John Cena Passing the Torch

[suleman09]

Hey guys, first and foremost this is NOT a Cena bashing thread or talking about him turning heel. Leave all of that out of here. This is simply an idea I thought of and would like hear what others would think of this.

So John Cena has been wrestling for the WWE for about 12 years now, and the time is coming where he needs to be giving the "rub" to younger talent for the future. This is the idea I had playing off of what he is already doing on WWE TV.

Cena has been coming out every few weeks with his feud with the Wyatts saying that,

"If any young guy in that locker room thinks they have what it takes to take this company into the future then they have to come through me!"

"I'm the measuring stick of success" (something along those lines he said)

But anyways, going off of this,

He could keep saying this after feuding with younger guys until we finally get the up and comer who will take us into the future. For example,

He is saying all of these things and Bray Wyatt is answering the challenge, let's just say that out of this entire feud Cena comes out on top and Bray doesn't "make a monster" out of Cena, then Cena can come out and say the same things like "I'm still here, i'm not going anywhere or giving up my spot at the top unless someone can take it from me"

Then next comes out another up and comer, for example lets say Roman Reigns answers the challenge (with or without the Shield) and then we have a John Cena vs Roman Reigns feud, giving the rub to Reigns now, so let's say Cena overcomes Reigns and he doesn't take Cena's spot.

Maybe Cena does this and eventually someone answers the challenge and after feuding for a while they finally beat John Cena and have taken "the top spot" and this could be Cena's way of "passing the torch" to a young guy. Maybe Daniel Bryan beats Cena at Wrestlemania 31 or something and we move towards the future on Daniel Bryans' back.

(note: i'm not it HAS to be these people in this order or it HAS to be DB who beats Cena, this is an idea I thought of for good story telling and it keeps Cena busy and out of the title picture while other guys make a name in the title picture.)

What do you think?

Do you think this could work well for Cena and an up and comer?

Who would you like to see face off against Cena? (younger talent)

 

[HatchetMan84]

Not to hate on Cena either - but i don't think there will ever be a day in WWE where he is used to elevate other talent.

I don't ever see that happening. The "Super" Cena thing has ran on too long now and why would the man all of a sudden start losing matches. Brock Lesnar - the only man who will ever beat the Undertaker at Wrestlemania, had to job to Cena, even though they were trying to build Brock up as this unstoppable monster.

Bray Wyatt is supposed to be one of the next big things but his gimmick and character will be buried by Cena when he jobs to him again this month. I don't really understand it because Cena seems like a good guy who is loyal to the WWE, but i don't know how future stars can be made when he beats everyone.

I think half the hate that the fans and internet have for him is the fact that his shtick is so old now. We get it. he's never losing. I swear i think the only reason that they let Rock go over at WM is because if Cena would have beat him clean, the miami arena would have rioted at the fact that "Super Cena" beat the Great One...

 

[tehblogger]

the problem with the whole "pass the torch" shtick is that it doesn't work half the time. Probably more. Anyone who needs a "passing of the torch" moment likely isn't over enough to deserve it, and won't be able to carry the torch afterwards because the previous top guy will still be more over. Look at Hogan/Warrior. You can't manufacture top guys. The crowd puts them on top organically. Look at Bryan. He lost clean to Bray Wyatt at Royal Rumble. A few months later he's king of the mountain at Mania. His connection with the crowd makes his results less relevant.

Actually, the same is true for Bray Wyatt, in a weird way. His character operates on a whole different plane where winning and losing is almost irrelevant. It's rare to have a character to whom results nigh on don't matter. If he loses to Cena at Extreme Rules, but the crowd are behind him and/or Cena does something dirty to win, Bray's character wins the feud and he is elevated, regardless of the match results.

It's silly to say Cena never loses also - he's lost clean to Bryan, cleanish to Punk (heck they even put Batista over him clean at Summerslam a while back - now that was a bizarre booking decision). So when they think fit, he is clearly prepared to lose. But for now he's top dog and deservedly so - the next generation will take over eventually, but not for a good while.

 

[Eddie Menuek]

Not to hate on Cena either - but i don't think there will ever be a day in WWE where he is used to elevate other talent.

It will happen eventually. That much is inevitable. Just not while he's still well in his peak, physically and as a performer. In the meantime, there's no need to bring that freight train to a halt. It's easy to forget that he's not old, despite the fact that he's been around for well over a decade and he's been seen as 'stale' for well over half a decade at this point, but he is still very much enjoying his prime. Until that much is no longer true there's no use in contemplating the passing of a torch.

 

[OYDK]

Imo Cena needs to job to Wyatt at ER otherwise this "pass the torch" shtick just works to hurt the young up and comers that lose to Cena, proving they're not worthy of carrying "the torch". I don't think it's worth making Reigns, Wyatt, Cesaro, or anybody else look weak in order to make one person like DB look super strong.

I don't agree with above poster saying Cena will never be used to elevate talent because imo it seems like they're going that route right now. He jobbed to Punk and Bryan in order to elevate them and I seriously think he's going to job to Wyatt at ER. From there I see him being in a mini-feud with somebody like Kane that he will win in order to keep him strong and than he will go on to lose to Lesnar.

I think Cena still has a few title reigns left in him but we're starting to see him try and pass the torch to a number of guys.

 

[HatchetMan84]

Thats a good post.

And I think Cena is only like 35 or 36...no reason he can't go at least 10 more years - maybe even longer when you think about his physical shape. He will at least wrestle into his 40's barring some kind of awful injury..

And another thing is Cena might be the best they have right now, only if other guys aren't quite ready yet..

I respect Cena - i really do - but i think it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if he turns heel....

 

[Mongoose McQueen]

Why pass the torch when clearly no one is ready for that feat? at the end of the day, I like Bray Wyatt and think he is excellent on the mic and his character is so entertaining but can you really see him being in the main event of WrestleMania next year? who would he face? would his character even work without the other two members and what if this proposed babyface turn turns out to be a flop? then what happens, back to John Cena once again? because it was never going to work in the first place.

I have said it a million times already, John Cena is still in the prime of his career and is still relatively young at 37 he could still have 5 years left in him as WWE's top guy. Keep in mind that Hulk Hogan had the same time on top and did not go heel until the age of 42, after leading the WWF for 9-10 years as their prime time player, no pun intended.

The hard fact is that that's never going to change until something drastic happens, like some drastic change, barring any bad injury, he's going to remain right up there in that spot. This has been debated for what feels like forever now, the heel turn will come as and when someone reaches that level that the WWE feel satisfied enough to turn him. Right now they are not confident enough to do that, while WWE have many future superstars including Wyatt, Reigns and Cesaro they still have a long way to go.

 

[Jay]

If Cena is going to "pass the torch", I hope he does it with Bray Wyatt. Even the folk that aren't keen on him, must admit. That if cena buries wyatt, it'll be a long time till we see anyone like him again. Not just the character/gimmick, but the creativity and performances played by Rottunda. He really is dedicated to Wyatt!

Jay
Glasgow

 

[Slash-LN]

Once they find someone worthy of doing it this could actually lead to a bigger storyline.
I'm just using these names as examples but they could do this

Cena goes over Bray
The new challenger steps up. Lets just say Reigns for now.
Reigns goes on to beat Cena clean eventually.

Bray challenges Roman.
Roman says that Bray couldn't even Cena. How does Bray think he's going to beat Roman?
Bray and the family do the whole mindfuck thing they do and try to get more and more into the head of Roman like we would expect. Try to break him down. Just like he's doing with Cena.
He can say how Roman just got lucky with Cena or something along those lines.

Eventually this would lead up to Bray and Roman one on and Roman could go over on Bray. Showing that he's both mentally and physically tough.

I know this makes Bray look weak and like he isn't a main event tier guy in the end but it would definitely be a way to make someone look strong and deserving to the be the man.

 

[Creepy Old Man]

I can sense Cena transitioning into the Michaels role, albeit with more spotlight. He's in his late 30s and has to have some wear and tear. I predict that he'll generally compete in prominent upper-mid card feuds, avoid the title, and main-event occasionally. Since 2005, Cena has never been in the back seat like this.

 

[Kris Benwa]

I can sense Cena transitioning into the Michaels role, albeit with more spotlight. He's in his late 30s and has to have some wear and tear. I predict that he'll generally compete in prominent upper-mid card feuds, avoid the title, and main-event occasionally. Since 2005, Cena has never been in the back seat like this.

This is what I've been seeing also. I expect Cena to have more run with the title where he drops it to a young guy who I think will be Reigns, effectively passing the torch but after that I see him in the upper mid card as well maybe bump up to a title match when the time calls for it but come out on the losing end at that point in his career. I was really hoping to not see a thread full posts talking about Cena burying Wyatt and not elevating talent but unfortunately like with any Cena thread it's here for whatever stupid reason I can't seem to grasp. With that being said, how I always saw it was Cena gets himself the title, Reigns by Royal Rumble or something else gets himself the title match Reigns beats Cena at 31 ten years after he wins his first title and sort of takes the top spot he gives it to Reigns to do the same. Now with the believable talk of Lesnar vs Bryan at 31 for whatever reason I'm not sure what they'll do but this is a scenario I would personally like to see but we need to make sure Reigns or whoever they decide is ready and if they won't think so until WM 32 then so be it. If they don't go with this at 31 I would really love to see Cena in one more huge match up before his time as the main guy comes to a close.

 

[oldschool26]

Cena should have put Wyatt over at mania.
Im hoping Barrett and cena one on one at mania 31.
Barrett wins clean. Cena snaps . He will suite a heel turn for
A few years.justly opinion. My mania 31 card. My opinion.

Heavyweight
Lesnar(c) vs cesaro

Wwe
Kurt angle(c) vs Bryan

Cena vs Barrett

Wyatt family vs Orton,axel,Rhodes

Tag
Henry/big e(c) vs ziggler/miz

USA
Rusev(c) vs swagger(face)

Andre memorial
Rock and reigns final 2

Divas battle royal

 

[The Butcher]

Here's how Cena passing the torch would play out on television: Cena will come out to the ring and cut a promo in his southern black preacher voice saying that there's been a lot of talk about him passing the torch. He'll finish by saying that he will indeed pass the torch, and he'll do it right now. Then he'll proceed to drop his jorts, squat in the middle of ring, and somehow shit out a torch, flame and all.

A booking move that could be construed by (rational) fans as a "passing of the torch" isn't likely. WWE is too wishy-washy creatively and too dependent on Cena financially to do it. If his popularity/profitability start to seriously decline, they'll likely turn him heel to reinvigorate him. After that he'll probably job left and right, but by that point a new top dog will already have ascended.

 

[Dirk]

He'll finish by saying that he will indeed pass the torch, and he'll do it right now. Then he'll proceed to drop his jorts, squat in the middle of ring, and somehow shit out a torch, flame and all.

I saw this coming and I loved it.

"How about a little heel turn?"

I think Cena was NOT as prominent as he usually is (compare it to last year's Road to Wrestlemania).

I mean, consider the flipside... It is the year 2013, you're John Cena (don't boo yourself, guys) and you just had your second once-in-a-lifetime WM match with the Great One. Righto... Skip to WM 30 and you are the company's top man in its biggest show in a decade. Then they tell it's going to be Bray Wyatt. Who?

Cena IS passing the torch. The Cena we all love to hate would be in Daniel Bryan's position right now. Think about it - both Randy Orton and Batista have much more history with Cena than Bryan, but Cena is nowhere near that match. You can't expect Cena to lay down for Wyatt on top of that as well.

 

[The Butcher]

I saw this coming and I loved it.

"How about a little heel turn?"

Cena IS passing the torch. The Cena we all love to hate would be in Daniel Bryan's position right now. Think about it - both Randy Orton and Batista have much more history with Cena than Bryan, but Cena is nowhere near that match. You can't expect Cena to lay down for Wyatt on top of that as well.

I think it's still too early to say, however looking at it from this perspective makes a lot more sense than trying to picture an angle and/or match in which there's a passing of the torch. We were overdue to have a WrestleMania where Cena wasn't in a world title match or main event, and the Daniel Bryan phenomenon was too powerful to deny. While you very well may be right, I'm just gonna wait and see where he's at come WrestleMania 31.

 

[bioshock]

I don't think its about who wins or loses in a Cena match at a big event. Its a big deal if the guy is in the same match with Cena on a big show. Bray didn't need to beat Cena at WM30, him just being in the match with him was big enough.

And I hardly think its time Cena starts passing the torch. Cena is only 37 years old. Austin was 36 when he was in the main event of Wrestlemania 17 at the peak of his career. Hogan was 37 when he won his 3rd WWF title at Wrestlemania 7, Bret Hart was about 38 when he had his Wrestlemania 13 match against Austin.

And Cena is in far better shape then those guys listed above. Cena has at least 5 more solid years before he really starts to age, and when injuries will catch up to him. Even in 5 years he will still be younger then Triple H and Batista is now.

 

[The Eighties]

I absolutely think Cena has his eyes on the HBK role where his match on the card is an attraction without the WWE title. I also think that passing the torch is misunderstood in that it's not about a guy going down the card as someone takes his place, it's about spreading the shine to another talent and giving them a helping hand onto the mountain top alongside you.

Who knows if the "The future goes through me!" stuff will play out or be forgotten, but I could certainly see Cena working a lot of up and comers this year, culminating with one of them beating him at Mania 31. Maybe Reigns, could be Big E, might even be Seth Rollins or Cesaro.