of the best "entertainers" is WWE history but he doesn't even make it into the top 25 of greatest wrestlers.

Cena has had great matches with many different workers, working many different types of matches. Anyone who knows anything about pro wrestling knows how great Cena is. Obviously you don't know much about wrestling.

If you would take Cena, his stiff predictable "wrestling" style, and his horrible pouting babyish backstage antics he would have gotten destroyed in WCW.

Buff Bagwell was over in WCW. Lex Luger was over in WCW. Goldberg was over in WCW. John Cena is far better than any of those three.

If you would have taken Cenas old Dr. Of Thuganomics character he could have possible been a strong mid card heel but his current character would have slowly faded into obscurity.

Nonsense. Again, you obviously don't understand pro wrestling.

Just the thought of him facing Arn Anderson, Vader, Muta, etc is laughable - he is lucky that he arrived on the scene when he did.

Why is it laughable? Because you don't know what the hell you're talking about? What's laughable is when morons who don't understand wrestling make stupidly outrageous claims in a snide manner.

Tell that to HHH, Kevin Nash, Undertaker, Edge, Austin who were all jokes in WCW.

You mean, besides Austin, the guys who were there for a brief cup of coffee when they were incredibly green and inexperienced workers? We're supposed to use THAT to determine how good Cena would have been?

That's just stupid.

Undertaker went from absolutely nothing in WCW for years to the fast track to become a WWE HOF.

Because he was a very good worker. I mean, good God, the man was given the character of an UNDERTAKER. What a fucking awful gimmick, but he was so good and had such an ability to make fans care about him, he made the awful gimmick work.

We're talking about WCW here, Sly. Does Cena having potential to be an all-timer matter at all in Eric Bischoff's world?

Yes, why not? He is great on the mic, has a great look and is a tremendous worker. John Cena would have been successful in WCW.

Ask Steve Austin...or Chris Jericho.

Is that Steve Austin during his Ringmaster days? Is that Chris Jericho in the WWF when, after debuting in a dueling promo with the Rock, he spent years working the midcard, including a feud against a woman?

These guys weren't superstars in the WWF right away. It's not like their star power was there, just untapped. No, they needed to learn how to become a superstar. And they did. Just like DDP did. Just like Cena would.

Cena would have been misused.

Cena was misused in the WWE, didn't seem to hurt him. "Misused" is a phrase reserved for wrestlers resigned to the "he's a good hand" status, not a phrase reserved for superstars. Superstars draw money and wrestling companies want to make money.

He would have been a workhorse, but end up being fed to Hogan and the NWO... or if he debuts earlier, being fed to the Four Horsemen.

Like Sting was fed?

The fact is Cena would have been a superstar. A true superstar can never "be fed" to someone, they will always overcome a loss to remain a superstar. How many times has Cena lost a match in the WWE? He loses all the time. But it doesn't affect his drawing power because he's a superstar.

Also WCW doesn't take that kindly to Northerners.

Maybe, if you conveniently forget that whole NWO thing...

Being from Boston and having a weird accent would have drawn heat

What else would a professional wrestler ever want but to draw heat?

 

[whoopin' ass]

The Cena we have wouldn't have made it back then in either company as the gimmick would have been seen as an old 80's style gimmick and not pushed. The superhero thing was dead by then so he would have had to come up with a different character. If he had, he might have had a chance in WCW due to his size but I wouldn't bet in him having a ton of success as politics always seemed to get in the way. WWF might have been a different story but with all the guys who left WCW because there was so little opportunity, I can't see Cena having much luck unless someone really got behind him.

 

[willross]

John Cena probably wouldn't have done much in WCW because young guys never thrived in WCW due to the political structure.

Same reason why Guerrero, Jericho, Benoit, Mysterio, etc. only made it so far. Too much money in top guys, too much creative control contracts.

Cena is a hell of a lot better than people give him credit for but he got that good by working with guys like Lesnar, Benjamin, Orton, etc in developmental and then working guys like Guerrero, Booker T, and Big Show when he moved to the main roster.

By no means is saying he wouldn't a slight on Cena though. Not a single full time guy in the business right now could have made it in WCW in the late 90's, early 2000's under the circumstances WCW was under.

 

[willross]

Hahahaha - you are so very wrong my friend. He is not even close to being one of the greatest professional wrestlers in history. He is nothing more than a walking billboard/TV commercial. He is one of the best "entertainers" is WWE history but he doesn't even make it into the top 25 of greatest wrestlers.

If you would take Cena, his stiff predictable "wrestling" style, and his horrible pouting babyish backstage antics he would have gotten destroyed in WCW. If you would have taken Cenas old Dr. Of Thuganomics character he could have possible been a strong mid card heel but his current character would have slowly faded into obscurity.

Just the thought of him facing Arn Anderson, Vader, Muta, etc is laughable - he is lucky that he arrived on the scene when he did.

Dude, no one in WWE actual wrestles lmao. If they did there would judges and a point system. Some guys have amateur backgrounds but that doesn't mean anything.

You confuse wrestling with working and working is simply engaging an audience, selling tickets, and psychology. Cena is one of the best in history cause when you are in WWE, you aren't a wrestler, you are an entertainer. Its been like that forever cause it was never legit lmao.

 

[mral82]

To everybody the only guys to ask are the 1's who were in control of WCW like Hogan, Nash, Bischoff, Ted Turner, Vince Russo. In my opinion he woulda lasted in WCW from 1996-1999 then jump to the WWF in 1999 or heck even 2000 as are you saying if he was the same age as them if so yes! The WWF coulda debut him as Jericho's Prototype of the Future of Pro Wrestling w/ his Y2J thing the countdown to the millienium woulda shown Cena's debut and he'd make it big cuase of his loyalty and work ethic and in the same Alt Universe Sting after WCW is still bought by the WWE in 2001 joins the WWE as he likes how Cena's being treated and gets The Rock's joke and Cena and Sting became the Blade Runners 2.0 and the rest is history. So yes Cena coulda made it in WCW or any company in any Decade due to his work ethic.