John Cena, Face of the Company - A Product Of Luck?

[TSG]

Everyone in the professional wrestling world knows of John Cena, and so do a lot of people outside of it. He is the face of a billion dollar company, the guy that had enough charisma and ability to be pushed as the top face of the entire company. That being said, is John Cena being the face of the WWE a product of luck?

Now, John Cena has all the charisma and ability in the world, there is no doubt in my mind he deserves to be in the place he is, and no one should argue that. But, if you go back to the year 2002, John Cena was just debuting. And there was another guy who was debuting as well. You may have heard of him:

[YOUTUBE]wX3ssAP7byU[/YOUTUBE]

Brock Lesnar was on fire when he made his debut and had all the tools needed. He was pushed extremely hard and became WWE champion within months of his debut. He was a once in a generation talent in the eyes of many and was primed to be pushed to the top. But, sooner rather than later, Lesnar decided to pursue a career in the NFL. So, at Wrestlemania 20, he culminated a feud with Bill Goldberg is a less-than-entertaining match, and high-tailed out of the WWE to fail miserably in the NFL. He then decided to go to the UFC to fight mixed martial arts, which turned out to be more successful for him.

But what I am getting at here, is that Lesnar was set to be pushed as the top face of the company, and I can only help but feel if he would have stayed put in the WWE, he would have been the top guy and things would be different. That's not to say John Cena would not have been a top guy, he would be a main event superstar without a doubt. But would he be that guy, the one at the top of the company. I really cannot say he would, because Lesnar would be that guy in my opinion.

So, with Lesnar leaving, did John Cena become that guy, the face of the company, by a product of luck?

 

[Hunted-RKO]

Yeh i think so i mean Brock had a much better figure even tho Cena has still got a gd one but Brock is more a powerhouse.We All know thats The kind of Thing that WWE consider main event material and they love them big guys.

But if Brock did stay Cena would still be A Main Event guy and the man that kids look up to.But Either way Cena would still be as popular as he is and probly the guy would be No.1 guy when Brock retires.And Brock is better as a heel so Cena would still be a face so i wouldn't say it was a product of luck because he was going to be the face of the Company Either way.

 

[The_Grimace]

yeah brock would have been top face no doubt about it but cena would be the randy orton. Still in the top tier of the company. But lets look at history lesner would still suffer from his intestinal problems and most likely get moved to a part time wrestler if not retire so a this point in time cena would be the top face. So I don't know if it was luck or dare I say it and sound lame and say it was destiny. Lol or I could be looking to much into it...so to answer the question straight up yeah lesner would be the face over cena imho.

 

[Kfwrestlingfan17]

All the previous posts make great points, but I think that Cena would have become the face of the company despite Brock being in the company or not. John Cena really loves the WWE, something that Brock Lesnar never did. Cena has been in the WWE more years than the Rock has and he still goes strong. I admire Cena's work ethic and the effort that he puts in to appear on every house show and talk show, something that I highly doubt that Brock would have ever done.

I'm not a big John Cena fan and remember that this is my opinion.

 

[Mustang Sally]

Luck will always be one element that figures into the success or failure of a new performer.....and that applies in any form of entertainment, not just wrestling. In movies, why do some actors with all the talent in the world make it big, while others don't? Luck, timing and ability all must be considered.

Still, comparing John Cena to Brock Lesnar is a tough proposition because they're such different types of performers. Brock was a one-dimensional character; he could wrestle and he featured as a monster, but his personality for promos and out-of-ring encounters left a lot to be desired. That's not a problem in making a successful performer, but in my opinion, it will always prevent ascension to #1 face of the company; at least for any length of time. After he had his run at the top, the company was matching him against guys like Hardcore Holly because Brock had run out of people to feud with. That hardly spells continuing success, does it?

John Cena is proof that the ability to project one's persona in waves throughout one's profession might be a more effective tool than being a great wrestler. I love watching what he does in the ring, but no one is going to put him in Bob Backlund's league as a technical wrestler, are they? Still, huge numbers of people tune in each week to watch what he does.......and more importantly, how he does it.

Cena does it with personality....Brock did it with raw power.

But luck plays a part; it always will.

 

[Blue Chipper]

Perhaps the leaving of Lesnar had an impact on the success and direction of Cena, I don't know as I didn't watch Smackdown at that time and thus don't know WWE's plans regarding him, but let's not kid ourselves, Cena was inevitably going to become the star he is today. Cena has "it". All of the top stars had "it". They can work an audience, get them emotionally invested, and ultimately draw in money.

Therefore, while I think if Lesnar stayed in the company things would go down differently, I think Cena would inescapably become the man and draw he is now.

 

[drobs85]

Yeah Cena still would have been a star but as someone already said, Cena would have been Orton. They obviously wouldn't have stayed on the same "brand" etc. But there's no way if Lesnar would have stuck it out he wouldn't be bigger than Cena, if you think so your crazy. Their the same age though so who knows what could happen, intestinal problems for Lesnar they could talk him into coming back. At least in wrastling the risk ain't as high as in cage fighting.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think he would have still gotten there. Don't forget that Brock, towards the end of his career was a heel and I think that he would have stayed that way. Brock's initial face run, in my estimate, was mostly a result of people being awed by what they saw and once the novelty of that wore off, he did not have any other tools to stay a face. He could have obviously been pushed as one had the WWE been adamant to push him as a face but it was much easier to push him as a heel because he seemed a natural fit in that role.

In such circumstances, it is obvious that the WWE would have looked for a top face and John Cena would have emerged as the natural choice. Don't forget that after Brock left, WWE also tried to push Randy Orton as a face and that move fell flat on their face. At that point it was obvious that Cena was a hotter performer and it shows that Cena would have won over Orton at that time regardless of Brock's leaving the company. Orton was Cena's closest rival but as history suggests that in 2003-04, Orton as face would never have worked.

It is obvious that Cena would have risen but it would be more interesting to speculate where Randy and Batista would have been had Brock stayed.

 

[martymcfly]

Luck is always going to be a component on whether someone ends up at the top or not. His whole career was made on being at the right place at the right time.

However, I will disagree in that I think people tend to have rose colored glasses on when thinking about Brock Lesnar. Not to say he was terrible, but as Mustang Sally already pointed out, he was incredibly one dimensional. People also were legitimately hurt in the ring with him, such as bob holly. Honestly, I don't think he would have made it in the long haul at the top of the company, and certainly not as the "face of WWE."

Luck is always going to be a component on whether someone ends up at the top or not. His whole career was made on being at the right place at the right time.

Sorry to quote myself but I just realized in an earlier post that I meant to give Stone Cold Steve Austin as an example of luck being a major component in his career: he was definitely in the right place at the right time. JBL would probably be another good example.

 

[Mazzaroti78]

Brock being around would've effected Orton more than Cena. Cena was already well on his way to the top babyface spot. With Lesnar as the top heel, guys like Orton, JBL and Jericho probably wouldn't have had much chance to break through. As far as Cena goes, he's white meat babyface and there was no stopping that train.

 

[bluejt16]

Cena becoming the face the of the company was not luck. The only person who got lucky out of Brock leaving the WWE is Batista. Cena and Batista both got mega pushes in 2005 and WWE made them the two big faces of the company (Batista was on Raw and Cena was on Smackdown) if Brock would have stayed i reckon Batista would have been the one to suffer.

 

[EASTorWESTpunkIStheBEST]

john cena is a product of luck, some great wrestlers left the company and some went to semi retired position,well wow the face of a wrestling company is someone who cant wrestle,its like hollwood's top actor cant act,its like face of US open cant play tennis well, it can happen only in WWE ,i hate of him because of lack of moves that pisses me off...
he has to have the other person work
there *** off to make him look good....
a good wrestler is one who can carry a
match, and Cena cant carry a match he
has to have other people carry him.

 

[H33LTurn]

From what I've heard, Cena got his push do to the appearances/extra backstage stuff he was willing to do. He fit the mold of what Vince thought to be an ideal employee. Thats not to say that Brock Lesnar's push wouldnt have sent him back a bit but its like every other superstar compared to Cena today. We have the Orton, Mysterio, The Miz, but they all lack in comparison to Cena. That doesnt mean that they arent big stars in their own right. Brock Lesnar would've been to Cena what Cena is to Orton.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Lesnar was realy good in the ring. However, Lesnar wasn't the guy to be the number 1 babyface of the company. Lesnar would have more likely been the heel. Lesnar didn't have as much mass appeal and media charm as Cena.

I'd LOVE to see Lesnar as the top heel and Cena as the top face though. Insanity IMO.

 

[Headman]

john cena is a product of luck, some great wrestlers left the company and some went to semi retired position,well wow the face of a wrestling company is someone who cant wrestle,its like hollwood's top actor cant act,its like face of US open cant play tennis well, it can happen only in WWE ,i hate of him because of lack of moves that pisses me off...
he has to have the other person work
there *** off to make him look good....
a good wrestler is one who can carry a
match, and Cena cant carry a match he
has to have other people carry him.

So much fail in a single post... just amazing. I'm sure you're a better judge of wrestling talent than Ric Flair, Chris Jericho, Steve Austin, CM Punk and countless others who have called Cena a "Great wrestler", not just a good one. But I guess you know best.

Concerning the topic at hand. I don't know if Cena got lucky Brock left. IMO Cena first started to shine as a direct result of working against Lesnar. I think Lesnar as a heel would have been a great rival for the newly mented WWE Champion once his program with JBL ended. I guess Brock's departure from the WWE opened up a top spot but it was Eddie Guerrero who benefited from that. I doubt Eddie would have ever been champion or main evented Wrestlemania if it wasn't for Brock leaving. Cena on the other hand was probably destined to be a main eventer no matter what.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

john cena is a product of luck, some great wrestlers left the company and some went to semi retired position,well wow the face of a wrestling company is someone who cant wrestle,its like hollwood's top actor cant act,its like face of US open cant play tennis well, it can happen only in WWE ,i hate of him because of lack of moves that pisses me off...
he has to have the other person work
there *** off to make him look good....
a good wrestler is one who can carry a
match, and Cena cant carry a match he
has to have other people carry him.

You're so fuckin dumb. Seriuosly. "because of lack of moves that pisses me off" MOVEZ MOVEZ MOVEZ go watch gymnastics, you aren't a pro wrestling fan. You are a moves mark. "someone has to carry him"? Really? So I guess CM Punk, RVD, HBK, Jericho, JBL, Batista, Mysterio, and everyone else has worked miracles with him because there is no way in hell you tell the kind of in ring story he tells with those guys if one guy is being carried.

Let me ask you this, you have 2 wrestlers, one does a million moves, but people get up and leave because they're so bored, another does 5 moves and the crowd is shitting their pants they're so excited and into the match, who is the better wrestler? I'll tell you, it's the guy the crowd cares about. You don't get jobs in pro wrestling, and you don't get pushed in pro wrestling by doing a bunch of moves, you do it by getting over. You tell in ring stories, you stay in character, you have charisma, you convey emotion, you sell. Those are all more important than the amount of moves you do.

It's sad that you still think Cena can't wrestle. Bryan Alvarez, who writes about pro wrestling for a living, in 2008 said "if you say he's not good in the ring, you lose credibility". Ric Flair, arguably the greatest in ring performer ever said Cena was a modern guy he sees who could have gotten himself over in the territories. Get with the times dude, nobody with any credibility thinks he sucks.

 

[the_vipers_enigma]

Well I'm not a Cena fan and I can't believe I'm gonna say it(write it) Cena was destined to be the top face.No matter if Lesnar was there. Cenas DR. of Thugonomicks(don't know if it's spelled right) gimmick was very popular and even thou he was a heel in the beginning of it people would have eventually turned him face.So if Brock stayed in the WWE he would have become the top heel and Cena the top face.But Brock staying would have probably hurted guys like Orton and Batista more

 

[rowingisgood11]

Cena was still getting attention as Brock was there. He faced off against Brock at Backlash for the title and then the next year at the Rumble he was a final 6 competitor and faced the Big Show in a match at Wrestlemania 20 for the US title. He would not be how he is today but Cena would be around the Orton/Christian area. He'll get title reigns and be considered a threat but he would not be the "Super Cena"

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

Isn't this question kind of a trick question anyways? Why is Cena the top guy? Well yea, he's uber talented (despite what 5 idiots think who count moves and assign value to that). Not only that, but he WANTS to be the top guy. A lot of guys think they do, but the appearances, the long weeks, the hard work, not a lot of guys can handle it. Brock couldn't.

The cream always rises to the top, Cena is just better as a top guy than Lesnar because not only does he get over like Lesnar, but he's better at doing all the other things the face of the company is supposed to do.

So I guess yea, if Lesnar had more passion for pro wrestling then Cena might not be where he is, but Cena is where he is because he has that rare combination of passion and ability.

It's kind of like asking "would LeBron be better than Michael Jordan if he had more drive and determination". LeBron is a better athlete and has the tools to be as good as Jordon, but he doesn't have the drive. Same with Lesnar and Cena.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think most events occur due to some sort of luck, but if your question is whether or not Cena would've been face of the company if Lesnar stayed then my answer is hell no. 2002-2005 was a very interesting transitional time where we saw many people get pushed to top face status. Of the many people, the most notable were Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Batista, and John Cena.
Brock Lesnar was by far the most talented in the ring and had an intangible 'it' factor and had something that none of the other men had - the torch passed to him directly by the face of the company (The Rock). He instantly had credibility and drew crowds like no other 23-year-old in the history of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, he left, so they gave the ball to Randy Orton. From Oct 04-Jan 05 you could say he was the biggest face but backstage behavioral problems stopped that push abruptly and sent Orton into the abyss from 05-07. Batista was then next, and officially got his torch passed (with instant credibility) at WM21 against HHH. He outpopped Cena every night that they were on the same ppv (RR 05, WM21 SS05) but Batista's injuries completely left the WWE face-less for significant periods of time. Finally Cena, thanks to Brock's departure, Orton's bad behavior, and Batista's vulnerability, became the face of the company due to the misfortune of others.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I think most events occur due to some sort of luck, but if your question is whether or not Cena would've been face of the company if Lesnar stayed then my answer is hell no. 2002-2005 was a very interesting transitional time where we saw many people get pushed to top face status. Of the many people, the most notable were Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Batista, and John Cena.
Brock Lesnar was by far the most talented in the ring and had an intangible 'it' factor and had something that none of the other men had - the torch passed to him directly by the face of the company (The Rock). He instantly had credibility and drew crowds like no other 23-year-old in the history of pro wrestling. Unfortunately, he left, so they gave the ball to Randy Orton. From Oct 04-Jan 05 you could say he was the biggest face but backstage behavioral problems stopped that push abruptly and sent Orton into the abyss from 05-07. Batista was then next, and officially got his torch passed (with instant credibility) at WM21 against HHH. He outpopped Cena every night that they were on the same ppv (RR 05, WM21 SS05) but Batista's injuries completely left the WWE face-less for significant periods of time. Finally Cena, thanks to Brock's departure, Orton's bad behavior, and Batista's vulnerability, became the face of the company due to the misfortune of others.

By all that do you REALLY mean "due to Cena's superior work ethic and professionalism he passed up all the other guys they tried to push"? Because that's basically what you're saying. It's not like these other 3 guys died. Lessie couldn't handle it (and who are you kidding, he wasn't THAT over and didn't have the mass media appeal), Batista thought he was a bigger star than he was, an again, didn't ahve the mass media appeal. Orton was never as over as Cena is and, while he does have the mass media appeal, doesn't have the maturity to do what Cena does.

Thanks for proving my point that you can't call Cena lucky when he basically out-hustled the other three guys. Even though you did prove my point in a self-defeated type of way (on your part).

 

[THEpapachamp]

Brock would have not of been the face of the company Cena is. No way in hell

Unless he was pushed as the Ultimate Warrior was but still Cena is where he is because of his look more his ablilty. Cena had the look for movies the look that didn't scare lil jimmys all over the world. Quite frankly he is that "ideal" american. Lesnar was not. Lesnar would of been the same as Batisa ended up. Second

 

[S.J. Maximus]

By all that do you REALLY mean "due to Cena's superior work ethic and professionalism he passed up all the other guys they tried to push"? Because that's basically what you're saying. It's not like these other 3 guys died. Lessie couldn't handle it (and who are you kidding, he wasn't THAT over and didn't have the mass media appeal), Batista thought he was a bigger star than he was, an again, didn't ahve the mass media appeal. Orton was never as over as Cena is and, while he does have the mass media appeal, doesn't have the maturity to do what Cena does.

Thanks for proving my point that you can't call Cena lucky when he basically out-hustled the other three guys. Even though you did prove my point in a self-defeated type of way (on your part).

It wasn't a matter of hustling it was a matter of who was available - if Brock stayed Cena would've played second fiddle. If Batista remained healthy, Cena would've remained second fiddle, I don't care how big Batista thinks he is/was the fact of the matter is that Batista was the biggest star who got the loudest pops in 2005 therefore he was on top until he got hurt, he wasn't "out-hustled" at all. Orton, on the other hand, was out-hustled but the point of this topic is to say how Cena succeeded on the misfortune of others. If Orton was mature there'd be no reason to push Cena at WM21 and that probably would've been Randy

 

[PlayTheGameHHH]

John Cena would have been the top heel because it would have been Brock at WM instead of JBL, so it would only make sense to keep Cena as a heel and feud with Brock. It was luck but I am in no way saying he doesn't deserve to be where he is, he does deserve it but had Brock stayed it wouldn't be Cena at the top right now.

 

[hollowpoint]

It isn't luck that Cena is where he is today. The fact is Cena is the hardest worker in the company and he does everything the company asks of him. He connects with crowd and gets more of a response than anyone in the company right now. Everyone cares one way or another about him. Brock didn't have what it takes to be a top guy. I compare him to Goldberg. He was one dimensional and super stiff in the ring. He rarely had good matches unless he had a vet in there with him. Most importantly, he was never over with the crowd. Cena is an ambassador for the company and if Brock stayed, it would've affected the guys under him more so than him. I know it's been said by acouple of people already, but if moves are what you think separate good wrestlers from great wrestlers then you know nothing about the business at all.