Five Moves of Doom - Overrated Term

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Commenter/troll Scott Keith popularized the "five moves of doom" phrase in his recaps and reviews that he posted in RSPW during the 90's. It referred to Bret Hart's ending sequence. Most Cena fans haven't been around long, and don't realize the criticism of Cena isn't "hate" or personal. The simpler WWF/WWE style formulated by Hogan, McMahon, and Patterson has always been criticized. The Apter magazines were anti-WWF, calling it a circus and always having the NWA guys win dream matches in their magazines. The Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer had ugly names for WWF wrestlers. The hardcore fans hated Hogan even if the general public loved him. The tape traders loved All Japan not WWF.
The difference with Cena is he gets openly booed unlike any of the former WWE champions. Shawn struggled with getting booed but not to the extent of Cena. Cena's actual wrestling is pretty standard. He's got some flaws in technique like his sloppy STF and he is not as good at transitioning into his comeback like Hogan and the Warrior were, but he isn't a bad wrestler by any means. His personality just can't unify a crowd. He isn't as good as some of the guys in the past, but he also faces a crowd that has changed. The crowd is willing to openly boo faces they don't like, whether as a result of the internet showing that many people share their views or the general change to a more hostile crowd as a result of ECW and the Attitude Era.

Wow. Everyone. Pay attention to this guy. He KNOWS how to do every move. In all likelihood, he MUST be an actual pro wrestler or a former one. Not only that, but he was probably trained by a legit trainer, not some yard tard.

Either that or your full of shit. It's so stupid to judge technique. You DON'T FUCKING KNOW HOW to do anything. That's like saying "yea Roy Halladay is throwing strikes but if he doesn't bend at the knees more, his technique will suffer".

Cena can't UNIFY a crowd because it's not UNIFORM. A heel gets cheered pretty much universally by smarks and faces pretty much universally get booed by smarks. It's a paradox because the normal people are the opposite. If anything, that just makes it even more impressive that Cena gets 100% of people to show up to shows and make noise and care about his matches. Hogan, Austin, Hart, HBK, they all had uniform audiences. There was a specific type of character people cheered and a specific type of character people booed.

The "WWE" style isn't simplified you simpleton. It's just not MOVEZ focuses. Dumb people think pro wrestling is about MOVEZ. The average John Cena match has more ring psychology, selling, and storytelling than pretty much any Naomichi Marufuji match I've ever seen. This is coming from someone who drove 2 hours just to get my picture taken with Marufuji too.

Metlzer perpetuated this stupidity by popularizing "work rate" and "rest hold" which I've never fucking heard a single legit pro wrestler use unless they were making fun of it.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I get very tired of the "5 moves of doom" complaints. These people are living a double standard because they whine about Cena and Orton yet have no issues with Hogan who used even less moves. I think they are just bored, have too much time on their hands, miss the attitude era, and thus are looking for things to complain about. The Cena/Orton sucks cuz of 5 moves of doom argument has overstayed its welcome. Either find something else to whine about or watch another show. No one is forcing these fans to watch Raw or Smackdown. They can walk away at any time. Perhaps they are too lazy to find something else to complain about.

 

[frostbite2819]

I've seen the 5 Moves of Doom term used mostly to represent Cena and I can understand that argument. He very rarely moves away from the bread and butter when it comes to building to his finishing manuever but I also found here, on the WZ forums, someone referred to Bret Hart's build up to the sharpshooter as a 5 Moves of Doom as well. That was the first time I'd ever seen that argument made and I was struck dumbfounded. I'm a huge Bret Hart fan and I'd never once considered his move set to be anything but perfect but it was true. Atomic drops and backbreakers, Side Russian leg sweeps and elbows from the middle rope were always a part of his end of the match move set up. Cena gets a bad rap because he only uses the same moves everytime. depending on the opponent and in most cases it's a large amount of beating on Cena until his 5 Moves of Doom and AA that finish the match. the term 5 Moves of Doom is overrated but what really sets the moveset apart is how the performer tells the story in-ring and that's where I see the divergence in Bret Hart and Cena. Hart could tell a fantastic story in-ring, while Cena is always depending upon his opponent to carry him. It's really difficult to compare the two superstars but in reference to if the 5 Moves of Doom is overused, surely makes sense here. Hart could use his moveset to signal the end of the match, where Cena is always using his to overcome massive amounts of punishment to win. I think movesets will always be standard in wrestling, it's all about the performer and his character when it comes to whether or not wrestling fans will accept his moveset or not. In Hart's case, the fanbase clearly accepted it on a nightly basis, but with Cena it's obviously not connecting with a certain fan sect. overall, I think that the term 5 Moves of Doom is a pretty poor assesment by wrestling fans and just an easy cop out of people who don't want to analyze matches or superstars or characters in-depth. It's a crutch and one that's become way too overused by a majority of IWC members.

ummmm, cena relies on no one to carry him. maybe hbk but hey its hbk.
cena wasnt just 'there' at mitb, punk wasnt wrestling a ghost, cena did his part very well.
what about umaga, batista, lashley, khali, etc.?
did those guys 'carry' cena? dont think so.
bret was awesome but the best thing he gave us was stone cold.
cena has done more for wrestling than bret could dream of.

 

[Wolf Pac]

I think this is the most stupidest term I've ever heard in wrestling. So what if he has 5 moves? Bret Hart did the same moves day in & day out yet everybody calls him an incredible wrestler.

 

[rickfoxoclock]

ummmm, cena relies on no one to carry him. cena has done more for wrestling than bret could dream of.

Well I only quoted the two aspects of your post that seem a bit unfounded. I can understand how saying Cena is carried by his opponents would get under the skin of some but I admit "carry" might not be the most appropriate term. Cena wrestles up/down to the ability of his opponent. In some instances, HBK, HHH, Punk, Cena has great matches. In other instances, not so good. So perhaps he isn't carried by his opponents but I don't feel he has ever elevated anyone to a level they haven't been to before.

Now I can appreciate your opinion on Cena doing more for wrestling than Bret, but what I don't see are qualifying reasons for an opinion like that. So I'll take it that that is your opinion and I won't jump down your throat for it, even if I disagree with it.

 

[frostbite2819]

I don't feel he has ever elevated anyone to a level they haven't been to before.
.

what about edge?
he was a star long before the feud with cena, yes.
but (imo) the cena feud cemented edge's legend status.
what about punk?
no one else would have elevated punk to the level he was at (i know, i know, punk was not chopped liver in this build up, i am just saying that having cena to bash helped immensely) leading up to MITB and at MITB. it still would have been a great match if it were orton or christian instead of cena but it would have been half as epic and historic.

as far as the bret hart thing goes, all i mean is cena has done more for the wwe in terms of doing what is good for business. yes he rarely puts people over cleanly but that is vince's and hhh/steph's call in the end, not cena's.
go back and watch the TLC match with edge.
cena was legit upset that they would not let him put edge over in his hometown, in EDGE'S signature match.
he does what is best for wrestling, period. all the things he does for the children, the make a wish foundation, the troops, etc.

as far as the bret thing goes-(imo)-bret was out for himself in the end, not what was good for business.
(hbk was the same way till he found god and came back after years away but that is neither here nor there)

again, go back and watch the iron man match with shawn and bret.
bret didnt want to put shawn over and it clearly showed in his performance.
for example, shawn spent nearly TWENTY MINUTES working brets arm and bret didnt sell it one bit.
there are many examples of this.
bret had a few good matches but in the end he just seemed selfish and out for himself, and rarely tried to make people opposite him look good, which is the mark of true greatness.

and i know people are gonna jump on me saying cena doesent sell for anyone, but there is a difference in knowing better and not doing it........ and just being a terrible seller, which cena is (he sold poorly before he was a big star, which puts that argument to bed), but he is getting better at it.