Is Cena Tweaking His Character?

[GrandSword]

Has anyone else noticed that ever since Punk referred to Cena as the Yankees, Cena seems to have embraced this refrence a little to tweak his character.

On Raw this week Cena came off as an asshole when he talked about how only CM Punk was the only guy in the locker room who had any business facing him.

So it seems he thinks he is better than everyone else. I wonder what the wrecking machine Mark Henry thinks of this? What about Big Show? What the Viper? What about the rest of that Locker room? Maybe Morrison, Bourne, Kofi, and all the faces could take exception to this?

Do you think Cena is tweaking his character to be more heelish so he can be more relatable to the older fans?

Was his promo the start of something new for Cena?

Or did he basically stuff up his promo and I'm reading too much into it?

I just think he has been coming off as a real egomaniac prick lately, and I'm not sure if he's doing it on purpose or the "real" John Cena is coming out

 

[HBK_EDGE]

I think this can be credited somewhat to the whole "Reality Era". With the emergence of Punk his character has changed a little bit to match up better with what Punk brings to the table. But, I wouldn't say it is a big change more like just an evolution of a character. His character has just evolved a bit for this current storyline I think it has as much to do with the angle he is working with Del Rio and Punk as anything. I don't know if we're not seeing anything from him we didn't really see in the Nexus SL last summer.

 

[gurvinder372]

I think Cena's character has been constantly evolving, though he has basically been a principled, nice, honest and a tough guy. We have seen different shades of his character from time to time and from feud to feud. Rarely, he goes in to a feud with exactly the same character as previous one. At least from last 2 years, i can remember that Cena was confident underdog optimistic of defeating Batista (feud in 2010), frustrated vulnerable angry while being ethical (nexus feud 2010), happy joking but still intense in his feud with Punk and Miz (Early 2011), showing his edgy persona against Rock and Punk so far.

I guess its more about what situation he is in and what kind of character he is feuding with that change rather than Cena's character himself. His character is still about Hustle Loyalty Respect.

 

[SD619]

I think you are reading too much into it. Every superstar undergoes slight changes in character every couple months whenever they get into a new feud. Cena too has been adapting his character according to the opponents he faces.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I think it came axross as honest. Let's face it, who CAN beat Super Cena? The answer is no one.

Cena credited Punk for being able to, but that's actually not really true, either. At MitB Cena had Punk dead to rights when Vince and his stooge ruined it for Cena, giving Punk the opening he needed. At Summerslam it was a bad call by the ref. The only guy that ever cleanly beat Cena was Batista and that guy is history. Everyone else needs luck or outside help to steal one.

So on Raw this was merely Cena acknowledging that he is that one guy who is on a different plane from everyone else. There has always been one of those running around in the WWE, and there is ne denying that in the present and for the last 5+ years it's been him. He told it as it is. And why not? You'd have to be born yesterday not to see it.

 

[Dazman14]

"I'm so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome - there is only one guy in this company who can go toe to toe with me" - in reference to CM Punk.

Cena crows about Hustle, Loyalty, Respect but, for me, he shows a blatant lack of respect for guys in the back with that statement.

 

[gurvinder372]

"I'm so sick and tired of trying to make average seem awesome - there is only one guy in this company who can go toe to toe with me" - in reference to CM Punk.

Cena crows about Hustle, Loyalty, Respect but, for me, he shows a blatant lack of respect for guys in the back with that statement.

Or it could that this was done by Cena to serve two purpose
-- Acknowledge punk, this putting him over
-- giving more fuel/material to punk, so that he can bring this out and color it in some sort of hypocrisy on Cena's part.

May be, it will be like last year, when much anticipated Cena's heel turn was going to happen when he was the referee in match. I guess he will come clean this year also.

 

[hollowpoint]

I think it was more honest than anything and this is what everyone has wanted from him. If you look at the roster, gone are all of the mega stars of the past, and the only one that is left is Cena. Say what you want but that line in particular was spot on. The list is huge as of Superstars hes brought up to the main event level and one of them is a future hall of famer. I applaud him for more of this reality, shoot promo that he and Punk are doing.

 

[Prince Punk]

I think you might be on to something considering the way that Cena beat Punk to become the number one contender I mean if you think about it when was the last time a "Face" beat a "heel" due to outside interference of another "heel"? Cena did not beat punk clean Punk had Cena and Nash's involvement in the match screwed punk over.

So while I don't see Cena moving in for a heel turn atm I do see things getting tense and heated up between all parties as they are blurring the lines between who is the "good guy" and who is the "bad" and leaving it more up to perception. Punk is being this new age anti authority figure who is tired of being held down, while Cena is being this established star who has the biggest match of his career close to a year away still at mania.

Bottom line, they are telling an old story in a new way while TNA did try something similar they failed miserably as in the race to create the next Mega star was not done by a company but by the new star himself CM Punk when given an opportunity he did not take it and run he stood right where he was and exploded!

 

[bigbootydaddyV]

A couple of things I've noticed with cena is that a) he's a little more serious in his promos and he now says things like he'll whoop some someone's ass (insert no more PG wwe convo here, also I'm disappointed no one brought that up when Punk pretty much said there is no santa claus, i'm sure the kiddies didn't like that) and b) he keeps having his boston accent come out more often. When he was talking to mcmahon a few weeks ago I wasn't sure if it was Cena or Marky Mark. Still, this Cena is a little better, but I don't see him losing or not in the title picture any time soon.

 

[trendkiller]

Or it could that this was done by Cena to serve two purpose
-- Acknowledge punk, this putting him over
-- giving more fuel/material to punk, so that he can bring this out and color it in some sort of hypocrisy on Cena's part.

May be, it will be like last year, when much anticipated Cena's heel turn was going to happen when he was the referee in match. I guess he will come clean this year also.

Well, yeah, it might have been to put Punk over ...

... but he could've been talking about HHH or maybe even The Rock (though it got convoluted, so it can be perceived to be in reference to Punk, thus putting Punk over for the time being).

I dunno, but I'm liking where Cena is going with the current change of pace; it feel new and fresh, even if the character itself is rather stale. On the other hand, if he did turn heel, that'd eventually grow tiresome as well (just look at Orton's face turn which everyone drooled over and now can't stand).

I think Cena is just a natural face and it's not about whether he's face or heel, it's about keeping his character fresh by not being Super-Cena and be more of a human being, rather than a loud-mouth soapbox-hogger who obviously takes way too many uppers to be so god damn cheerful all the time.

Yeah, that's probably it. It's the cheerfulness that creeps fans from the Attitude Era out, 'cause by now we've learned there's nothing to be fucking cheerful about

 

[remyx]

I think the way the WWE has made to look Cena.. the super-Cena as people say, this is an awesome way to take his character IF that is indeed what they are doing. He can still be about hustle, loyalty and respect and all that garbage, but he could do what his super-counterpart does (in that I mean superman), sure Cena could beat guys easily, but instead now of just having him put on the act of getting beaten he could just take more time with his opponents and toy with them. I mean its not like anybody see's any of the roster having a chance at beating him, they could make him act a bit cockier in doing it so when people do have a fighting chance of putting him down it will mean all that more.

 

[Sub-Xero]

I really like what Cena has been doing lately. CM Punk, it seems, has gotten to him. He's letting the frustration over being repeatedly bested by Punk, and given the run-around by Trips, show through. A little more swearing, a little more edge, it just looks like Cena is tired of being dumped on by the 18-35's. (This, of course refers to Cena the character, not John the man. John probably loves it.) Cena has been fairly one dimensional for a little while now, since the transition form the Chain Gang and the FU to Hustle, Loyalty, Respect and The AA. This seems to me to be the next phase in the evolution of Cena's Character.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think Cena was intimidating Del Rio more than anything else. Cena believes that Del Rio has no business with the title as Punk and himself are the only ones who have a legit claim to the title. I do not think that he was making some big statement to the locker room or something. Cena said similar things to Orton too when they were feuding for the title in 2009 as well. Fact is, Cena always shows respect to those who beat him cleanly. And that is why he was said all those things. The key phrase here is, "Right Now", which is something Cena clearly mentioned. Right now, only Punk has shown himself worthy of beating Cena and not someone like Del Rio, which was Cena's only point.

I do not think that the core character of Cena, as a babyface at least, is ever going to change. Most possibly because it ain't broke at the moment. I have however noticed that he has started being slightly more abusive. I mean he is only saying "ass" regularly but that is something that you never hear from the likes of Cena. I guess somebody finally figured out that you don't have to talk like someone from Sesame Street to be an All American Babyface. Does not mean that he is going to become an antihero or a heel overnight, though. It is something that has never made much sense and does not make much sense now either with his match against Rock coming up. It would be stupid to change the character that has defined him for so many years before a match of such epic proportions.

 

[stmarks2002]

Cena can do all the tweaking to his character he or the E wants but it isn't gonna change the fact that he stinks in the ring. His promo's stink too in my opinion; something drastic needs to happen with him because he's sucking the life out of everyone. CM Punk is making Cena relevant in terms of in the ring because thats the only person he's faced besides Jack Swagger. When its all said and done, Cena will do the 'corporate' thing like the Rock back in 98.

 

[Maddog Lionheart]

I think this can be credited somewhat to the whole "Reality Era". With the emergence of Punk his character has changed a little bit to match up better with what Punk brings to the table. But, I wouldn't say it is a big change more like just an evolution of a character. His character has just evolved a bit for this current storyline I think it has as much to do with the angle he is working with Del Rio and Punk as anything. I don't know if we're not seeing anything from him we didn't really see in the Nexus SL last summer.

Did I just get quoted? Maybe...... Anyway, I see the change that you are seeing as well. The whole CM Punk locker room thing was mainly because he felt as if he deserved a rematch due to the controversy at Summerslam. But I think he's starting to acknowledge the complaints of the older crowd and he's starting to try to be more rebellious. So I do seem some change.

 

[Headman]

Has anyone else noticed that ever since Punk referred to Cena as the Yankees, Cena seems to have embraced this refrence a little to tweak his character.

On Raw this week Cena came off as an asshole when he talked about how only CM Punk was the only guy in the locker room who had any business facing him.

So it seems he thinks he is better than everyone else. I wonder what the wrecking machine Mark Henry thinks of this? What about Big Show? What the Viper? What about the rest of that Locker room? Maybe Morrison, Bourne, Kofi, and all the faces could take exception to this?

Do you think Cena is tweaking his character to be more heelish so he can be more relatable to the older fans?

Was his promo the start of something new for Cena?

Or did he basically stuff up his promo and I'm reading too much into it?

I just think he has been coming off as a real egomaniac prick lately, and I'm not sure if he's doing it on purpose or the "real" John Cena is coming out

Mark Henry, Big Show and Orton are not in the same locker room so he wasn't talking about them. Cena is actually telling the truth. Nobody but Punk is even close to being the kind of main eventer who can single handedly carry the show. Morrison is a long way from being that kind of guy. It's funny because some people were saying Morrision should have gotten the main event title match at NOC, but his match with Del Rio on RAW wasn't very good.

I don't think it will hurt Cena to show a little ego considering the other top face claims he's the best in the world and his Wrestlemania opponent is an egomaniac who likes to talk about sticking things in people's asses.

Cena can do all the tweaking to his character he or the E wants but it isn't gonna change the fact that he stinks in the ring. His promo's stink too in my opinion; something drastic needs to happen with him because he's sucking the life out of everyone. CM Punk is making Cena relevant in terms of in the ring because thats the only person he's faced besides Jack Swagger. When its all said and done, Cena will do the 'corporate' thing like the Rock back in 98.

He stinks in the ring? How do you get a 5 star match from the observer if you stink in the ring? The WWE has had like 4 in their entire history, but stmarks says he stinks so I guess he does. Forget what Ric Flair said, Steve Austin said, Chris Jericho said, CM Punk said and the list goes on and on. If anything it is Cena giving CM Punk the rub, and I don't know what you're talking about with Swagger because he's pretty much at the bottom of the card. I just can't find anything in this entire post that makes any sense at all.

 

[Headman]

Personally I think it is just typical Cena trying to suck up to the fans that cheer Punk by hyping him up too...

You've gotta remember it was Cena who asked for the Cena/Punk feud as a way to convince Punk to stay with the company. Cena didn't need to kiss his ass, he could have just wrestled Del Rio or Miz and let Punk walk out of the WWE. Even a Cena hater would have to admit that this is very unselfish behavior. Do you really think Hulk Hogan or even Bret Hart would have walked up to Vince and say "Hey this kid really has something. We should convince him to stay."? No, most guys protect their spot. Cena is the reason the IWC has a CM Punk to cheer for and it's stupid that they overlook that.

 

[remyx]

People are always so quick to dismiss Cena, but I have been saying for along time exactly what Mick Foley said recently. And that is that Cena is the real deal. Sure his shtick maybe a bit tired now, and yes on tv he MOSTLY has the same match in and out with the same SuperCena routine... but most of his PPV matches and a good deal of his higher profile tv matches have been awesome. The only time I really didnt like Cena on PPV was recently against the Miz... I just personally don't think they click in the ring.

BUT He's had good PPV matches (& tv) with Umaga, Big Show, Randy Orton, Edge, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, HHH, HBK, Chris Benoit, Batista, Undertaker, Jack Swagger, Rey Mysterio (and would love to one day see them feud properly and have at least ONE PPV match), Christian, THE GREAT KHALI, Booker T.. Hell he's even had a few good matches with Renee Dupree and also as Foley mentioned, of all Bobby Lashley's matches do you remember them apart from the WWE title match against Cena? He actually made me enjoy a Lashley match.

Cena is on top for a reason. He has it all. And people that suggest otherwise are just too dumb to know it.

 

[GrandSword]

^^^ Let's keep away from the I hate/Love Cena comments.

I hope Cena embraces and runs with this "Yankees" character. It's a quite interesting twist on someone who is so good and perfect and proper, but then letting people know that he is.. and he's right... it comes off as bing an arrogant prick, but people can't question it.

I'm not sure if anyone reads comics, but when Jim Lee and Brian Azzarello did a 12 issue run on Superman, there was a bit where the Supes spoke to a priest to get guidance. The Priest said "better men than you have failed.." Supes gave him this look, and the priest sort of had to retract his words, because Supes was basically perfect, he has all these powers but uses them to help people and risks his life for everyone. But Supes is also acknowledging the fact that there is no one on the planet better than him... he truly is the best in the world...

On Monday I truly saw this come out in Cena and I really thought it added alot to his character. The man truly is perfect but he is now out there saying that no one can beat him. Has Rock brought this out in him? Was Cena's comments about the Rock all those years ago the genesis of him thinking this way? Has it been CM Punk's rise over the last few months?

Whatever it is like I said I hope he continues on this path, he stays face,a role model but adds a whole new layer and gives the Cena haters some fuel to hate him more, which he seems to love...

 

[remyx]

That was actually in response to people bashing Cena further up in thread.. but either way its true. I hate Cena's general character.. it just doesn't speak to me personally, but whatever way you look at it he could be A LOT worse. And also what you said is pretty much what a point I made in an earlier post.

The SuperCena persona... is it really just a joke between die hard wrestling fans? The more I talk to more casual fans the more it seems evident that its gotten to the point that NOBODY thinks that Cena can be beaten. I see friends siblings and people I just know from bars and such who are the typical wrestling fan, Hate the Heels, Love the babyface's... but even they are calling bullshit on the constant notion of Cena gunning for the championship. I myself say, why not.

Lets be honest, So far.. without some sort of outside influence coming into play, Cena since winning the championship from JBL at WM21 has been beaten clean by two men, Batista at Summerslam and Randy Orton at HIAC (and even thats questionable since it wasn't just Randy on his own, as much as it was Randy with handcuffs and chairs and steel steps and yada yada yada). Why should Cena even have to portray the underdog persona that has been pinned on him by the WWE and in turn by his own self.. He is what every smark has been saying for years.

John Cena is untouchable, in-corruptable and for all intents and purposes, Superman. He has to knock himself down a notch to make himself seem less weak, to take a hit on the chin for the benefit of everyone else. He has fought off everybody that has come in his path.. More than anything at the moment in WWE, if they go through with John Cena as the self assured, unbeatable and unwilling to place himself amongst everybody else... then that could be just about as interesting as anything else currently happening in the WWE. Forget tag revival & the Nash/Punk/HHH rivalry. This could open up a can of worms in itself altogether.

 

[GrandSword]

I'm not sure if this point should be in this thread or the corporate alliance thread, maybe the mods can merge them...

But what about Cena taking the title match against Rey Mysterio, just after Rey had won the title. Cena obviously thinks he is better than everyone except one person. So him walking into a match only an hour after Rey just fought tooth and nail against Miz, can't be too honourable...

Then add to this the whole Cena thinking he should be champion and has a right to be called champion even though Punk retruned with a the belt he defeated Cena for...

AND

It seems Cena believes he should be champion all the time and is now forcing himself into a match with Del Rio even though he lost to Punk at Summerslam Trip's mistake or not, he lost.

It all points to Cena really wanting be known as all powerful and better than everyone else...

and I don't want to be one of those guys who talk about Cena heel turns, but if he did, it could lead to big ratings as Cena haters would tune in to either boo him big time or cheer him for being a bad guy... the story sure is setting itself this way if these sorts of things keep happening and Cena is revealed as the man who sent the text...

 

[Headman]

I'm not sure if this point should be in this thread or the corporate alliance thread, maybe the mods can merge them...

But what about Cena taking the title match against Rey Mysterio, just after Rey had won the title. Cena obviously thinks he is better than everyone except one person. So him walking into a match only an hour after Rey just fought tooth and nail against Miz, can't be too honourable...

Then add to this the whole Cena thinking he should be champion and has a right to be called champion even though Punk retruned with a the belt he defeated Cena for...

AND

It seems Cena believes he should be champion all the time and is now forcing himself into a match with Del Rio even though he lost to Punk at Summerslam Trip's mistake or not, he lost.

It all points to Cena really wanting be known as all powerful and better than everyone else...

and I don't want to be one of those guys who talk about Cena heel turns, but if he did, it could lead to big ratings as Cena haters would tune in to either boo him big time or cheer him for being a bad guy... the story sure is setting itself this way if these sorts of things keep happening and Cena is revealed as the man who sent the text...

I think Cena challenging Rey had more to do with rushed or sloppy booking. They needed Cena standing there with the new belt that night when the music hit. This is one reason I think the tournament should have been a single night tournament as first announced because the match came off as "Mean old Cena picking on poor little Rey.". At the very least, Miz should have defeated Rey and Cena beats Miz so the move doesn't come off as heelish.

I'm not a fan of the idea of Cena turning heel because it will piss off his loyal fans and won't do anything for the people who hate him. They talk alot about stale, but there is no change of character that is going to win those people over. They just want him out of the title picture so a different pair of midcarders or jobbers can headline each week. And then they'll bitch and moan about that because that's what they do.

 

[CenaSux4Life78]

I have come to terms with the idea that Cena will probably never be a true heel again. But, I do kinda like the direction his promos are going now. I loved the contract signing promo a few weeks ago, where he said the things about "letting me heel persona out" and "my 5 moves of doom". Cena actually made me listen to what he had to say for once. I never really thought about it, until reading this thread. But he is starting to show more of an arrogant cocky prick side. God forbid.......I never thought I would say it......I LOVE IT!

 

[Dagger Dias]

Cena's not tweaking his character. He's not even doing anything significantly different. I do not think he will do any major changes to his character anytime soon because if he remains in this persona long enough (and it will probably be a long time) then it will make it all the bigger of a deal when he does turn heel. I think it was more along the lines of Punk's promo being almost unscripted thus the Yankees joke would have caught Cena off guard. He seemed to think it was very funny anyhow. He is still the face of the federation and still wants respect, whether that be from fans or his peers. Still sounds like the same Cena we have seen for the past 5+ years to me.