Defining the moment: John Cena

[LSN80]

There are times, defining moments if you will, in each wrestler's career that we began to view them as ou of the ordinary. Whether it be a promo, a segment, or a match, we began to view them differently.It can even be a series of events. It doesn't necessarily mean we like said wrestler, but a new found appreciation is found and shown towards them. From the "I really love this guy!", to "Yeah, I like what. he does, to, "I don't like him, but I respect him nonetheless." These momens are3 what truly make us wrestling fans. We all have our reasons for getting into wrestling, but it's safe to say that a certain wrestler influenced it, some more than others. And there was and is that special moment that sticks with us through time. In the case of some, we don't even have to like the particular wrestler for a moment to be special.

I decided to start this series with John Cena for a couple reasons. One, Im unashamed to say that John Cena is easily my favorite wrestler, and has been for 7 years. Two, nobody stirs up "controversy" within the IWC the way Cena does. Some will defend him and at all costs, while others find him completely unappealing. This thread though, is about the moment. The moment that to you, defined John Cena. It doesn't have to be his greatest match, or his greatest promo. It's just that moment that sticks out to you as something out of the ordinary, that makes you a fan, or at least respect him. Having said that, this I ask of you.

To you, what was the defining moment of John Cena's career thus far?

To me, I look back to Wrestlemania 22, when he made Triple H submit to retain the WWE title. Im generally not a mark for wrestlers, and just want to see a good product. This night though was quite the exception. I had expected Cena to take the title from JBL, and win all of his subsequent defenses up until that point, with the exception of the Elimination Chamber and the subsequent Money in the Bank cash in by Edge. With no disrespect to the Chris Jericho's or Kirt Angle's, I thoroughly felt Cena would go over. But it was the matchup with the 10 time champion in Triple H that had me sweating it out. I thought for sure it was over when HHH brought the sledgehammer into play. Thje words still echo in my head of Jim Ross, "Its all on the line, will The Game hold on?" And much to my relief, he didn't. This victory truly cemented Cena's main event status for me, and still sticks out as his defining moment. In reference to Cena, I want to know your "defining moment." You don't have to like him to do so, but there's no desire Cena has provided his share of moment in his WWE career. Heck, if you want, provide a Youtube Video of that moment. And have fun with this.

Spoiler

[YOUTUBE]ipDIiyROhtw[/YOUTUBE]

 

[The_Reptile_]

For me the defining moment for Cena has to be his match with RVD at One Night Stand. I watched it because it was said how much smarks hate the guy, and the booing was pretty intense. The problem with that, however, is that it actually made me love the guy. He went out there, took his heat like a man, and went with so much that it was hard not to start liking him. Then the match actually started, and for me the arguments that couldn't wrestle were pretty shot out of a cannon, as he held his own against RVD and was actually, y'know, wrestling.

Of course, this leads one thing I don't like about Cena. He is AWESOME as a heel. He doesn't have to have that goofy rapper gimmick he did before, but more of the ''I don't give a shit if you don't like me'' heel. I loved that aspect he had that night.

 

[Disturbed]

I think it was the Edge feud. The feud really defined his career. It was a great feud that lasted for the most part of 06. Edge cashed in to win his first WWE championship, after Cena had just won an Elimination Chamber match. That got Edge a lot of heat. They had a short feud for less than a month as Cena won it back at the Rumble. Edge faced Foley at Wrestlemania. Cena took on Triple H. I think they had a triple threat match at Backlash, Cena vs Triple vs Edge and Cena retained. Cena then lost the title to RVD at One Night Stand later that year. Edge won it in a triple threat match on Raw between him, Cena, and RVD. Edge and Cena feuded untill Unforgiven where Cena won a TLC match between the two. It was in Edge's hometown and in Edge's match specialty. Edge even had his own belt that he ripped off from Cena. This feud made both men's career. It got Edge over as a top heel with his, "Rated R Superstar" gimmick and it helped Cena as it gave him someone fresh to have a nice feud with. It brought out the best of Cena and the best of Edge.

 

[The Holy One]

I'll actually say the Cena's defining moment was when he survived the Ankle Lock and beat Kurt at No Way Out 2005. I actually believed that Kurt would beat Cena at the event even though John was (and still is to some extent) my favorite wrestler at the time. I think this was his coming out party to tell the world that he was ready for the main event when he beat Angle while lasting through the Ankle Lock for a good two minutes. Not only did he beat a former mutliple world champ and mainstay in the main event, but he was also going to Wrestlemania to wrestle for a world championship.

Spoiler

[youtube]_AVaet7jK6c[/youtube]

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not really sure if I can go with any single moment because Cena's had so many huge ones. Among the more obvious ones would be winning his first WWE Championship at WrestleMania.

However, I think I'd probably have to go with John Cena's matches with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 23 and the 1 hour match he had against him on Raw the next night. Cena had been up against a lot of big name opponents, had already been a multi time World Champion by the time this came around, but his matches with HBK were something a little more special I think. Shawn Michaels is arguably the overall greatest professional wrestler of his generation and Cena's matches with HBK just sort of told me about John Cena "This guy is here to stay". I'm not a huge fan of Cena, I like the guy ok and think he's unjustly hated by the smarks but I do respect the guy. His match on Raw against HBK lasted over an hour, that's the last televised match that I know of that went 60 minutes or more on free television. It had the feel of an epic match and HBK managed to win it by the skin of his teeth, even though it wasn't for the title. Cena had been in the WWE Championship picture for 2 years at this time but this feud against someone like HBK, someone that's universally respected for what he can do as a pro wrestler, is one of those feuds in which a young guy knows that he's really, 100% truly made it. No matter how much some may hate him, no matter how much some might boo him, Cena went at it with possibly the overall greatest of all time and looked like a superstar doing it.

 

[LitasRevenge79]

Great thread LSN. I admit, I've not always been the biggest Cena fan. True. I admit, I'm a cynic when it comes to the Johnny All Star Perfect at Everything, seems to have it all kind of guy. I admit, I used to cheer for whoever he was fighting against. I admit, it has taken some time for him to grow on me. I've learned to eat my words when it comes to Mr. Cena. I mean, I know I'm opening myself up for some haters here, to me he's not that appealing, but I do admire his spirit, and his spark he oozes when he is anywhere. I really do admit that it’s quite infectious, even when I don’t want to admit it. Hehe. That being said, over time, I’ve just started to admire how he just doesn’t give up. I really found it to be quite interesting, and then my 7 yr old nefew even started quoting lines of his like “You can’t see me!” along with the hand gestures. At first I was quite upset like “Oh brother…” But then I asked my nefew Evan, “Why do you like John Cena? What is it about him that is cool?” Kids being kids, are so honest, he replied, ”Because people are mean to him on tv and he still can be a good guy and does a good job. He still is happy. I like him. He also makes me laugh when he does a good job and is happy.” I realized then and there, that Cena is just doing what he loves, and that’s the basics of it.

To me, I don’t particularly recall ONE defining moment per se. I admit, the HHH WM 22 match was pretty good. However, I think his injury facing Batista at SummerSlam 2008 was pretty devastating, but then to see him as a surprise entrant at the Royal Rumble that January then was pretty damn impressive, and even more was to have him go on to win it!! There are just TOO many to pick from. I admit, I can’t hate the guy, true, he’s not one of my favorite wrestlers, but I do have tremendous respect for someone who has THAT much dedication to the industry and will go out of his way to make sure everyone goes home happy.

 

[Dave]

As one of John Cena's biggest marks on this forum, I love this thread.

Anyway, I honestly believe that there has been two moments in the career of John Cena that have really gone onto define the rest of his career and without these moments, I doubt John Cena would be the unique superstar that we all seem to love to these days.

The first of these, is the feud with JBL back in the days of Smackdown. During that time, John Cena was not the household name that he is now. In fact, he was actually just starting to come to the front of the brand and this feud with JBL really put him over the top. At the time, Cena was still coming out to the ring before his matches and rapping about flaws that he seen in the opponent and it was brilliant. No one else, perhaps with the exception for R-Truth could make that work and have the sharp tongued prowess to make it successful. That being said, I recall seeing him for the first time in a Royal Rumble match and being terribly annoyed by that feature of his gimmick. That being said, it began to grow on me immensely and JBL was the idea foil for John Cena to play off of. JBL was uptight and arrogant. John Cena was laid back and would attack the politician aspect of JBL's game. It was wrestling 101 but it was incredibly good.

The second moment that gave me some clue into knowing that John Cena was going to go the distance was when he managed to make Triple H tap out at WrestleMania. Just as an addendum, I am the biggest Triple H mark on these forums and all through that match, I was waiting for John Cena to succumb to the wrath of The Game. And that moment just never came. Both of those guys put on a hell of a show and by having John Cena manage to make Triple H tap out on the grandest stage of them all really made me sit up and take notice. It was the first time that I really sat up and took notice of him and I haven't looked back since. Say what you like about Triple H but a win over The Game is bigger than a Championship reign... I honestly believe that.

 

[#hamler]

It's hard to pick out one defining moment in the illustrious career of John Cena. There have been several great moments that drew me to respect the hell out of John Cena. Moments including his great feuds against the likes of Edge, JBL and Triple H. However, if I have to pick a single moment in Cena's career, that moment would probably be One Night Stand 2006 in his match against RVD.

I was not always a fan of John Cena, especially throughout 2008, but back in 2006 in his match against RVD, John Cena turned into someone else. I remember when Cena's music hit, the crowd just started booing. Probably one of the most hostile crowds I've yet to see during my time watching wrestling. Cena threw his shirt to the fans only to get it thrown back into his face seconds later. The crowds bood and chanted "Fuck you Cena" and "You can't wrestle". They hated Cena so much, I started to cheer for Cena. Something about it just pissed me off.

Cena having to edure that hostile crowd and still be able to put on a damn match without dropping to his knees and crying, is way beyond me. Huge amounts of respect I given Cena sense then.

 

[Thesage1989]

For me the defining moment for Cena has to be his match with RVD at One Night Stand. I watched it because it was said how much smarks hate the guy, and the booing was pretty intense. The problem with that, however, is that it actually made me love the guy. He went out there, took his heat like a man, and went with so much that it was hard not to start liking him. Then the match actually started, and for me the arguments that couldn't wrestle were pretty shot out of a cannon, as he held his own against RVD and was actually, y'know, wrestling.

Of course, this leads one thing I don't like about Cena. He is AWESOME as a heel. He doesn't have to have that goofy rapper gimmick he did before, but more of the ''I don't give a shit if you don't like me'' heel. I loved that aspect he had that night.

That was epic man he showed heel spots during the match and taunted the fans it was epic then regained his face status when edge screwed him over

 

[MinistryDeadman95]

His Wrestlemania moments are his best I think. Not many moments can beat his wins against Triple H, JBL, Shawn Michaels, Batista, yeah all those moments were career defining.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

This is kind of hard to pick, but for me, there are two Cena moments that really stick out:

Wrestlemania 22- I seriously thought Cena had no chance what so ever at beating Triple H at Wrestlemania. The crowd in Chicago was very hostile towards Cena, and they spewed a bunch hate filled chants towards him. In the weeks leading up to the match, HHH would mock Cena's wrestling ability, and he took things to another level at the Mania 22 press conference by declaring an easy victory over Cena. The crowd was insane during this match, and the match itself wasn't bad. But the bigger shock came when Triple H tapped out to Cena's STFU. Cena's wrestling abilities were mocked by everyone, and nobody gave him a chance against a skilled mat technician like Triple H. But he managed to beat The Game with a wrestling submission. It was complete and total shock. Cena overcame a legendary wrestler in the main event of Wrestlemania, and he stayed strong in front of a venomous crowd who made sure to spew plenty of hate towards him. Mania 22 is definitely one of Cena's defining career moments.

Royal Rumble 2007- I really enjoyed Cena's feud with Umaga. Umaga was a monster, and he was one of Cena's more serious threats during his lengthy title reign. Cena was wounded with a storyline injury(bruised ribs if I'm not mistaken) but he was still able to prevail. The Last Man Standing match between these two was VERY brutal and viscous. Cena threw everything he had at Umaga, but nothing could keep him down for the ten count. Cena had to use the ring ropes to choke out Umaga for the win. Cena had to overcome a monstrous foe in this feud. He was beaten, battered, and bruised, but he wouldn't quit, and he had to fight hard to defeat Umaga.

 

[eromenation18]

If I had to pick one moment that defined Cena's career it was his match with JBL at Wrestlemania 21. Cena won the WWE Title that night and from there on out he held "the torch". Til this day he has benefited from that night probably more then any other superstar in the past five years. You could make the same argument for Dave Batista but Cena was overall a different animal that Batista was.

 

[GCoh]

There are so many definign moments in John Cena's career. I believe his current storyline with Nexus is going to be another great one when it ends. But to me, there are 2 defining moments in his career.

Wrestlemania 20, against Big Show for Cena's first US Title win. The way the crowed reacted when he FU'ed the Big Show was phenomenal.

Royal Rumble 2008, Not many, if any people saw this coming, the guy had a torn pectoral muscle and came back months ahead of schedule. That in itself is extremely impressive.

 

[Ace333]

His debut in 2002 against Kurt Angle sticks out in my head. He came out to an open challenge and gave Kurt Angle a run for his money. He dominated Angle his first night even though he lost to a roll up kind of pin. He just made an impact his first night and I just remember it. It sticks out in my head.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

i think it was when he had the epic feud with Kevin federline where K fed propelled cena to mainstream media the moment when he successfully pinnned the wwe champion.

 

[The Brain]

The moment I really started to notice something special in John Cena was WrestleMania XIX. Now some of you may be thinking John Cena didn’t even wrestle at WrestleMania XIX, and you would be correct. Cena did however make an appearance during the mania preview with one of his infamous raps. To be honest, while his rap was entertaining (and very much not PG); it didn’t stand out much more than his usual raps. What stood out to me was the reaction he got. Not from the crowd at Safeco Field, but from the crowd at my own house. I had approximately twenty people over for WrestleMania that year. Some could be classified as wrestling geeks like us, but most were either casual fans or there just to hang out with the crowd. All of them reacted positively toward Cena and I knew right there Cena had a bright future. Admittedly I didn’t realize just how bright his future would turn out to be, and his character is much different now, but it was WM19 where I realized Cena had something special. Now getting a positive reaction from twenty people isn’t usually indicative of how successful someone would be, it was that, his flawless delivery, and natural charisma in front of the mania crowd that stood out to me. I could tell Cena put a lot of himself into his character and those are the ones who are usually the most successful.

 

[supaman5279]

When I think of John Cena, I think of the moment he came out on Smackdown. 3 days after Vince McMahon asked for "ruthless agression" out came all 6'1" 240 of John Cena. And when Kurt Angle asked what he had, Cena simply replied, RUTHLESS AGRESSION!!!!
From there I saw it, the next cardboard cutout of EXACTLY what Vince wanted. And did he ever. John Cena has blown up into the MEGASTAR that he is because he follows the boss' directions. Kudos to John Cena.

 

[GLOBAL ICON]

Hmmm..... Cena's defining moment... well... there are many and it wasn't easy to pick any one. But, I tried and came up with one:

Being the face of the WWE. Yes, not everybody gets a chance to say "Hi, I'm the face of the WWE". He worked his butt out from the day he slapped Kurt Angle. He is still carrying on the good work and I think, 20 years later, the fans after us will say "This is the guy who made the WWE what it is today" just as we do to a Hulk Hogan or Vince McMahon." Plus, his work outside the ring also defines him as the most "fan-friendly" wrestler of the "Heel Era" of today.

Doing what he loves to, is another defining moment. He likes who like him and loves who hate him. His speech after getting "fired" truly showed how much he loves and respects what he does.

For the defining moment in the ring, it has to be:
The matches vs Shawn Michaels. They were epic, especially the 1 hr match on RAW. It was the first match I saw since returning to watching wrestling after 2000. It had the emotion, the big-match feeling and a great product.

Another one, if I could add would be.... Outlasting Orton and Batista and making it to the top. Yes, he was here when they were here. Their careers are pretty much parallel to each other. Cena had a disadvantage because Orton and Batista were mentored by the Game and Ric. They had a little bit of edge but Cena outlasted and outsmarted them to beat them.

So... here's my list.

 

[Raptor93]

Im surprised no one has gone complete negative here do I will.

First off i'm well aware how much the guy draws and merchandise and bla, bla, bla. That is a valuable thing but it in nooooooooooo way makes up for his appalling ring work and stale promo's ( I guess some of it he would have to say but im sure he could do something about it)

Lets start with matches. Yea sure he has had a couple of good ones over the 6 years of main eventing but what really gets me is apart from those maybe 5 matches he consistently does jack shit. Typical match goes as followes. Cena throws a few punches maybe a fishermans or bulldog then gets his ass carried for maybe 10min+ and comes back with 5 moves of doom. I can't remember exactly when I started hatting him for the above reason but one match that sticks out is v JBL judgement day 2008. Cena literally did 3 moves and one that match...... he does it time and again letting the opponent do all the hard work then making himself look like fking superman.

 

[AK2V8]

I am not a fan of Cena but I would say when he won his first WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 21. JBL was the ultimate heel champion winning pretty much every one of his title defenses via interference from another person (Heidenreich, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak etc) and once JBL finally dropped the belt to Cena at Mania the crowd went absolutely wild.

John Cena vs. Umaga at Royal Rumble 07 was probaly the match that really put Cena over. It was the best Face vs Monster Heel ever. Umaga made Cena look so good and the match ending was brilliant.

John Cena vs. Sheamus at TLC 09 was a big shock upset for me. At the time I thought WWE was gonna pull off another "super cena" bullshit match. But when Cena went to superplex Sheamus through the table, Sheamus shoved him off through the table and I was STUNNED. A rookie monster heel winning the top title in two months against "SUPER" Cena?!?! that was a big shock!!!

John Cena winning the WHC at Mania 25 was also good. He became the second man after Undertaker to win both world titles at Wrestlemania.

 

[Ferbian]

There's a lot of great moments for John Cena, each to which in it's own right have defined John's career, at least to the extent that all of these moments will most likely become small parts of video packages for us to remember him by once he enters the Hall of Fame, or is just generally remembered.

However, I think that I would have to agree with a lot of the guys here who says Triple H vs John Cena at Wrestlemania 22 was his hands down defining moment. Not only were he going up against a strong Triple H, but he was also going up against a Triple H who was known for pushing guys down at Wrestlemania, or just in general.

Triple H was always considered a force to be reckoned with, and he looked in amazing shape. Triple H was at a dominant point in his career, while certainly it was fading a bit it was still a dominant point. A lot of people didn't believe Triple H would walk out the loser of this match, and most certainly not through tapping to John Cena. But he did, and it definitely solidified John Cena at the top of the crop in terms of being the guy to beat.

I will have to admit though, there is one other moment that I can't help but mention. The moment I'm thinking of is the first time John Cena was seen rapping on television, or more specifically when he really started with the rapping gimmick. Because before that, John didn't really have a lot of things that made him stick out from the crowd so to say, he was wrestling in trunks, and having a sort of gimmick I never really managed to define what the hell it was. However, the rapper gimmick made him stand out, it got him over, and it got him to the point where he was actually considered worth a damn, someone to look forth to watching on Smackdown back in the days, and a guy that had many, many hilarious promos.

 

[JGlass]

I can list tons of defining moments for John Cena. He's a guy who has defined and redefined and reredefined his career with jaw dropping success. There are very few things Cena does that don't work out, and picking out just one moment doesn't do him justice.

So I won't! (Sorry to kind of break the concept of the thread, but I would be doing my love for Cena justice if I chose just one.)

His first match- Hell, some can say John Cena's defining career moment was his first match in the WWE when he answered Kurt Angle's call for a competition in his Olympic Challenge. During his debut match he kicked out of the Angle Slam and survived the Ankle Lock. He still lost, but he forced Angle to resort to a measly schoolboy. I can't think of a single rookie that debuted by surviving two of the most devastating moves in the company against one of the top heels.

Beating Triple H at Wrestlemania 22- While making someone tap to win the WWE Championship match at Mania isn't unheard of (Benoit made Triple H tap two years prior), the WWE would have you think it is! John Cena forcing Triple H to tap was a monumental accomplishment as Triple H was always billed as a guy who would stop at nothing to win WWE gold. That means the pain Cena inflicted was so incredible that Triple H would rather suffer a humiliating loss on the grandest stage of them all than suffer for another moment.

Royal Rumble 2008- The return that nobody saw coming. John Cena made a huge surprise return as the 30th entrant to the 2008 Royal Rumble and gained victory by last eliminating Triple H. Anyone who still had the audacity to question Cena's love for the industry was shut up by this near miraculous event as Cena came back early from a pretty devastating injury to win his first Rumble, putting him in such company as Stone Cold, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels. Cena proved he was an unforgettable superstar here, one the can return from a long hiatus to do something as huge as win the Royal Rumble and main event Wrestlemania.

I'm going to stop myself here because these are just three of my favorite and most memorable John Cena moments. His feud with Nexus could be a defining moment, as could his "We've got a ring full of number one contenders!" promo, and I simply can't choose just one. John Cena is one of the best ever, and to pick just one moment doesn't do him justice in my book.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

He still lost, but he forced Angle to resort to a measly schoolboy.

It wasn't a schoolboy dude. Let's not undersell that moment by making it seem like Kurt just reached up through his legs and pulled him over to win. Kurt actually forced Cena to the floor, hooked both of his arms behind his back, and then floated over to turn Cena from his stomach to his back and got the 1,2,3. It had the same sort of affect as a backslide, except ALL of Angles weight was on John's shoulder blades and it looked near impossible for anyone to kick out of.

I wouldn't say there's any match or particular promo that made me respect Cena more. His work with Nexus and Sheamus over the last 12 months has made me respect him more, but that's purely because he hasn't just squashed them all repeatedly, and that's not even his decision to make, so i can't really give him credit for that.

I sat up and paid attention when he came out and challenged Angle. A rookie taking the Olympic Gold Medalist and multiple time champion to the limit? I then continued to pay attention to Cena after that, even when he was coming out with Bull Buchanan.

But then he stopped being fun to watch, stopped being funny and just became so vanilla that it hurt to watch. Last year however, has made me completely rethink that viewpoint and 2010 is probably my favourite year of Cena's.

Oh, there is one promo he did that made me laugh my ass off though. It was when Cena was still in Nexus and although i can't actually remember why, they were all pissed at him for screwing them out of something.

Barrett shows a replay and then turns to Cena and says, 'Explain yourself'.

And Cena says:

"Well it all started in 2002. Vince McMahon was talking about ruthless aggression and i came out and challenged Kurt Angle, then a few months later i started rapping and waving my hand in front of my face......'

Those weren't the exact words, but it made me laugh more than anything else i've ever heard Cena say.

 

[The Brain]

Royal Rumble 2008- The return that nobody saw coming. John Cena made a huge surprise return as the 30th entrant to the 2008 Royal Rumble and gained victory by last eliminating Triple H. Anyone who still had the audacity to question Cena's love for the industry was shut up by this near miraculous event as Cena came back early from a pretty devastating injury to win his first Rumble, putting him in such company as Stone Cold, The Rock, and Shawn Michaels. Cena proved he was an unforgettable superstar here, one the can return from a long hiatus to do something as huge as win the Royal Rumble and main event Wrestlemania.

One other thing I’d like to touch on about this moment is the crowd reaction. When Cena’s music hit the crowd erupted. Keep in mind this was in Madison Square Garden, the biggest smark crowd of all. Even those tough New York fans lost themselves in the moment and gave Cena an overwhelmingly positive welcome back. When Cena hit the ring they tried to show their coolness by booing Cena again but it was too late. They had already exposed themselves. That night proved that booing Cena was the fashionable thing but deep down the fans respected him and wanted him in WWE. That was a defining moment that showed us the fans’ true feelings for Cena.

 

[hatehabsforever]

For me, the defining moment regarding John Cena was actually several years ago, when he was drafted from Smackdown to Monday Night RAW.

I remember seeing Cena debut on Smackdown when he face Kurt Angle. My first impression was, who is this jobber facing Angle, where did he come from and how long until he gets released? Back then, for a number of reasons, I did not watch Smackdown a lot. Much like today, for a number of reasons, I rarely miss RAW but I watch Smackdown sporadically.

So when Cena went from an unknown, goofy looking jobber, to the Doctor of Thuganomics, and a fan favorite, I largely missed it.

When he was drafted to RAW, it was clear he had arrived. He went from a potentially big deal on the B-show, to the undisputed face of the organization on the A-show. It quickly became clear that the John Cena era (like it or not, and personally I do) had arrived. The rest of course is history.

This was the ultimate vote of confidence for an emerging superstar. Headlining the A show. Put up or shut up time. And despite was his numerous critics contend, he has definitely done the former.