How The Rock is a Main Reason Cena Became the Top Star

[midgensa]

This thread is easy to sum up actually.

The Rock DID leave. So, everything else is irrelevant. What he would have been, what Cena would have been, what Punk would have been, who would have lost to who ... none of it matters.

The Rock DID leave (and that is cool, makes sense honestly) and John Cena became a star. One might have to do with the other, one might have nothing to do with the other. But we will never know.

To just flat out say John Cena would not have been what he is today if The Rock had not went to Hollywood is simply not fair to Cena and his ridiculous work ethic.

Could be true. Could be completely false. Definitely is irrelevant.

 

[ae_wrestler123]

i think the point trying to be made is that cena would have not been as "big" as he is now if rock had stayed. cuz the rock got over huge when there was a guy like austin. maybe the op is saying that cena would not have been able to do that cuz rock would have overshadowed him. thing is cena didn't have to work his way to get recognize, he was chosen to be THE guy cuz everyone else left. rock and austin were never chosen to be THE guy, they busted their ass to get over. And overshadowed some good talent. Some who are even better than cena.

 

[jrichardson25]

The Rock isn't the reason why Cena's the top guy. He's A reason. One single reason. Not the penultimate reason as to why John Cena is THE MAN.

People whine about Cena all the time about how we're always force fed the guy.... could you imagine the same thing with The Rock? Just a thought there.

Cena has a hell of a work ethic and bleeds for the WWE. He's said it several times that he is married to the job (not too sure how his wife would take that but I'm sure she understands...).

The Rock did get out at a critical time. I would have liked to see The Rock compete until 2005 but that didn't happen. He needed the break and it did help guys such as Cena get the exposure they might not have gotten otherwise but as I said before The Rock IS NOT THE ONLY REASON why Cena is top dog.

 

[TM Punk]

I agree with the op. And for anyone saying that cena would not have overshadowed lesnar, think again. For the duration of lesnar's tenure, he was a HEEL. John cena was starting to get super over WHILE LESNAR WAS CHAMPION. Philidelphia booed when cena got eliminated from the royal rumble in 04'. Yeah, the same philidelphia that is home of ECW. That was also WHILE LESNER WAS CHAMPION. While lesner may have been the top heel who went babyface on occasion, there was no stopping cena. Wrestlemania 21 would have been john cena vs brock lesnar instead of JBL. Same result. Its was his destiny... but you already knew that.

 

[vampirek]

Not many Wrestlers left the WWE because they were old or retired. I mean we could say Austin and Rock would not be big stars IF Bret hart stayed and HBK did not get hurt. We could also say that HBK and Hart would not be stars if Hogan stayed and Warrior stayed. You see the problem with that? So its not fair to say The Rock helped Cena. Cena helped Cena and got over because of Cena.

Well those examples plain out fail considering Austin was already making a name for himself, heck he already had feuds with Hart that could easily be transferred into the main event, likewise with HBK.... which it did going to the Rumble before HBK injured his back.

Hart was a World Champion during Hogan's last days in the WWF, so even if Hogan had stayed Hart already made the level up.

Moving back to Cena, the same thing happened as with any generation. After the Invasion angle had finished, the new era soon took over. The push for new talent was already in place and out of it came Lesnar who simply was pushed to a high level. Cena didn't get the same sort of push but if you look back, he was built for the future. He had feuds with Lesnar, who by this time was considered the man to beat which led to Cena capturing the US title against Big Show. Whilst Cena did say at Wrestlemania next year he would win the World Title, some of that does ring true that they had planned Cena to be pushed to the level before Brock it quits. It was nothing more than a badly timed thing. Cena would have likely gone on to the next Wrestlemania and defeated Lesnar rather than JBL. The same thing happened to Batista and Orton too, started out as a part of the new generation proved themselves and were eventually pushed. It would have happened regardless if The Rock had still be in the company.

Cena is the reason why Cena is the top guy, regardless of who was in the company at the time. Some people call it the 'It factor', Cena had it and to this day, like him or hate him, still has it.

 

[Steve0904]

As has already been mentioned, Cena was over and would've been one of the top guys anyway. He was over huge with all audiences (including adult males) with the rapper gimmick, and it's quite obvious he can cut a serious promo without any "PG" restrictions.

If all the guys who were supposed to be stars had stayed, including Rock he would've feuded with all of them. He would've been "The Man" eventually even with those guys active. Rock and Lesnar leaving just sped it up.

 

[ae_wrestler123]

As has already been mentioned, Cena was over and would've been one of the top guys anyway. He was over huge with all audiences (including adult males) with the rapper gimmick, and it's quite obvious he can cut a serious promo without any "PG" restrictions.

If all the guys who were supposed to be stars had stayed, including Rock he would've feuded with all of them. He would've been "The Man" eventually even with those guys active. Rock and Lesnar leaving just sped it up.

It was given to him from day one. He did not have to work for anything. If rocky was there, vince wouldn't have given cena that gimmick. And cena wouldn't have gotten over huge.
That's part of the reason cena is so hated. He never really had to work to evolve himself to get over. WWE gave him the perfect gimmick to get over at that time then they hit the kill switch. Did he have to go through gimmiks and work hard?? Like austin, rock, jericho, mick foley?

 

[Headman]

It was given to him from day one. He did not have to work for anything. If rocky was there, vince wouldn't have given cena that gimmick. And cena wouldn't have gotten over huge.
That's part of the reason cena is so hated. He never really had to work to evolve himself to get over. WWE gave him the perfect gimmick to get over at that time then they hit the kill switch. Did he have to go through gimmiks and work hard?? Like austin, rock, jericho, mick foley?

What do you base these opinions on, because it's certainly not facts. How does Cena not work for anything? Please explain how Mick Foley, Austin, Jericho and the Rock worked harder in the WWF/WWE? Actually, how do you know who gave Cena his gimmick? As I recall he chose his costume for the Halloween Smackdown. The agents said "That was funny, you should do that regularly." so Cena did it. Vince didn't write Cena's promos. Vince doesn't have time to write promos for people. Cena created that character. He executed the character, got over, got pushed and made the best of his push. It's that simple. People like you need to stop making up B.S. to rationalize their hatred for Cena. Infact, there's not one thing in your post that's not worthy of being made fun of.

 

[Steve0904]

It was given to him from day one. He did not have to work for anything. If rocky was there, vince wouldn't have given cena that gimmick. And cena wouldn't have gotten over huge.
That's part of the reason cena is so hated. He never really had to work to evolve himself to get over. WWE gave him the perfect gimmick to get over at that time then they hit the kill switch. Did he have to go through gimmiks and work hard?? Like austin, rock, jericho, mick foley?

I don't even really need to respond to this because Headman said it all for me. I'm pretty sure Cena made his own rapper gimmick. WWE didn't give it to him. If they could chose great gimmicks for everybody they would. And btw don't try to convince me The Rock had to work hard to get where he was/is. I admit he got huge on his own with the name change to "The Rock' and he really made that work, but he was essentially given a look by WWF at the start of his career because of who his daddy/granddaddy are.

 

[JJ15776]

First of all, I'm not even going to bother responding to these MORONS talking about how Cena didn't have to work hard or he can't get over on his own and gets more help than anybody...it's pure, unadulterated idiocy. Any moron that thinks that knows absolutely nothing about wrestling.

In regards to Rock's departure helping Cena, that is the complete opposite of reality. Firstly, like others have said, Rock's departure helped Brock Lesnar. But the person/people who said Brock leaving helped Cena, again, that is the opposite of reality.

Brock Lesnar's spot, which was indirectly The Rock's spot, went to BATISTA. BATISTA would have never gotten to where he did without Brock leaving. (For the record, that spot now belongs to Randy Orton.) Their departures had nothing whatsoever to do with Cena. Cena took the spot on top that was vacated by Triple H. Remember, Batista was the top star on Smackdown! - where Brock Lesnar left - and John Cena was the top star on Raw, where Triple H was the top dog before he was taken down the card slightly. Opening the door for, yes, John Cena to be the top guy.

If The Rock never left, he would've been the top star on one brand and John Cena would've been the top star on the other. That means Batista and Randy Orton would've lost out on being the top star, not John Cena.

And just to be completely clear, when I say it's the opposite of reality, it's literally that - the complete opposite. This is reality: John Cena would be a BIGGER star today if The Rock had never left. Because the WWE as a whole would likely be stronger, and because feuding with The Rock several years ago (if/when they did feud, which may not have happened for some time since they'd be on different brands) would've made him even bigger. It's a lot like Austin and Rock. When Austin got his neck surgery, that opened the door for The Rock to become the top star - but Rock became a BIGGER star when Austin came back and they resumed their legendary feud. Austin didn't hold back The Rock, he elevated him. And Rock would've elevated Cena.

 

[ABMorales787]

A lot of things came into play in the formation of John Cena. Not just Rock leaving, but also Brock Lesnar, Triple H's refusal to go to Smackdown in 2004 and such. But in hindsight such a detail being pointed out would turn Cena from looking a like loyal WWE worker to an ungrateful dick. So it being pointed out will most likely not happen.

 

[ae_wrestler123]

What do you base these opinions on, because it's certainly not facts. How does Cena not work for anything? Please explain how Mick Foley, Austin, Jericho and the Rock worked harder in the WWF/WWE? Actually, how do you know who gave Cena his gimmick? As I recall he chose his costume for the Halloween Smackdown. The agents said "That was funny, you should do that regularly." so Cena did it. Vince didn't write Cena's promos. Vince doesn't have time to write promos for people. Cena created that character. He executed the character, got over, got pushed and made the best of his push. It's that simple. People like you need to stop making up B.S. to rationalize their hatred for Cena. Infact, there's not one thing in your post that's not worthy of being made fun of.

The Cena we see now is the REAL cena. He is that guy. The nice guy. He wanted to be himself. That is why he changed his gimmick. His rap gimmick was just to get over. Obviously vince doesn't write promos, he pays people to do that. Geez. Did i say vince wrote them for cena??
What the fuck did cena work for? He already had 10 title reigns. He is in an era where there are no chair shots to head, hardly use weapons. Every f**ing match he wins is designed for him to look stronger. WWE hands him everything. So much so people are sick of it and starting to boo him. What was austin first gimmick and how long did it take him to evolve to Austin 3:16?
Austin, HHH, and The rock all had to keep working hard to fight for the top spot. Did cena have to do that?

 

[I Heart Cena]

Ok, this is just absurd. Cena is the most over guy in the company and has been for several years. It is inane to claim that was handed to him, you can't hand over like that to someone and keep them that over for years on end, it's impossible. Cena is over like a bastard and will be over like a bastard regardless of who they put him against because he is a hugely talented individual. Love him or hate him, that's flat out the truth.

Over? He gets booed more than heels do. More than King Kong Bundy did or even Slaughter when he was a traitor. I don't consider that over, as far as being liked goes.

Honestly, I've never seen a performer get booed with so much hatred as Cena does. At least with heels, it's usually a friendly, playful boo. This guy is actually reviled.

Over like a bastard regardless of who they put in front of him? Please, he's been booked as Superman. If he wasn't, his popularity among kids wouldn't be so high.

He earned his way to the upper midcard in 2004, but since then it's been mostly handouts. You can't deny that. WWE has manipulated audio for him. had announcers lie for him. And now Rock making himself nervous for him. It's pathetic. If he doesn't need any of that, then why do they do it?

And no, he's not hugely talented. He's cringeworthy on the mic and in the ring. Botched moves, limited moveset, atrociously no-selling. He should be forever thankful to Vince McMahon.