Is it me, or does John Cena remind me of a certain someone?

[JUSTINMFNBEEMER]

Let me get this out right away, im a huge hulkamaniac.

That being said, im not gonna lie, early 90's, hulk was stale worse then the bread in a drunks microwave.

He took some time off, did some movies.93 was not his crowning moment to say the least.

Lets move to present day. Cena is stale worse then the muffins in an old ladies cupboard.

Now he is doing movies.

Hogan returned in 93 to, lets say, a moderate love return.

Is Cena going to have the same fate, or does the heart really grow fonder?

 

[OddManRush]

Why can't he just be John Cena?

Why do we always have to have this argument and compare current superstars to past?

 

[Navi]

Cena has been doing movies for awhile now. I don't think he is anything like Hulk Hogan, and like the other poster said, he is John Cena. Why compare him to Hogan?

 

[ShinChan]

John Cena has been in movies and Hulk Hogan has been in movies..... But John Cena and Hulk Hogan arenot comparable in any sense..... They both have their unique identities....

 

[allketchupisnotthesame]

lots of wrestlers grow stale.

lots of wrestlers do movies.

LOTS of wrestlers make a return.

plus...john cena likes black people and has never testified against vince mcmahon.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

Not to insult your intelligence, but you're about 8 or 9 years late to the party. I seem to recall the Hogan comparisons coming in as early as late 2006, but my memory could be hazy.

It's human nature to make comparisons of people to others. I don't know the science behind it, but we're naturally predisposed to look for similarities between past people and events with current people and events.

How many times have you or someone else compared or been compared to looking like a celebrity or someone you've seen before. People do it all the time, especially when it comes to athletes.

It's difficult to explain why people do it, but the importance is to recognize what makes each individual new and special.

In all honesty, I think Cena is a far superior in ring wrestler, while Hogan is the superior promo guy. Cena is excellent when paired with a Punk, or Bryan, or recently Owens, whereas Hogan never participated in any 5 star matches. Hogan participated in the bigger money matches, and drew the most money.

The only thing they share is a decade long period of no character development, a feat that John Cena is poised to break, possibly shatter. Cena may never turn heel, this obliterating the Hogan comparison.

You're neither the first nor last to make this comparison. Comparisons generally do nothing except give the one making the comparison an aha moment and a feeling of reward for being by their own definition clever.

 

[BuriedByCena]

Cena is on a whole other level than Hogan. Hogan has NEVER buried as many people as Cena has.

Hogan did politic and did keep people down to stay on top but I can respect that. Same with HHH.

Cena on the other hand is delusional and legit believes he is putting people over...when he buries them in every match. Cena truly thinks that stopping guys momentum and them ending up stuck in he mid card is a good thing. It is shocking that Cena can't see the cold hard facts. We have seen it a million times. Bray, Rusev, Umaga etc. All are doing amazing and destroying people. Then they lose to Cena and never amount to anything.

Cena is the destroyer of careers. Hulk Hogan has never ruined that many careers. HHH has never ruined that many careers. It is sickening.

 

[J.J.]

I don't think the fans will resent Cena as much because he has largely stayed away from the main event throughout the last year. Hogan came back as if he never left the main event scene - I don't like comparing two stars from two different eras.

 

[Redemption-2012]

First of all, Hulk Hogan is a poor man's John Cena. In terms of talent in every single avenue Hogan doesn't even come close.

Secondly can we stop with the John Cena/Hulk Hogan comparisons already? they are not alike except the fact that a large portion of their fan base consisted of younger fans. Apart from that and the fact that they are both superman like characters John Cena is WAY better than Hogan.

 

[King Patrick Star]

John Cena does remind me of Hulk Hogan in more ways than one. I looked up to the Hulkster the way my son looks up to Chain Gang Soldier. I’m sure it’ll pass and my son’s version of Stone Cold Steve Austin or the Rock will eventually come around and take over as the Face of the WWE. The difference is I doubt the Leader of the CeNation will make the same stupid mistakes as the Leader of the Hulkamaniacs, but only time will tell if this is the case. I will say this, the Doctor of Thuganomics should try going “Hollywood” in the near future.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Is Cena going to have the same fate, or does the heart really grow fonder?

It's a different audience today. In Hogan's day, fans cheered the hero and booed the villain. If someone used the word 'tweener' no one would have had an idea what they were talking about (either in definition or concept).

In some ways, if the WWE world back then hadn't been built around Hulk Hogan, I wonder if the backlash Cena faces today would exist. To my thinking, it isn't even logical; Cena puts over people in ways Hogan never would. You would think people would like that.....but many, many don't.

As well, however they perform in the ring, Hogan faced the same damn situations in every match.....and it almost always ended with that leg-drop out of nowhere, followed by a pin. Cena's scenarios have been far more realistic. When the 7 members of Nexus were coming down the aisle to get him, Cena jumped out of the ring and left (discretion apparently being the better part of valor). Can you imagine Hogan doing that?

To answer the OP question, Hogan and Cena remind me of each other primarily in that both were the clear #1 performers of their respective eras....and it still gets me to read that the fans who hate Cena for 'doing the same thing over & over' also loved Hogan and didn't regard his routine as stale. Both were heroic, but Hogan did it as a cartoon character while Cena portrays a human being with strengths & weaknesses......yet, many love the cartoon man and hate the real guy. Go figure.

But, as I said, it was a different era & different audience.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I mean it's no secret that Cena is modeled after Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania. It's also no secret that Vince has always wanted his second coming of Hulk Hogan and he tried in the past with Warrior, Luger, and Nash but none of them has been successful.

Even with Austin as the #1 guy it did seem that Vince was trying to push The Rock harder during 2000 as Hulk Hogan's successor. While Austin was a rule breaker that caused chaos, Rock was modeled more on Hogan as far as a traditional baby face is concerned.

Finally Cena got over because of his edgy and sometimes offensive rapper gimmick. However it did seem that, as Cena got closer to the top, he was being reconfigured by the WWE. Notice he was being pushed to be like Austin early in his push then afterwards was more like Hogan to fit more to the corporate mold.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I mean it's no secret that Cena is modeled after Hulk Hogan and Hulkamania.

In terms of being cast as an All-American hero, yes. In that vein, both men frequently conquered seemingly insurmountable odds to emerge victorious. That's how they're alike.

But Hogan is a cartoon character while Cena is portrayed as a regular man, a far more realistic approach for today's pro wrestler. Hogan delivered over-the-top platitudes essentially assuring us he was the greatest. Many of his astonishing comebacks during matches were improbable, to say the least (If Zeus was unaffected by Hogan's shots during 7/8 of the match, how come they finished the guy off at the end?)

On the other side, I'm surprised how frequently folks on this forum have disagreed with me when I claim Cena is booked more as a real person than Hogan. Cena doesn't speak of vitamins, prayers & vegetables, he talks of real life problems his character is facing. He dresses like a wrestler instead of a drum major for a marching band. Compare them by appearance:

Cena's character speaks candidly of the difficulties he faces. His critics today say he 'wins all the time' but that's not true.....and, at any rate, he loses a hell of a lot more than Hogan ever did.

Cena presents to us using his real name; no gimmicks, no window dressing. 'Hulk Hogan' is not the name of the man playing that role. Yet, people complain that it's Cena who isn't 'real?' I don't get it.

It's not a question of disliking Hogan and liking Cena. They're too entirely different entities.....alike only in their role as the face of the company.

 

[ColeMc]

Cena is on a whole other level than Hogan. Hogan has NEVER buried as many people as Cena has.

From someone who saw Hogan first hand during his entire span, that's just not true.

Hogan burying someone was the 5th move in his 5 moves of doom. Hulk up, bodyslam, big boot, leg drop, bury anyone else in the ring.

 

[saint_edward]

Cena is Cena. He's the Cenation, he's Hustle, Loyalty and Respect, he's a massive draw and he's the scourge of the IWC. Will he deliver a promo like this?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4pwytgyoS38
No.

But he'll go mano-a-mano with the Rock, he'll stand in the ring and he'll do his thing and the fans (cos its not just children an women who listen, regardless of what the smarks say) will rally behind him. John 'the Champ is Here' Cena is a 15 time World Champ, he's won everythibg bar the Intercontinental Championship (no idea why), he brought prestige to the US Championship and spotlighted Sani Zayn, Kevin Owens and others in the open Challenge.

He's away right now but we're still talking about him. He's missed, however much you say you hate him. Is he Hogan? No. Not at all, he'll turn heel one day maybe and he'll f*ck up the whole WWE landscape for a year, 18 months, 2 years, and end his career as a face dancing in all the confetti Vince can muster.

Was Hogan Bruce Sammartino? No.

 

[BaconBits]

Cena is on a whole other level than Hogan. Hogan has NEVER buried as many people as Cena has.

Hogan did politic and did keep people down to stay on top but I can respect that. Same with HHH.

Cena on the other hand is delusional and legit believes he is putting people over...when he buries them in every match. Cena truly thinks that stopping guys momentum and them ending up stuck in he mid card is a good thing. It is shocking that Cena can't see the cold hard facts. We have seen it a million times. Bray, Rusev, Umaga etc. All are doing amazing and destroying people. Then they lose to Cena and never amount to anything.

Cena is the destroyer of careers. Hulk Hogan has never ruined that many careers. HHH has never ruined that many careers. It is sickening.

This is pure bullshit from top to bottom. Go ahead and list the people that Hogan actually put over in WWE during his run on top. It's going to be ridiculously short. As in less than five names.

You clearly know nothing about wrestling.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

This is pure bullshit from top to bottom. Go ahead and list the people that Hogan actually put over in WWE during his run on top. It's going to be ridiculously short. As in less than five names.

You clearly know nothing about wrestling.

No but he can make delusional remarks about Cena pretty well. I mean "facts" Oh and by "well" I mean pretty much the same bs all of his type come up with.

Seriously, I can't even believe this is a thread. It's been several years since people realized the similarities between Hogan and Cena.

 

[pipebomber]

no it's not you. everybody at one point in time has made the Cena/Hogan Comparison.

similarities include being the face of the company for a decade+, being an all-American type character, starting as a heel before gaining major success as the moral standard of goodness, portraying an almost superhuman type character who could always pull out a win no matter the odds, reaching a point where people are tired of the gimmick yet the WWF/E refuse to turn him face or deviate from the formula that they have been using, both staring in b movies that nobody really cares about.

the only major differences I see people posting here are that Cena hasn't turn heel, and may never, but that doesn't mean that he wont and that Hogan was more cartoonish. but the business as a whole was more cartoonish.