Is John Cena holding people back / down

[D-Man]

Perhaps but i was more thinking in terms of a Face Push as long as Cena is the top face its going to be Hard to build anyone else up as a face.

This statement is absurd. You act as if the entire show revolves around John Cena.

Multiple storylines are happening on all of the WWE's televised and internet programs right now. The wrestlers have parts they need to effectively play and are given plenty of opportunities to jump ahead of the pack. But, the WWE cannot push those superstars by burying John Cena. He is the top draw, top attraction, and top form of entertainment on the show. Therefore, he must constantly be relevant while others work there way up to the top. This is the way the business has always worked. If you feel the formula should be changed now then you're just trying to reinvent the wheel. If it ain't broke, then why fix it?

 

[Deadlysyns]

This statement is absurd. You act as if the entire show revolves around John Cena.

Multiple storylines are happening on all of the WWE's televised and internet programs right now. The wrestlers have parts they need to effectively play and are given plenty of opportunities to jump ahead of the pack. But, the WWE cannot push those superstars by burying John Cena. He is the top draw, top attraction, and top form of entertainment on the show. Therefore, he must constantly be relevant while others work there way up to the top. This is the way the business has always worked. If you feel the formula should be changed now then you're just trying to reinvent the wheel. If it ain't broke, then why fix it?

your Saying that putting someone in a Story line gets them over which is not True 99.9% of the time the only one who gets any actual Mic time is John Cena or heels that are feuding with him. Sure other people are getting put in feuds but it takes more to get them over then a few good matches. say what you will but Cena is the only relavent face on raw right now and thats all there is to it you can have many other people who play the face but they will get Buried just look at Alex riley they were pushing him against the Miz but there was very little Mic time for him and now thats over and Cena and punk are in the spotlight. You can't expect people to improve on the mic if you never give them Mic time

 

[The Champ]

your Saying that putting someone in a Story line gets them over which is not True 99.9% of the time the only one who gets any actual Mic time is John Cena or heels that are feuding with him. Sure other people are getting put in feuds but it takes more to get them over then a few good matches. say what you will but Cena is the only relavent face on raw right now and thats all there is to it you can have many other people who play the face but they will get Buried just look at Alex riley they were pushing him against the Miz but there was very little Mic time for him and now thats over and Cena and punk are in the spotlight. You can't expect people to improve on the mic if you never give them Mic time

I agree that people not getting mic time is an issue, but it's also silly to say that Cena is the only one who does. Punk, Miz, Del Rio, and Truth get mic time all the time, whether they're feuding with Cena or not. I can see your point about the lack of credible faces to back Cena up, and that is certainly something they should work on, but I think the Riley push is going in the right direction even if his mic time has been limited. You also have to understand that even if they create another "relevant" face (and I would certainly argue that Rey Mysterio is more than relevant), Cena is still going to be the number one guy. The whole issue of WWE being lazy with the midcard is a completely separate thing from the topic of this thread. Even if they put more effort into those guys, they still wouldn't eclipse Cena, and there's a perfectly good reason for that.

 

[Deadlysyns]

I agree that people not getting mic time is an issue, but it's also silly to say that Cena is the only one who does. Punk, Miz, Del Rio, and Truth get mic time all the time, whether they're feuding with Cena or not. I can see your point about the lack of credible faces to back Cena up, and that is certainly something they should work on, but I think the Riley push is going in the right direction even if his mic time has been limited. You also have to understand that even if they create another "relevant" face (and I would certainly argue that Rey Mysterio is more than relevant), Cena is still going to be the number one guy. The whole issue of WWE being lazy with the midcard is a completely separate thing from the topic of this thread. Even if they put more effort into those guys, they still wouldn't eclipse Cena, and there's a perfectly good reason for that.

I agree yet i also believe that part of the lazy Midcard is the John Cena being such a huge seller they want to keep him in the spotlight as much as they can yet honestly taking him out of the spotlight might help him more have him compete in feuds that involve a grudge against someone a serious grudge with both people being on tv like they started with Wade Barrett right now the WWE needs to give the title to a heel to help build up faces and spilt mic time among the two divisons they have 2 hours of Tv and they fill up small parts of it with horrible matches

 

[The Champ]

I don't think Cena being on top has anything to do with the lazy midcard booking. Cena would still have the exact same amount of time each week whether they were booking the midcard well or not. Look at this week. They let people like Kingston, Dolph, Evan Bourne and Swagger talk, yet who was in the two most important segments of the show? Cena. Because Cena is the most important wrestler they have, period.

As for giving the title to a heel, I don't think you'll have to worry about that for too much longer. They're clearly getting ready to finally have Del Rio achieve his DESTINY~! by winning it at or before SummerSlam. Don't expect him to hold it for long, though, considering that Cena's match with Rock is all but confirmed to be for the WWE Championship.

 

[Deadlysyns]

I honestly Hope Del Rio does win the Championship perhaps at MITB if he cashes in it would be good for business to get away from Cena i enjoy Cena but i feel too much of him is the biggest problem hes always there and always shoved down our throats hes a good performer but i believe many people are just bored with him as For Rey being a Relevent face to a Certain Extent he is but he is also getting older and is becoming more for putting people like Del rio over i just feel that the Fact that being a Heel is soo much easier is pulling the world of WWE down i believe its time for a Change in WWE's booking staff

 

[D-Man]

I honestly Hope Del Rio does win the Championship perhaps at MITB if he cashes in it would be good for business to get away from Cena i enjoy Cena but i feel too much of him is the biggest problem hes always there and always shoved down our throats hes a good performer but i believe many people are just bored with him as For Rey being a Relevent face to a Certain Extent he is but he is also getting older and is becoming more for putting people like Del rio over i just feel that the Fact that being a Heel is soo much easier is pulling the world of WWE down i believe its time for a Change in WWE's booking staff

This is spoken from a true Cena hater. Sounds like all of the other posters that complain about him on the forums. You're all entitled to your opinions but you're also dead wrong.

You say Cena losing the championship is good for business? So, stripping the top merchandise seller (with the exception of Rey Mysterio) of a world title is good for business?

You say Cena is shoved down our throats and many people are bored with him? He is the most popular WWE superstar right now, bar none. So once again, this statement is completely opinionated and dead wrong.

We get it... you don't like Cena. But just because you don't like him doesn't mean that the WWE Universe needs to be stripped of him. Cena has only been the WWE Champion for TWO months since Wrestlemania. Prior to that, the last time he held the championship was June of 2010. That means he was without the WWE title for a YEAR. What else do you guys want?

 

[Deadlysyns]

lol Cena is a good performer and honestly i enjoy watching his Matches but just because Cena is Champion doesn't mean hes going to become more popular he is at the top right now and nothing will bring him down save for a heel turn so we could turn down the amount of time Cena is on the mic or in the main Event and push others and the WWE will not lose money people do not like Cena because he is Champion they like his Character

 

[D-Man]

lol Cena is a good performer and honestly i enjoy watching his Matches but just because Cena is Champion doesn't mean hes going to become more popular he is at the top right now and nothing will bring him down save for a heel turn so we could turn down the amount of time Cena is on the mic or in the main Event and push others and the WWE will not lose money people do not like Cena because he is Champion they like his Character

This is also untrue. The wrestling audience has a short-term memory. Unless we keep a relevant superstar in front of the audience, they will be forgotten about. This is the reason why pro-wrestling never has an off-season. Once they are out of sight, they become out of mind.

 

[ECW Sandman]

What I was talking about was that John Cena like someone else said he gets more time in the spotlight even when he is not champion, hell think back when he returned at the Royal Rumble a few years ago and won it after being out with an his torn peck muscle injury or what ever injury he had that time, yeah HHH and Edge did the same thing came back and won it but that being said John Cena is a glory hound I know kids like him he stuff sells very well all I am saying is WWE needs to start looking for a new wrestler to take Cena's spot he's not going to wrestle for ever with all the injuries he has had he gets injured they give the title to someone else til he returns and BAM like not even 2 months after he comes back he's already in the title hunt I don't know about you guys but I am getting tired of seeing that happen.

 

[Deadlysyns]

The WWE needs to look for someone to work towards taking Cena's spot try to build someone up and have another form theres nothing anywhere saying that you can't have to top guys look at back in the Attitude Era when Rock and Austin were in the spotlight heck even Back when Hogan was Running wild others were in the title picture now it seems the only Face in the entire WWE is John Cena

 

[H33LTurn]

Well like someone mentioned, the fault doesnt lie within John Cena, it lies within creative. John Cena didnt just wake up and say "I want to hog the spotlight for half a decade". Creative decided that they would put all their effort into the John Cena character, and therefore they've held down others who could've been as big as Cena. Sure, some guys like Miz and Sheamus were able to become big stars after feuding with Cena, but they never became as big as Cena. Theres an unfair balance in the spotlight. Now creative has made an indestructible character that has a stranggle hold on their largest fan base and theres no credible people around to take him down. Creative probably realised this and therefore has tried to keep him out of the spotlight by having the Nexus angle, then making Miz the champion, and finally he'll lose to The Rock and that'll start the humanization of the John Cena character.

 

[Deadlysyns]

Another way to help John Cena might be to have him take on a student like the Miz did don't get me wrong not to interfere for him but to be watching him learning from him inspired by him etc. then have him turn on John because he believes John is hogging the Spotlight

 

[The Champ]

Well like someone mentioned, the fault doesnt lie within John Cena, it lies within creative. John Cena didnt just wake up and say "I want to hog the spotlight for half a decade". Creative decided that they would put all their effort into the John Cena character, and therefore they've held down others who could've been as big as Cena. Sure, some guys like Miz and Sheamus were able to become big stars after feuding with Cena, but they never became as big as Cena. Theres an unfair balance in the spotlight. Now creative has made an indestructible character that has a stranggle hold on their largest fan base and theres no credible people around to take him down. Creative probably realised this and therefore has tried to keep him out of the spotlight by having the Nexus angle, then making Miz the champion, and finally he'll lose to The Rock and that'll start the humanization of the John Cena character.

Nobody has become AS BIG as Cena because nobody is better than him at the job he does. It's really that simple. You cannot stick one other guy on the roster in Cena's spot and expect that he'll do just as good a job. Not that it's impossible, but it's not a chance worth taking when you have the perfect candidate to carry your company right there. You have to remember that there are still a lot of fans, on the internet and not on the internet, who still enjoy Cena and are not sick of him. His supporters still outweigh his detractors, as evidenced by the fact that he has more Facebook fans than any other superstar and more than the WWE page itself. He also sells far more merchandise than anyone else in the whole company and is among the top sellers in history. There is no good reason to throw that all away just to allow somebody else to become "as big." There is no good logic behind it except "a few fans are sick of Cena," and when you're trying to run a business, you don't do it based on a few fans.

 

[H33LTurn]

Nobody has become AS BIG as Cena because nobody is better than him at the job he does. It's really that simple. You cannot stick one other guy on the roster in Cena's spot and expect that he'll do just as good a job. Not that it's impossible, but it's not a chance worth taking when you have the perfect candidate to carry your company right there. You have to remember that there are still a lot of fans, on the internet and not on the internet, who still enjoy Cena and are not sick of him. His supporters still outweigh his detractors, as evidenced by the fact that he has more Facebook fans than any other superstar and more than the WWE page itself. He also sells far more merchandise than anyone else in the whole company and is among the top sellers in history. There is no good reason to throw that all away just to allow somebody else to become "as big." There is no good logic behind it except "a few fans are sick of Cena," and when you're trying to run a business, you don't do it based on a few fans.

I think you have the idea that Vince couldnt make anyone else "Cena" if he wanted to. Cena was given the spot because he was willing to do work outside the WWE and politic his way through it all. Its all about the money, yes I know that, but its detrimental to a company if a guy or group dominates it. When there was Austin there was also Rock, HBK, Triple H, Taker, etc. so that if something happened to Austin then there would be someone else at his caliber to take his place. The only other person why could take Cena's place if he was gone is Orton and hes busy with Smackdown. We know Cena has been working through nagging injuries for a while now and the fact that the man hasnt been able to take a descent break because it would jeopardize the status of the WWE is just horrible. As I remember, he asked for a break around Summerslam several years ago. But theres nobody around to take his spot. WWE isnt even building people up to be as big as him. Theres one or two other top guys but none of them will sell merch like he does or sell out arenas like he does, which i why so many people within the WWE are unhappy with the direction of the company. Because they know that while Cena is around its 100% him.

 

[Gore Illa]

Randy Orton, The Miz, Edge, Nexus, and Sheamus can all look at Cena as a reason why they are legit main eventers. The 2007 Orton feud with Cena is probably the best feud for the title in the past 5 years of Raw. Cena put Miz over twice, once in 2009, then again, in 2010-11. Sheamus is a believable main eventer because of Cena. If you are saying he has been the face of the WWE for all these years, the reason is, quite frankly, he was the only one who could do it. Jeff Hardy coulda done it but he dropped the ball and picked up blunts. Other than that, I really wouldn't trust anyone else to practice the dedication and loyalty that Cena has.

 

[The Champ]

I think you have the idea that Vince couldnt make anyone else "Cena" if he wanted to. Cena was given the spot because he was willing to do work outside the WWE and politic his way through it all. Its all about the money, yes I know that, but its detrimental to a company if a guy or group dominates it. When there was Austin there was also Rock, HBK, Triple H, Taker, etc. so that if something happened to Austin then there would be someone else at his caliber to take his place. The only other person why could take Cena's place if he was gone is Orton and hes busy with Smackdown. We know Cena has been working through nagging injuries for a while now and the fact that the man hasnt been able to take a descent break because it would jeopardize the status of the WWE is just horrible. As I remember, he asked for a break around Summerslam several years ago. But theres nobody around to take his spot. WWE isnt even building people up to be as big as him. Theres one or two other top guys but none of them will sell merch like he does or sell out arenas like he does, which i why so many people within the WWE are unhappy with the direction of the company. Because they know that while Cena is around its 100% him.

I can see where you're coming from with the idea that there should be somebody who's right behind Cena and can fill in for him if he goes down. They do have Rey Mysterio, who I feel is capable of doing that if he stays healthy, but of course he's been suffering from nagging injuries for years now. They should be building up someone like Kofi Kingston to become a credible main event superstar, or perhaps use CM Punk's recent momentum to turn him into a huge face.

But whatever they do, that guy should be second to Cena unless he actually eclipses him in popularity, which isn't likely. He should be a formidable backup, but he not should be prioritized over Cena. Especially when Cena has a match with The Rock looming, he should certainly be involved in major storylines and made to look strong until then.

 

[KinkESizemore]

It's not Cena holding people back, it's the WWE putting the belt on him only for financial gain that's holding people back. There's honestly no real reason for him having the belt other than to draw the masses.

 

[The Champ]

Drawing the masses is a perfectly good reason, though. There's not any good reason to NOT have him in the title picture other than "a few guys on the internet are sick of him and want someone fresh." If you're running a multi-million dollar company where the goal is to continue to make money in as many ways as possible... which line of thinking do you go with?

 

[JBShakes]

During the golden years we had Rock, HHH, Austin, Undertaker etc to carry to flag if the situation required it but I think the writing staff haven't got the ideas to build the next face properly.

This IS the crux of the problem. And it's also the part of the problem that the "IWC" consistently fails to understand. Those "golden years" were the result of a small handful of established stars (Michaels until he took time off for his back/personal problems, Hart until he jumped ship, and Taker) being around to help elevate a big group of rising stars (Austin, Rock, HHH, Foley, etc.), and that whole group sticking around with lots of continuity for years at a time.

The biggest problem with the current product isn't that Cena and Orton are the clear #1s, it's that with only the possible exception of Rey Mysterio, ALL of the established veteran guys who should be the "1As" (the guys who are consistently in the main event picture but aren't the focal point) aren't around anymore. Taker and HHH are semi-retired. Michaels is retired for good. Edge, JBL retired due to injury. Angle & Jeff Hardy jumped to Impact. Lesnar and (to a lesser extent) Bobby Lashley left for MMA. Jericho and Batista left for "other projects". Benoit and Guerrero DIED.

Whether we want to accept it or not, building guys up to main-event status usually takes TIME. There's no question that "creative" hasn't always done a great job of staying focused on the guys who have the potential to get elevated to that level (Punk should have had this kind of spotlight on him for the last two years or so...), but it's hard to blame Cena for going it alone when he's essentially had no choice but to do so.