Is Cena the most hated Face is Wrestling History

[johnbragg]

Shawn Michaels would have a say in that argument.

I remember back in the pre-Attitude era when HBK was champion and fighting everyone and anyone. He was receiving pops from the ladies because he made their panties wet, but the guys couldn't stand him and seen him as a little bitch who didn't deserve the WWE title.

The only difference is the fan base. .

You make a good point about the HeartBreak Kid. But I think Cena's big claim to most-hated-face is longevity. Cena has been a face-at-the-top for about 10 years. That's a long time. And he's been getting a mixed reaction for MOST of that time. There were other face champions with decade-long runs at the top, but I don't think they were getting mixed reactions--fans were maybe getting bored, but I don't think they were getting boos.

Cena has been getting booed as a top face for at least five years, maybe longer. Can anyone else in wrestling history say that?

 

[M]

Hahah I always find it funny when people try to day cena's popular and well known to the general public, because if I was to go up to any random in the street and ask who he is, 9/10 people wouldn't have a clue - that's probably because I'm Australian and wrestling as a whole is completely dead here, but it still makes me chuckle.

OT: John cena's not completely "hated" as a face by the live audience, the chants of "cena sucks" come across almost as tongue in cheek ways of the audience having fun with the show, and cena has fun with that section of the crowd too - it's part of his character. He'll smile at the fans booing him and bust out a monkey flip or a hurricarana or something and they'll start chanting "you still suck" at him instead. Those fans didn't come to see cena but they did come to have fun so that's what they do. The people who legitimately hate him are now in a bit of a minority and are being replaced by the guys joking about, making signs like "if cena wins we complain on the Internet" and having a fun time.

In other words: Nobody likes nickleback right? But if you were drunk at a party with a microphone and "Photograph" came on you'd start singing for the lulz because its more fun than sitting there moaning about how Nickleback sucks. Cena > Nickleback btw

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Yes, he is.

There is a common stereotype that "internet fans" hate John Cena. Yet from what I've seen, more people on this site and others at least tolerate him, and many even like him. Sometimes, more than not. So Cena himself seems to have outgrown this stereotype.

Now, I'll tell you honestly, I don't like John Cena. I never have. You can tell me he's good in the ring, and I can accept that he's improved since 2005. But every time I watch him, his timing is weird. He executes moves in an awkward, stiff way. He's boring as hell on the mic. Just because you yell something loudly into a microphone doesn't mean you can cut a good promo. Anyways, this is besides the point... I'm just saying, full disclosure, I dislike him.

But I can not think of a single "face of the WWE" who gets booed as much as he is.

Not Hogan. Not Bret. Not Shawn. Not Austin. Not Rock. In fact, any time any one of these guys got even close to the mixed reaction that Cena gets on a nightly basis, they were turned heel immediately. Hogan appeared only sporadically in '92 and '93 at the end of his run, before leaving the company, getting booed in WCW and turning heel in '96. Bret was turned heel in '97 when it was obvious he wasn't the top face anymore. Same with Shawn in '97. Same with Austin in '01. Same with The Rock in '02/'03. If any of these guys were getting the mixed reaction that Cena gets, while at the height of their respective runs... they simply wouldn't be the champion.

You can say "well at least he gets a reaction" or "he's polarizing". But the "Cena sucks" side of those duelling chants is because they're sick of having him crammed down their throats. This isn't heat. This turns into indifference. Daniel Bryan got bigger face pops than him. So did CM Punk. There are other guys who deserve a chance at the top. And not in the half assed way Punk was booked in 2011/2012. There are guys who 95% of the fan base WANT to cheer for. Not just 50% of the fan base.

 

[enviousdominous]

There was a time when the fans were starting to take a pass on cheering for Hogan. It didn't last long because there were a lot more marks back then.

When Sid threw Hogan out of the ring during the 1991 Royal Rumble, the crowd popped huge for Sid. Sid was still red hot from his run in WCW and fans were ready to see a new face of the WWF. All it took to get the fans back in Hogan's corner were a few notable feuds that milked the conflict in the Gulf War, so he wasn't by definition "hated". He very well could have been though.

Shawn Michaels was not nearly as over in certain areas as he was promoted for being when he was in the hunt for his first title reign. Some places booed so loudly that Shawn debated abandoning the show entirely. The fans were all "supposed" to cheer for him when he feuded with Sid and Diesel, occasionally the entire crowd would make Shawn noticeably agitated with their boos. I recall Shawn breaking character at one point and shouting "I GIVE EVERYTHING OF MYSELF AND YOU BOO ME?!!" during his feud with Diesel. There was also a time when he had a match with Stone Cold prior to Stone Cold becoming recognized as the cash cow he was, Shawn was deliberately sabotaging the match, and no less than three times during the match he gave Steve middle fingers without provocation.

The Rock had a very rough time connecting with the fans. Fortunately for him, he was capable of hanging around long enough to grow on the fans. In his debut the crowd hated him, but they were supposed to like him. To keep him relevant in our eyes he was made a heel when he joined the Nation of Domination. It should be mentioned that during that time he was one of the most over heels in WWE history, if not the most over heel in WWE history. The Rock was made into a face when he couldn't get along with Vince while a member of the corporation, the crowd wasn't buying it. His face theme music during this time was a confusing mix of fast paced bongo drums with his "The Rock Says" line spliced in, that lasted about two weeks (no joke). He was booed mercilessly and, supposedly unrelated to the crowd's distaste, was made into a heel again by betraying fan favorite Mankind. Once again he was a very over heel and played the part excellently. Fast forward to the Raw Tenth Anniversary where The Rock appeared "via satellite" as a face to promote his upcoming movie and ridicule fan favorites Goldust and Booker T, the New York crowd drowned him out with boos halfway into his pre-recorded message. Not a very over face then either it seems. Lately he's been a superb fan favorite. My best guess is it's because he's been using his A material to ridicule John Cena, and most of us can easily get on board with that.

If you lookup a face tag-team called The Dynamic Dudes on Youtube, make sure your speakers aren't turned up too high. All you hear are deafening boos when these guys made an appearance. Fans paid money to watch these guys get wrecked by any team, their favorite team to squash the Dudes seemed to be The Freebirds.

Lex Luger was granted a spot as WCW's number one guy in a failed effort to fill the void caused by Ric Flair's departure. There was not one moment where the crowd cheered for Lex, I never personally saw it. Anytime Lex appeared, the crowd was unanimous with "WE WANT FLAIR!!" chants. At least with John you have a noticeably high pitched voice section of the crowd echoing "Let's go Cena!" in between the noticeably low pitched voice section of the crowd echoing "CENA SUCKS!!". There was never a "Let's go Luger!" chant when he was being used as Flair's replacement. Imagine going out there as the good guy World Champion and not one single person in the audience is willing to recognize that you were ever born. Maybe it's not as severe as Cena heat because it only lasted about a year for Luger, either way it was pretty harsh treatment on part of the crowd.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

The Rock had a very rough time connecting with the fans. Fortunately for him, he was capable of hanging around long enough to grow on the fans. In his debut the crowd hated him, but they were supposed to like him. To keep him relevant in our eyes he was made a heel when he joined the Nation of Domination. It should be mentioned that during that time he was one of the most over heels in WWE history, if not the most over heel in WWE history. The Rock was made into a face when he couldn't get along with Vince while a member of the corporation, the crowd wasn't buying it. His face theme music during this time was a confusing mix of fast paced bongo drums with his "The Rock Says" line spliced in, that lasted about two weeks (no joke). He was booed mercilessly and, supposedly unrelated to the crowd's distaste, was made into a heel again by betraying fan favorite Mankind. Once again he was a very over heel and played the part excellently. Fast forward to the Raw Tenth Anniversary where The Rock appeared "via satellite" as a face to promote his upcoming movie and ridicule fan favorites Goldust and Booker T, the New York crowd drowned him out with boos halfway into his pre-recorded message. Not a very over face then either it seems. Lately he's been a superb fan favorite. My best guess is it's because he's been using his A material to ridicule John Cena, and most of us can easily get on board with that.

You can't use an example of a guy as a rookie, first breaking into the business. We're talking about top faces here. Rocky Maivia in 1996 was a jobber. Post-Nation of Domination, The Rock constantly had fan support behind him, even though he was supposed to be a heel. He was getting over as a face even while feuding with D-X Triple H over the IC strap in 1998. At the Breakdown PPV the next month, The Rock was basically the second biggest face in the company. The WWF at the time kept trying to keep him heel, hence the Corporate champion later that year and early 1999, and he was good at it. But again... soon after, in 1999, it was obvious that the crowd wanted to cheer for this guy. He was a babyface again one month after WM15... 5 months after the Survivor Series '98 heel turn. And you conveniently left out of your post the part where he was the biggest face in the company for half of 1999, all of 2000, and on Steve Austin's level in early 2001. At the height of The Rock's popularity, he was unanimously over with 100% of the live audience. The same cannot be said for Cena.

The same thing goes for Hogan. Of course at the end of his run people are sick of him, then he turned heel. Rock turned heel as well. But during his peak, Hogan was unanimously over. Cena has never been 100% over. The "Let's go Cena, Cena sucks" chants have been happening since even as early as late 2005 and WrestleMania 22. Ever since he became the top guy.

Shawn was the number one babyface for one year. ONE year. And it was obvious he was better suited as a heel.

Luger, yes I'll give you this. No one bought Luger as a top face. He was a fill in for Flair and everyone knew it. My post didn't touch on WCW at all. And perhaps it's not fair to call Cena the most hated face in WRESTLING history, but I'd argue certainly in WWF recent history (the WreslteMania era).