Is it just me?

[the_vipers_enigma]

Is it just me that just can't wait for Raw to see Cenas match? I don't like his character yes, but that guy has been giving us MOTY candidates for the last 3 or 4 months and some may say he is being carried by his opponents but to be honest the guy has proven that he is one of the best in the ring. And before you start saying something just think for a moment about the fact that there are two people in the match and the both have part in making the match so good.

 

[boozinjedi]

Although I wouldn't go full out MOTY quality....I will say that during the "Open Challenge"
His matches have been getting better than the usual "Super Cena 5 Moves Of Doom" set we've become accustomed to.
It is noticeable that he has worked to improve the quality of the matches.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I think most people would agree, even those who flat out say they hate John Cena's guts, that Cena's matches on Raw have been stellar as United States Champion.

I can understand people not being into Cena's character all that much; it's virtually unchanged over the past decade and it doesn't help but a strong argument can be made that he's heavily overexposed. At the same time, I also can understand why WWE has stuck with Cena's formula because it's been a proven money-maker and making money is the name of the game, not catering to smarks.

A lot of people have maintained that Cena "can't wrestle" even though it's an absurd notion. Cena's had too many great matches over the years with too many different opponents; I've seen matches in which one guy is carried by the other one, we all have at some point, and that's never been the case with Cena. Over the past 4 months or so, however, Cena has put on performances that have once again not only proven that he can wrestle, but the performances have been of such quality that the only ones who still hold onto this notion are those who're just simply determined to hate any & all things associated with John Cena.

Another thing that's helped Cena is that he's felt fresher than he has in many a year due in part to spending so much time out of the main event title scene while simultaneously helping to build up a desperately flagging United States Championship picture. Off and on, there've been a few threads pop up over the years stating that main eventers should win the mid-card titles to build them up and, while an interesting notion, it's not one that we ever really thought would happen in Vince McMahon's WWE.

 

[kadroan]

It's something positive and consistent about Cena. Definitely one of the better parts of WWE programming. It'll be interesting to see who be the guy to beat Cena during an Open Challenge.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Me too brotha. I've always been a John Cena fan by the virtue that I've always been able to mentallyl separate the man from the oft maligned "Super Cena overcomes the odds again in five moves" booking he often received.

I was watching Smackdown in my living room in 2002 when a young pup in generic tights with an even more generic sounding name took Kurt Angle to the limit and received a handshake from a then heel Undertaker.

I've seen every PPV match he's been in. I've struggled with why his character has never developed. I struggle with this especially as a professional writer. Such a talented man with amazing charisma not being allowed to evolve his character or pull more than five moves out of his repertoire has always vexed me.

This year has been a treat; we haven't had these quality of matches out of Cena since he locked up with Punk or Michaels. It's gotten me to watch Raw live again, and I'm a busy, busy man who takes his wrestling in well after the fact generally speaking.

The only blemish since he finished his program with Lesnar was Extreme Rules vs Rusev. Everything else has been good to extraordinary.

Whatever happens at Summerslam, I hope that this trend of great matches never gives up; it's been a treat. My best hope is that if Cena does wind up with both titles or moves up to the World Title is that he continues the US open or launches a new World open.

His character is still the same as it was in 2006 when he really began to phase out the Doctor of Thuganomics aspects of his character. The improved match quality is a reflection of what's happening in ROH and NXT, but it's important to note that the character still hasn't developed. It doesn't need to change, it just needs to develop and evolve. The match quality is a great start though.

 

[Messiah]

More like Match of the Night. MOTY is thrown around way too loosely. Every time there's a great match people consider it for MOTY.

 

[ASKane]

As individual matches they are significantly better than his usual but they follow the exact same formula and of Cena coming back after the series of false finishes that bury both mens finishing moves. Cena has yet to put on a Match of the Year candidate on Raw in my opinion because while his standard is up the predictability and repetitiveness still drags them down. Add to that the fact that it annoys me that he continually defeats young guys and despite not doing it with the WWE title he continues to not put over anyone unless he can win the feud.

He has improved but it is still SoS, he kicks out at 2, wins and then the next week cuts his standard champ is here promo. The matches are alot more enjoyable to watch but it is not anywhere near the top of the list of things I look forawrd to on Raw because I am tired of seeing Cena kick out of guys finishers and then win with weaker looking finishers.