Crowd Reaction to Cena's Make a Wish Video at HOF & Treatment of Maria Menounos

[Agent Of S.H.I.E.L.D.]

Yeah Cena's a megaheel with a large segment of the fans and he doesn't even have to do anything heelish. The more forthright he is and the more he ignores them, the angrier they get week after week.


"WE HATE CENA!!" guys are the easiest fans to rile up. The thing is that now Cena is totally baiting these guys in his promos and they are getting

because while baiting them, he's staying over as a babyface with the casual fan by always keeping up the Fightin' Champion gimmick. Willing to put his title up and take on all comers = super babyface to the majority of casual fans.


He did that hilarious bit on celebration dances and the last one he says is "Maybe a little... heel turn?"... Maybe. Maybe he's a heel already who doesn't know it? Maybe he's not really a proper heel until he turns on the fans properly? Right now he's in this in between area, but if he tells the children to stick it that is what to me will be THE heel turn.

That's all I got on that.

 

[ExcellenceorAwesome]

This may be a little late, but I have been busy lately. My fiance and I were at the HOF and at Mania this year. We were both mortified by the reaction of the crowd. I understand Cena is not everyones cup of tea but this was a night for respect, and chunk of the crowd had none. I wanted to strangle the people sitting behind me, and beside me. The guy next to me thought it was funny and was telling his kid to join in.... I felt so bad for Maria Menounos, as you could see her fighting to hold back the tears. For a night that was supposed to make it feel great to be a wrestling fan, it was almost anything but.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

The simple truth of it is that there are a lot of fans out there today, unfortunately, who simply have no class. While it's true that WWE & Make A Wish both get something out of working together in terms of recognition, that doesn't make what Cena does any less worthy of respect.

I don't know if it was John Cena's idea to do the whole thing with Make A Wish, if it was a collective decision or what the deal was; but the man takes time out of his life to visit kids who have life threatening illnesses. Some of the kids he grants wishes to won't live to see adulthood. Some won't live long enough to get out of elementary school.

If fans want to boo Cena, that's all well and good. If you do it just because you don't like Cena, fair enough. If you do it just to be a dick, again fair enough. But c'mon, there's a time and a place for it and last night wasn't it.

I always find it funny that fans or dirtsheet writers accuse WWE of being crass or classless, which they are sometimes, but they seem to think its okay to act like malignant turds themselves.

Jack-Hammer, you know as well as anyone that wrestling fans aren't the classiest fans in the world. We throw objects at people, boo folks we don't care about, and will go out of our way to let people know what we think through clever signs, t-shirts, and chants.

That being said, people are mostly smart on Cena's antics and know that he's a fake. Cena does the Make-A-Wish stuff because the WWE MAKES him do it. It's not out of the goodness of his heart or because he's a softy. It's because he's the face of the WWE and has NO CHOICE. People are smart to that, hence why they booed him. His tales of how he acts in airports, after Raw tapings and in other surroundings show you that Cena gives no damn about the fans and acts like an asshole.

Now, I've seen first hand how he acts toward younger fans. He doesn't care. He even gave a weird smirk to a dude who was dressed in full on Cena gear (Cena Shirt, cargo shorts, shoes, and hat). Mind you, the dude was at least 5'10 and possibly a 15 year old, but he was a fan. Cena doesn't seem to know where his bread is buttered. Doesn't change his status in the WWE, but that's why most of the fans booed him.

And no matter how they played Maria Menunous (sp?) as a Bob Backlund fan, no one gave a damn and all they seen was a hot toddy who had no business being near a wrestling ring. New York's full of pure wrestling fans that appreciate WRESTLING. No one likes Donald Trump and him having a heart attack on stage would have drawn the biggest pop of the night.

And we can talk about how bad the fans are, but that's what Vince created with the 'Attitude Era'. He created fans that want blood and to boo not being shown tits. It's the stigma that the WWE will never shake.

I don't condone those actions at the HOF, but I understand why they happened.

 

[FlairFan2003]

WWE doesnt make the wrestlers do Make A Wish. Steve Austin told the story a few years ago of being asked to visit a sick child in a hospital. He came early to speak with the child's parents and ask who some of the kid's other favorite wrestlers were since WWE was in town, Austin thinking maybe he could get someone else to show up as a surprise. According to Austin's interview, Ric Flair was one of the wrestlers the child mentioned so Austin called him, explained the situation, and Flair cancelled plans that afternoon to surprise the kid at the hospital as Austin's "Special Guest".


Hulk Hogan routinely made Make A Wish visits for many years, often blocking out entire days to spend time with these kids and their families. The year Flair retired he spent an entire day visiting patients in a South Carolina hospital when he was in town for "key To The City" celebration.

These guys do not get paid for these visits. Moreover, although Make A Wish did officially recognize Cena for the number of his appearances, many other WWE personalities make these visits and it is not heavily promoted or advertised. In most cases the appearance by Cena or anyone else is not promoted so the wrestler is able to spend more time with the sick child than dealing with autograph seekers, media, etc. That of course means that much of this work is not advertised so the wrestlers typically do not get much press for it.

Not much press, no pay, there really is no reason for the wrestlers to participate unless they care. You may not like Cena's character (I dont like Hogan for instance) but you cant discredit the good he does with his association with Make A Wish.

 

[Zeven_Zion]

If anyone thinks the fans were booing because he was doing something good for the kids, you're out of your mind. It's not the cause that rubs people the wrong way, it's Cena and the WWE. Everyone is rubbed the wrong way for different reasons.

Some people dislike it because they know it's half-assed. I think half of it is for publicity and the other half is Cena wanting to do it. To elaborate, I think Cena wants to do it and WWE cashes in on it with publicity when they feel like it. I don't think WWE gives shit, but when Cena does it it's an opprtunity for them and they take advantage of it. Nothing wrong with that, it's business, but I can fully understand why some people are angered by it.

Some people booed just because. Still, they didn't boo because he helped children and they thought "Ew, fuck that guy, making wishes come true for sick kids". They just booed.

However, the underlying message behind the footage is what I think annoys some people. We can ALL agree that it's awesome to help kids anywhere at anytime. However, why did they show the video during RAW? Was it a kid's wish for them to show a video? You can't be foolish enough to believe WWE showed it just to show their care and kindness. They fucking did it for publicity, to show this is happening. This type of programming enforces their PG Rating, makes the show feel like a family friendly one and probably helps with sponsorships.

It's a business move and people know it. That's why they boo. Sometimes WWE goes too corporate and business-y and people hate that shit. Not just with the WWE, with any company that tries to shove something in our face for the wrong reasons, regardless of what it is.

Compare Cena to Bieber. When people heard "Never Say Never" (his movie) came out, you had two groups. His blind fans who were excited and the thinking adults who thought "Oh not this cheesy shithead again". Why? Because we, as adults with at least three braincells on active duty, knew that this 18 year old fucker was getting a movie which portrays him in the nicest of lights and is in reality a big fat marketing campaign. We knew that, that's what it was. It had a slogan, it had a logo, it was heavily pushed on social media, it was promoted, it was a damn marketing campaign ... for a marketing campaign.

Now Bieber was doing great things in it I'm sure. Kid can sing his ass off and he started from nothing. It's inspiring to an extent. But still, people knew what sprung the production of the movie. Marketing, money, PR.

It's the exact same case with this. Yes, what Cena does is awesome and if someone doesn't respect him for it then he/she's an asshole. However, some people see the more underlying concept of it all. Essentially, people actually dislike WWE for showing it and shoving it down our throats but they channel their hate to Cena instead because he's the first thing they see. WWE simply goes "Here, see that? We do Make a Wish stuff. We're amazing, look at how generous we are". Going back to Bieber it's like him getting his ass heavily booed for winning a Milestone award and then first thing he says is "Thank you Jesus". Bieber's "Thank you Jesus" is WWE's Make a Wish video.

In the end, Cena gives a shit, if ANYONE actually cares it's him. WWE cashes in on it as they always do and as they should.

You can't blame WWE for showing it, but you can't blame people for not wanting unnecessary marketing when they came to see a fucking wrestling show.

 

[Nikeo]

I don't think anybody denied that it's a smart PR move. That IS the exact reason there are video packages shown. However, it also adds to Cena's on-screen character AND is an amazing experience for those kids. Everybody wins.

I don't think they were booing Cena's charity work but that is 100% irrelevant. It's not about WHY they boo'd Cena. It's the fact that it is hugely inappropriate during a video package like that.

If there was a video of Manchester Utd granting wishes to Make a Wish kids at a football match, would the fans of the opposing team (who DESPISE Man Utd) boo? No. They wouldn't. They'd have a bit of fucking tact. I can guarantee you the English media would crucify any team's fans that did anything like that. It doesn't matter if you're booing the act or the person (people) featured, it just doesn't come across well.

For the sheer fact that one of those kids could have been at the HOF ceremony and seeing that video package could have been a great moment in a very short life, respect should have been shown. That could have been a great moment but, drowned by boo's, I'm sure anything positive would have drained from the situation. If I was a kid in that situation I'd have been fucking devastated.

Tact. I can't stress that enough. Whether they "just boo'd" or not it just isn't appropriate behaviour.

I don't watch Raw, and I assume you're referring to another video shown this week, but I certainly don't class the HOF purely as a "wrestling show". I think it's still bad if it's done on a show but I think it's morally reprehensible to do it at the HOF ceremony.

I don't necessarily buy the "people don't want the marketting machine shoved down their throats" bit. If it was CM Punk granting the wishes there would be fucking tears during the video packages. I feel they're boo'ing Cena just to boo Cena. There's no thought, subconciously or otherwise, that they're boo'ing the corporate agenda. I (personally) don't think that's a factor whatsoever. I'd still think it was a shit thing to do if that was the reason but I'd have SLIGHTLY more respect if it was. I may be wrong but I don't think that's the case.

Why? When they aired video packages showing Cena's millitary charity work, what happened? Did the smarks (or anyone) boo? No. They didn't. They chanted "USA! USA!" So you'll respect your millitary.....but sick kids? Fuck them. They don't deserve the same respect. If they didn't want the marketting machine they'd have boo'd the troops video packages too. They didn't.

Yeah, let's respect the millitary by not boo'ing (and cheering for) the guy we hate. Fuck the sick kids though.

I'm not saying that that's a concious thought process but it's certainly how it comes across to me. I certainly don't think they're boo'ing the marketting machine, they're just booing Cena. Thing is, there's a time and a place for that. PR spin or no PR spin it's simply not appropriate to boo something like that. Whether it's your intention or not, whether you're boo'ing to make a political point or not, it just makes you look like a ********.

It can also ruin a moment for a kid that's not going to be lucky enough to live as long as the beer bellied, uneducated Cena hater sitting in front of him at a show. That reason, alone, should be enough for people to keep their fucking mouths shut.

I don't buy the ignorance argument either. They were smart enough not to boo the video packages featuring the millitary because they KNEW how boo'ing that would come across, so they didn't. They should have shown the same tact for the Make a Wish kids.