Is John Cena's AA overrated?

[CM Steel]

WWE megastar John Cena uses the Death Valley Driver aka the Attitude Adjustment as his finishing move in matches. The Death Valler Driver has been used before in wrestling for many years but different wrestlers from Tommy Dreamer to the Godfather. But it was John Cena's megastar power that made the finisher what it is today. At first John Cena's version of the Death Valley Driver was known as the "F U". A spin-off Brock Lesner's F-5 finisher. But when the PG rating came in effect a few years back it was renamed the Attitude Adjustment.

A fireman's carry turned into a slam to a back slam to the mat. John Cena has been using this finisher for years now. He's AA'd giants from the Big Show to the Great Kahli. With the exception of John Cena's superman character, do you think that the AA is a little if not alot overrated?

 

[Hard Hit Prince]

Oh really? I'm sure you can come up with better threads than this one Mack. While the Attitude Adjustment isn't anything that will blow your mind, it's a perfect decisive finisher and it does what it needs to do as far as telling a story goes. The move in itself isn't really legit as a knee to the face or a big punch in the jaw but this is wrestling and logic will not be put into the equation as far as using a finisher move goes.

It's simple John Cena showing off his strength and pushing the guy towards the mat as hard as he can. Silly moves like The Rock Bottom, Warrior's Splash, RKO are not really believable finishers and they did just fine. Cena has been using this for over ten years and he's doing fine and for over ten years he delivered fantastic matches. When he performs the AA, the opponents back hit the floor but, in reality, the head is also a target because the head hits the floor too and it's not really difficult to imagine a guy getting knocked out because he hit his head.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I am going to answer this as simple as possible with a little bit of perspective. A few years ago WWE ranked them most devastating finishing moves of all time. The AA was ranked #1, this was #1 over the Tombstone, DDT, Sweet Chin Music, Stone Cold Stunner, Flying Elbow Smash, F5, Goldberg's Spear, etc.

So in that regard yes it's an overrated finishing move just because it was declared by the WWE as the most devastating. Not saying it's a bad finisher but when people think of top finishers no one really thinks of the AA.

 

[KBeef]

I am going to answer this as simple as possible with a little bit of perspective. A few years ago WWE ranked them most devastating finishing moves of all time. The AA was ranked #1, this was #1 over the Tombstone, DDT, Sweet Chin Music, Stone Cold Stunner, Flying Elbow Smash, F5, Goldberg's Spear, etc.

So in that regard yes it's an overrated finishing move just because it was declared by the WWE as the most devastating. Not saying it's a bad finisher but when people think of top finishers no one really thinks of the AA.

I hate to be this guy, But the AA was actually rated #22, I just watched that

dvd a day ago. The stunner was #1 and Tombstone#2, Is it a bit overrated

maybe so, but the force he uses it with makes sense for his character.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

I hate to be this guy, But the AA was actually rated #22, I just watched that

dvd a day ago. The stunner was #1 and Tombstone#2, Is it a bit overrated

maybe so, but the force he uses it with makes sense for his character.

Interesting but not exactly

http://www.tpwwforums.com/archive/index.php/t-56435.html

Well it was called the FU back then but it was clearly #1

 

[kumarjtk]

its not overrated, it became famous bcoz of john cena. From past hogan finisher is not look great but that finishing move beats all the wrestlers.

brock f5 is way better than cena AA. I like some finishers like RKO, takers Tombstone, petey williams canadian destroyer, lita moonsalt, f5.

 

[KBeef]

When was that list put out? It seemed like it was a long time ago, also its from the magazine so itll be a little bias.

The one I mentioned was done 2 years ago I believe, and it was voted on by writers and agents I think?
It doesnt matter which list is accurate, but I will say it fits him and it also looks safer than a actual Death Valley Driver

 

[ASKane]

John Cena has the worst 2 finishers in pro wrestling. He has a standing fireman's carry and a really weak submission in the STF. To make it worse at the Rumble Orton used both and hit them about 50 times better than Cena ever has. Orton hit the AA with force slamming him down whereas Cena throws them up and they drop slowly. With the STF Cena has a really weak grip with his hands on his opponents face and Orton got a choke lock under the chin which made the move look better.

Orton AA>Cena AA
Orton STF>Cena STF
Every others superstars finishers>Cenas finisher

 

[thebowtiekiller]

I think it falls into the hard to take seriously as a finisher catagory it hits with similar force to a bodyslam and i cant remember the last time someone won with one of those.to put it as the number one most devastating finisher ahead of the tombstone,f5 and sweet chin music is ridiculous and that in itself makes it overrated imo.those three moves actually look like they would hurt like hell rather then just wind you for a few seconds.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

John Cena is the biggest star in WWE. His finishing manouvre is therefore one of (if not THE) move that fewest opponents kick out of. It's that simple.

Hogan's leg drop looked shit, the Rock Bottom isn't exactly a painful looking move but it's the wrestler delivering it that matters. If they are a big star, their finisher ends matches.

 

[BigGreen73]

Overrated, maybe. BUT I think it depends on the effort that Cena puts into it. He is night and day with that move.

If Cena puts in the full motion of the move, goes all the way down when he drops the opponent then it looks good, he's putting force behind it, and its believable.

If he does it half ass making it look more like a midified body slam, they it looks like crap and it shouldn't put down anyone. Those times he looks like he's more into hopping on for the pin and getting the match done with.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Needless to say, the biggest problem with finishing maneuvers is that they have to appear high impact enough to look as if they can totally incapacitate the guy receiving it.......without actually causing injury, right?

Through decades of pro wrestling, it seems they've come up with about everything they can.....from sleeper holds, which actually do render a person unconscious if applied correctly (and intentionally) to that silly move Cesaro does, which makes one hope the victim is wearing a cup more than it appears he'd send his opponent to dreamland.

Also, some finishers seem legitimately dangerous, such as CM Punk's (you know; that guy who used to be a pro wrestler) GTS.....I kept waiting for him to split someone's nose wide open with that knee...... to the Great Khali's open-hand chop to the top of an opponent's head, which appears downright funny to watch.

So, what about John Cena's fireman's carry to a slam? By design, it's supposed to generate enough force to temporarily incapacitate the opponent, right? He gets his enemy up pretty high in the air....and the guy lands hard enough to bounce his body off the canvas, giving the appearance of a high impact landing. Meanwhile, it's safe enough to use over and over because the opponent absorbs the blow with his whole body rather than hitting the canvas in sections.

It looks effective and I enjoy anticipating when it's coming. To me, it's a fine finishing move.

 

[LiarsDice]

My biggest problem with the AA is more to do with the finality of the move. We're supposed to believe Cena has dropped them with enough force that they are knocked out, but in most matches people will kick out of power bombs and ddts if they aren't the wrestlers finisher. This is a lapse in logic to me where we are supposed to believe that a move with poor impact is more devastating than high impact moves simply because it's Cena performing it.
Honestly, every top rope move, whether a splash or otherwise, has more impact for both wrestlers involved, and when was the last time a superplex ended a match?

 

[enviousdominous]

Is there a single aspect of John Cena's persona that doesn't require us to over-rate it?

It's not really a death valley driver, that move requires you to hold your opponent's head while you come down. The AA is considerably less dangerous.

I think that it's a decent move, there I said it. In the world of pro-wrestling, as we all know, things happen because it's as the bookers demanded it. If it doesn't make sense to some of us, whatever. It's a dog and pony show with a script, you try to invent a new move.

John Cena shows his strength by putting his opponent (or opponents in some cases) onto his shoulders and he stands up completely. There we go, he satisfied a precept of a pro-wrestling finisher. He showed off how strong he is. Moving on, John Cena tosses his opponent up causing the opponent to flip off of him and land on their back on the mat. Notice how he's not requiring his opponent to really trust him with their life. There we go again, he satisfied another very important precept. It's a move that his opponents are more willing to allow him to execute on them.

It may not shock our systems like a brain buster off the top rope, but at least he doesn't threaten his opponents' future with the move. I think if he was cutting promos like "I'm gonna give him the hardest AA he's ever felt in his life!" then I might start being annoyed by the move.

 

[Zycho32]

When you get down to it, I suppose any move that starts off with a Fireman's Carry is going to come with an 'overrated' label, because from there you're basically just dropping your opponent onto the canvas and relying on your physique to sell the devastating velocity of the drop. It's probably why Brock Lesnar's 'F-5' is easily the most beloved of Wrestling Finishers involving the Fireman's Carry, simply because he's built like a brick shithouse.

Anyway, some specific observations:

-Cena's AA sounded a LOT better before the PG Era, when it was named the FU and personified as a literal 'FU' to the competition. Now, in the grand tradition of PC names, it comes with too many syllables and announcers have to say the WHOLE. DAMN. NAME. Dammit, where's the 'Double A' nicknames and the like? It's almost always 'Attitude Adjustment', and even the name alone is enough to take the piss out of the move.

-The AA looks considerably better when it's done in a genuine test of strength. Big Show? Mark Henry? Great Khali? Any monster at or above 300 pounds? Very nice move to see. Big Show AND Edge at once? The fuckin' Ladder holding Dolph Ziggler? That's when you get into 'AWESOME' territory. It even sells better as a finisher when it's with the big guys.

-It doesn't have the bona-fide range and versatility of DDT-Based moves (Diamond Cutter, RKO, Stone Cold Stunner, etc.) simply because those moves allowed the opponent to stay stationary, which in turn limited potential accidents by landing on the ropes or other obstacles outside the ring. The AA can in fact be executed at the drop of the hat but the distance traveled by the opponent reduces the range of safety that the move can be executed in.

-As a finisher, I'm not against it. There have been worse moves to end matches. But the AA does get downgraded when the Finishing Sequence is done (personally, I find the 'U Can't See Me' and Five-Knuckle Shuffle to be the momentum killer of the sequence and that another fast power move would make the Five Moves of Doom look more like a Street Fighter Combo than a bore fest) mostly because like the Atomic Leg Drop, it's a set-in-stone move by the end there, waiting for the opponent to stagger up from the knuckle sandwich and stumble right to where Cena is waiting. It's almost a throwback move from the 80's in terms of freshness, even back in the days when Cena was universally cheered.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

There is little inherently wrong with the Attitude Adjustment as a finisher (except for the notion that Cena 'made it famous' - he is merely the latest in a pretty long list of wrestlers to utilise the manoeuvre). As a finishing move, though - and this is more a comment on WWE's booking than Cena - I just wish he used it to close matches more than the awful STF(U), quite simply the worst looking submission hold in wrestling.

For some reason, WWE love a submission finish; I actually think that is one of the reasons so few stars have been correctly built over the last few years, as submissions tend to make one superstar look weak if the match is not scripted correctly. A reduction in the amount of submissions also allows more gripping I Quit or Submission matches, should a feud require. So this is an area that the WWE over-saturates, in my opinion. Further to that, they don't seem to mind unrealistic submissions, and don't often book realistic escapees. How good was it, for example, when Bray Wyatt literally bit his way out of the No! lock at the Royal Rumble? And how often does that happen?

Cena's STF is simply awful, the lack of pressure is quite evident. All a person has to do, in reality, is slide Cena's arms over their head to escape - that's how little pressure is exerted. Yet there have been several occasions where a wrestler raps out the second the move is applied, thus looking amazingly weak. Hence why the AAA should be his more regular finisher and the STF as set-up hold (basically reversing his current move set)

This is not a diatribe against Cena - I actually enjoy most of his matches. It's a WWE thing. Look at the Ankle Lock. If Swagger sat down, or grapevined the leg of his opponent, they would not be able to reverse the hold or crawl to the ropes; Jericho's Walls of Jericho is a basic Boston Crab; his Lion Tamer looks a hell of a lot more painful yet we've only seen it a handful of times in WWE (one of which on NXT v Bryan, where everyone was allowed more freedom)

Sorry to go off thread, but I feel that the AAA would be a lot more respected if Cena closed with it more, and the WWE needs to sort out its submissions

 

[Slyfox696]

I always think it's funny when people criticize a wrestler's finishing move as being unrealistically damaging. It's like those people forget they are talking about pro wrestling.

Pro wrestling finishers are going to be unrealistic, especially in this day of flash. Hell, most of pro wrestling is unrealistic. For example, do you know how to stop someone from doing a pro wrestling hip toss? Don't jump. Don't feel like submitting to the Figure Four? Don't just lay there while it's being applied. And maybe someone can explain to me why a simple kick causes very little damage, but if you stomp your foot first, and call it Sweet Chin Music, it's magically imbued with knockout energy.

Pro wrestling is entertainment. It's supposed to be entertaining. The AA is devastating because the man who uses it is seen as one of the best wrestlers in the company. Don't overthink pro wrestling, just enjoy it.

 

[Torgo]

I suppose because after all its only a firemans carry slam.


HOWEVER dont forget the days when the deadliest finisher in wrestling was the Big Splash or the Leg Drop. Its all make believe. Cena's slam looks deadly, so thus it must be deadly! get it?

 

[Sexcellence of Sexecution]

Wrestling's fake, the move is as devastating as it is booked to be. Cena's AA has been made to look strong, Cena has beaten a lot of big names with it and he's a huge star himself. So no, the move isn't "overrated" and I think the question is kind of silly.
Like others have said, Hogan's finisher was simply a leg drop and the Rock did what amounted to a standing elbow drop, and those are two of the most iconic moves in wrestling history. The move itself doesn't really matter.

 

[TimAH]

the problem i have with it is he doesnt make it look impactful most of the time. Every once inawhile itll look like he is really slamming them down but generally he just flips them over and it looks really weak.

 

[Spidey Revivey]

All wrestling moves are overrated. That's the point. An Irish Whip is overrated. You have to allow yourself to run the direction your opponent is pulling you, rebound off of the ropes, and continue to run at the exact same angle. So why not a finisher?

John Cena's Attitude Adjustment doesn't look any less silly than the plethora of wrestling maneuvers companies have given their talent. When we start to pick apart the moves wrestlers do in the ring than we've begun to spoil the fun for ourselves.

 

[snowblind56]

While I do think it's kind of cheesy and has as much impact as a body slam, WWE has a few finishers that are even more lame like the Zig Zag, the Neutralizer, Big E's, just about everything Wade Barrett has used, and I'm sure I'm missing a few others.

But what actually really hacks me off about WWE and their finishers is their over-use of kicking out of them. It seriously makes the AA look even weaker when Cena has to hit it 3 times in a match to "finish someone". It should be a huge thing if someone kicks out of a finisher, but it happens so much it seems like no one cares or is surprised.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

It seems simple, but it's effective. I would not want John Cena lifting me up and slamming me down on the back of my head as hard as he could! It fits Cena's character perfectly. He's a workhorse and he'll never give up and that involves using all of your strength to lift people up, especially Big Show, Khali, Henry, etc. It's definitely not the best finisher ever, but it's a great one for Cena.

 

[Da Solo]

Considering he's the biggest star WWE has today outside of Rock and Brock, I have to say I am not a fan of the AA. I loved the FU when it came out (maybe it was just the novelty), but over time it just kind of fizzled for me. Granted, we put up with Hogan's legdrop, but as time went on, we easily saw the the top superstars all had iconic finishers: Bret's sharpshooter was a real crowd please, the Sweet Chin Music was both flashy and simple at the same damn time, The Stunner had such a sharp dismissive attitude reflective of SCSA, The Rock Bottom was this grand and exaggerated slam with a pleasing finish, etc. The AA just cannot get over looking like a Fireman's Carry, hence the reason why the move was just a strong/regular grapple move in games before Cena adopted it. I liked the Death Valley Driver much better. I will admit I'm warming up to the STFU though.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

John Cena has the worst 2 finishers in pro wrestling. He has a standing fireman's carry and a really weak submission in the STF. To make it worse at the Rumble Orton used both and hit them about 50 times better than Cena ever has. Orton hit the AA with force slamming him down whereas Cena throws them up and they drop slowly. With the STF Cena has a really weak grip with his hands on his opponents face and Orton got a choke lock under the chin which made the move look better.

Orton AA>Cena AA
Orton STF>Cena STF
Every others superstars finishers>Cenas finisher

^^^^Moves mark. A lot like a person who watches a movie for the effects.

It's a good finisher. Who gives a shit if it's basic. What is Cena's character? A strong, tough brute who wins through determination. The AA is a perfect fit for that. I'm just going to pick you up and throw you down. That's the gist of it, it's basic, it requires strength, toughness, and determination.

If you want to see Burning Hammers, you'll also see guys dying in the ring.