John Cena the answer to Lesnar?

[Trill Co$by]

Ok, so this will probably be talked about in the worst way yet... but hear me out first.

Around WrestleMania 20, Lesnar was poised to be the future of WWE...the guy that WWE was going to go to for the money. In fact, they were set on spending a few million on the guy for another year before he left for NFL (how much does he make now?) and at the time Cena was probably set to be nothing but a mid-card guy (at least for a bit longer than he was).

However, Lesnar left and all of WWE's money was put to nothing... and with only a year or so later, John Cena had emerged from WrestleMania with the WWE championship.

Now, I don't know about you but I think that Cena was pushed so fast because WWE had to call an audible and come up with a new cash cow. Luckily for Vince, the public took to John Cena and have accepted him completely.


What are your thoughts on this?

 

[ckoneagain]

I see what you're saying and there probably was a bit of that, but i dont think Cena's emergence was all that rushed to be honest, he got bult up as a fan favourite ever since his debut against kurt angle and the fact that his 'gimmick' was basically his real life personality for the most part meant that very little work needed to be done with him from the start. As for Lesnar, i imagine he's doing pretty well on UFC money to be fair.

 

[JDavis328]

This is actually a well known fact that Cena took Brocks place. Yet hes bigger now then Brock ever was or in my opinion ever would of been. John has become the good role model that is the company guy. He does all the appearances,interveiws,etc. I know people dont like it or him but in his own way, he is the now day version of The Rock or Hulk Hogan.

 

[darbare]

yea but what about Batista.....he became a huge star the same time Cena did....Cena was just more popular.....I guess losing 2 main eventers in Goldberg and Brock kinda put WWE in a predicament...but at least JBL stepped up and Benoit finally got his shot.....Lesnar is making damn good money now though...at least half a mill a fight plus bonuses...so i guess lesnar made the right decision in the end huh? i'm just wondering who is gonna replace Cena...talent is so rare nowadays to find someone the caliber of Cena who can make money and be the face of the company will be hard...

 

[Sliver66]

i think The Repo-Man is absolutly correct they deffienetly had to have someone take lesners place when he left and it happened to be cena and that turned out to be a smart deccision. i dont really like cena to much but i dont hate him like alot of people do but cena does bring the wwe alot of money

 

[Draper1989]

Well, Cena was getting a very big response prior to Wrestlemania 20. He got one of the best responses at the show itself. Cena's push started months before Brock had decided to leave and the way things were going he would have ended up in the main event anyway. The only person who really capitilized on Lesnar's leaving was JBL.

I don't agree that Batista's push was at all due to brock. Batista got over on his own, nobody had anything to say about Dave until Randy started fizzling out.

 

[The Mainstream]

Lucky is right and it paid off big time, but what if Lesnar never left? Do you think he could play off the same gimmick Cena has to this day? I don't think so IMO. John Cena just has certain charisma and characteristic that makes him to be more believable as the face of the company; he just has that "look". So to me, John Cena was a just forthcoming...

 

[mister_b1LL]

darbare, I don't think we'll have to worry about finding someone the caliber of Cena to take his place anytime soon. He's still young so he'll be at his spot for quite a few more years to come. WWE has all the time in the world to find a replacement.

Cena's rise was not rushed at all. When I think of rushed pushes I think more along the lines of Sheamus. Cena however had a couple of years to work in the company before they made him the face of it. He was experienced enough for WWE to try him at the top spot and it worked out in a very positive way. So no, I don't think he was the "answer" to Lesnar. In truth there were guys already in the main event that could have easily held the reigns that Lesnar held, like Triple H or Kurt Angle. It's just that they had Cena though and they wanted to try him.

 

[The Other Hardy Brother]

Ok, so this will probably be talked about in the worst way yet... but hear me out first.

Around WrestleMania 20, Lesnar was poised to be the future of WWE...the guy that WWE was going to go to for the money. In fact, they were set on spending a few million on the guy for another year before he left for NFL (how much does he make now?) and at the time Cena was probably set to be nothing but a mid-card guy (at least for a bit longer than he was).

However, Lesnar left and all of WWE's money was put to nothing... and with only a year or so later, John Cena had emerged from WrestleMania with the WWE championship.

Now, I don't know about you but I think that Cena was pushed so fast because WWE had to call an audible and come up with a new cash cow. Luckily for Vince, the public took to John Cena and have accepted him completely.


What are your thoughts on this?

I think your selling Cena a bit short. Nothing but a midcarder? Come on the guy was respected with the responsibility of opening up Wrestlemania with the Big Show that year. That's quite the compliment. I think WWE knew Cena was gonna be a big time player for them they just didn't wanna throw the WWE title on him at that point because he wasn't ready yet. They knew Brock Lesnar was gonna be a pig piece of the puzzle in their future plans sure. But around the time of Wrestlemania 20 they knew he was on the way out. What I wanna know is was the choice to have him drop the WWE title at No Way Out made because he was leaving and if so was the original plan to have Goldberg win the Rumble at number 30 and face Lesnar at Mania. If this were the case then Benoit winning the rumble and he and Eddie's moment may have been an audible as well.

 

[Rammsteinerteen]

I think your selling Cena a bit short. Nothing but a midcarder? Come on the guy was respected with the responsibility of opening up Wrestlemania with the Big Show that year. That's quite the compliment. I think WWE knew Cena was gonna be a big time player for them they just didn't wanna throw the WWE title on him at that point because he wasn't ready yet. They knew Brock Lesnar was gonna be a pig piece of the puzzle in their future plans sure. But around the time of Wrestlemania 20 they knew he was on the way out. What I wanna know is was the choice to have him drop the WWE title at No Way Out made because he was leaving and if so was the original plan to have Goldberg win the Rumble at number 30 and face Lesnar at Mania. If this were the case then Benoit winning the rumble and he and Eddie's moment may have been an audible as well.

I know what your trying to say, but John Cena wouldn't be the FACE of the company today if Lesnar didn't leave. Brock was such a great wrestler and solid on the mic. He had a mixture of styles from powerhouse and technical. He made his first 5* Match in WM 19 against Kurt Angle for the WWE champ IMO. He eliminated UNDERTAKER from the rr last, which showed how much WWE liked him. Around No Way Out 2004, WWE knew he was going to leave, so Eddie Guerrero won his champion. John Cena has the IT factor, but he`s missing GREAT wrestling skills of Brock Lesnar. But when Lesnar left, thats when WWE needed a money maker and ``The Next Big Thing`` arguably Batista was in for Brock Lesnars role until John Cena pulled over with the crowd more and was much better during promos. I see what your getting at, but John Cena would`ve definitely got that push because of how popular he was, but Brock would`ve always been the guy to steal the spotlight away from other people. But now thats Cena`s niche. I`m not a Cena hater, but I definitely wished he was still his rapper and kept away from his younger fans.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Cena's push started back at Backlash 2003 where the WWE put him in the main event with Brock just to see how it would go. The crowd was very much behind Lesnar but as the months went by Cena's heel rapper gimmick got bigger and bigger.
And for me to this day, he was the last US champion who was more over than the WWE or WH Champion in his time.
Cena, I believe would have reached the top and so would've Batista for that matter and I think draper1989 got it spot on..the guy who benefited the most was JBL ( who wasted all our time, thank God he's gone ).
He got a huge push after Lesnar left and filled the Top heel spot on SD.
Brock Lesnar no doubt was one of the best all round wrestlers who got the perfect push, had the perfect look, had amazing in-ring ability, could carry a Bob Holly in the ring ( and then drop him on his head ), could cut a good promo.
That guy had everything, but he wanted something else in life so Cena got the spotlight, became the face of WWE and he has made it his own.
Love him or hate him, he is just here to stay and after all these years he's kinda growing back on me.

 

[TheLunatic]

Lesnar was and probably still is miles and miles above Cena as far as talent goes in the ring. I think Cena has a bit more skill on the mic, but, Cena has kinda screwed himself. I don't think he can ever been a credible heel, and Lesnar could be both. He's huge and was pulling off the heel side amazingly, and I've met him in person multiple times after he left the 'E, and he's actually a really nice guy. (Which is why I was suprised by his actions after UFC100)
So, I think Cena replaced the face side of Lesnar, and Batista replaced the heel side of Lesnar.


As far as how much money Lesnar is making, he makes $450-$600k a fight, plus any possibly bonuses, and he gets a chunk of revenue for the cards he fights on. (I believe with everything in total, Lesnar made close to $3 million for fighting Mir at UFC100) He owns DeathClutch, so he gets a portion of it's revenue, which is top 5 as far as fight gear companies go. He has several other sponsors (Coors Light, Jack Links, plus other junk)
He's making much, much more then he was in the 'E.

 

[Gallops]

As far as Cena being the answer to Lesnar leaving, I'd say absolutely not. I think JBL was the answer more than Cena. JBL was the heel they put in to replace Lesnar in any storylines they possibly had set up for post Wrestlemania 20.

As for Lesnar and his financial situation now compared to what the WWE was offering, he probably makes about the same right now as he did then, granted it took about 6 years to get back up to that. But he also has absolutely no travel time except for the 2 maybe 3 times he fights in a year. Plus right now, he doesn't have a set salary like he would in the WWE. He makes a base pay for each fight, which is usually close to if not more than $500K. He wins, he makes more. He gets knockout, submission, or fight of the night, he makes more. He also has sponsors who pay for him to train and fight, for all his equipment, and he gets a lot in his pocket. He also has DeathClutch which he makes a lot of money on. But the absolute biggest positive is the travel. He doesn't have to do it. He's home with his wife and kids every day and his job is similar to a 9-5, only instead of sitting in an office all day, he trains for his next fight.

Plus, if Lesnar is hurt in a fight, he can properly heal the injury, no matter how small or large it is. He's not expected to show up the next night and compete because he's the big star of the company. MMA is going to last longer than his wrestling career would have because it's much less wear and tear on the body.

 

[CrunKSinatrA]

I think that Cena was probably going to be Lesnar's face counterpart... like the Rock and Stone Cold were the faces to HHH heel persona. I mean before his finisher was called the Attitude Adjustment, it was the FU to counter Lesnar's F5. If anything a big feud between was probably planned to legitimize Cena and bring him into the main event picture.

 

[Ruthless-RKO]

Cena's push came in to play at WM20 when he won the US title..brock's push came when he won the KOTR 2002...2 years before cena....Cena was emerging into something big, he was over with the crowd prior to WM20...after that, he just showed the crowd what hye could do and they took him on..look at cena now..he's got it all..he's made a big name for himself...

Do i think he was brocks asnwer? No..

 

[Takerfan93]

I guess a lot see it as Batista replacing Golberg and Cena replacing Lesnar. But Cena was so over even before he won the title, it would have been hard to keep him at midcard anyway. In any case, he has ended up bigger than Brock Lesnar and the ultimate cash cow for Vince, so if he was there to repace Brock, it worked very well

 

[pj8985]

Brock Lesnar was being pushed to be the future of the WWE but Brock felt he was being misused with mid card feud against Hardcore Holly and such. Brock was pushed very quickly then his push vanished. John Cena may of been pushed quicker then they originally anticipated but Cena was definitely being built up to be one of the future superstars of the WWE.

I personally feel that if Brock was still there, he would be the World Champ on SD and Cena would be on Raw's Champ.

As to the comment of how much Brock is making now, I read articles that he making 250,000 a fight because of the PPV. Hes the face of the UFC

 

[President Evil]

Ive said this before and I'll say it again. The reason Cena skyrocketed to the top so fast was because Austin/Rock left in 2003 and then Lesnar/Goldberg left in 2004. Thats 4 major main eventers. The good thing when space is open like that is that it gives more opportunity for the newer guys to get their break. Its no coincidence that exactly a year later in Mania 21 we see Batista and Cena winning World titles, thats Vince's way of saying "these are the guys who are going to be the big thing now"

Eventually Cena would have achieved main event status, but what helped him get it quicker was those big names I mentioned leaving.

Some guy coming down the ring with a baseball cap, jeans, and Reeboks doesnt really do it for me. This is World Wrestling Entertainment. Not Footlocker.

 

[Ferbian]

John Cena would definitely have been more than a mid card guy, I do agree to some extend although that he wouldn't have raised that quickly, but he would've been world champion before 2006 or 2007 I'm most certain.

When John Cena was discovered by Jim Ross, Ross said to Vince that he had found his future Wrestlemania main event guy (or something along those lines, it's on the John Cena My life DVD) and I really think, to not put this guy in the main event picture, would've been a bad choice, even if Brock was still around, John Cena is a big draw for WWE, he might not have become their answer to the modern era Hulk Hogan, or maybe he would, but either way, John would definitely be in the main event, and a big star, even if Brock was around.

 

[Who is Going to Win]

John Cena may have been a replacement for Lesnar but I thought it was a cheap replacement, John Cena is no athlete, he left football because he was no good at it and hes in WWE right now because it was a second option. Brock Lesnar brought in loads of money because of his look, he was huge, a real animal, Cena is 6 feet 24o pounds, Brock was a real athlete, cena wouldn`t dare a shooting star press, or even anything, besides the leg drop. So financially he was the answer, but athletic form NOT EVEN CLOSE PAL.

 

[CuddleBuns84]

I saw Wrestlemania 20, and saw Cena give the FU to the big show, and the crowd went nuts. I saw a couple of his promos before hand, and I said it back then. This guy is going to be a top dog within the year. This was before Lesnar had the match with Goldberg.

I really don't think Lesnar would of brought in the draws like Cena did. In fact, the main event for that mania was Benoit vs. Michaels vs. HHH. Lesnar's match was 4th to last if I recall.

Granted Lesnar leaving open the door to others. Which was a good thing. Plus the Benoit Title reign was exciting to watch, and the Guerro-Angle feud was fun to watch on smackdown. In fact, I think the WWE showed how disposable Goldberg and Lesnar was.

 

[President Evil]

One of the differences between Lesnar and Cena is that Lesnar gave somewhat of a selfish attitude, even when he was a face you got that vibe that he was into it for himself. Cena is more of a crowd-pleaser.

Its very unfortunate that Lesnar left the E so soon and so abruptly, the guy was like 25 at the time so I guess he didnt know any better. The guy was bitching about the travel, dude its not like you have to take a bus or cab. Freakin' limos for gods sake.

Lesnar in my opinion was better than Cena overall. Lesnar had natural wrestling skills. The advantage that Cena has had is staying power. The guy is just hard to get rid of, and the only time he takes away is to make a bad movie or when he is injured.

 

[Reddannihilation]

I think Lesnar and Cena were meant to be the "Big Rivals" type of guys for this current generation, much in the way Rock was to Austin, you had the guy who started as a cocky heel who managed to win over the fans and had a limited moveset in Cena (similar to late 90's Austin) Brock was your athletic guy who could play heel or face but was more enjoyable as a heel, he was a perfect example of the corporate champion while Cena appealed more to the everyman.

So do I think Cena was Brock's replacement? No, Cena would've gotten over no matter what, towards the end of 2003 he was in heel feuds and he was getting cheered more than a lot of the faces. But I do feel both were designed to be a counter point to the other. They tried a similar thing with Lashley and Cena but it didn't really work out.

 

[The Other Hardy Brother]

I know what your trying to say, but John Cena wouldn't be the FACE of the company today if Lesnar didn't leave. Brock was such a great wrestler and solid on the mic. He had a mixture of styles from powerhouse and technical. He made his first 5* Match in WM 19 against Kurt Angle for the WWE champ IMO. He eliminated UNDERTAKER from the rr last, which showed how much WWE liked him. Around No Way Out 2004, WWE knew he was going to leave, so Eddie Guerrero won his champion. John Cena has the IT factor, but he`s missing GREAT wrestling skills of Brock Lesnar. But when Lesnar left, thats when WWE needed a money maker and ``The Next Big Thing`` arguably Batista was in for Brock Lesnars role until John Cena pulled over with the crowd more and was much better during promos. I see what your getting at, but John Cena would`ve definitely got that push because of how popular he was, but Brock would`ve always been the guy to steal the spotlight away from other people. But now thats Cena`s niche. I`m not a Cena hater, but I definitely wished he was still his rapper and kept away from his younger fans.

How do you know John Cena wouldn't be the face of the WWE today if Lesnar hadn't left. The main reason Cena is the face of the WWE is because of all of the things he does outside of the ring. From the Make a Wish Foundation to attending every autograph session and making appearances on television and talk shows to promote the WWE Cena does it all and is a workhorse for WWE. Given Brock's attitude in the past I severely doubt he would be willing to do as much for the buisiness outside the ring as Cena.

You say Brock's first five star match was with Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania. Well I say this anyone can have a five star match with Kurt Angle especially at Wrestlemania. Not taking anything away from Brock but Cena has had many great matches in his career with people other than Angle on every stage. I can't think of any matches Lesnar had that were that stellar other than the ones with Angle.

Sure WWE had Brock eliminate Undertaker last in the Royal Rumble maybe that means they were really high on him. They were also really high on Cena when he eliminated the boss's son in law Triple H last in the Royal Rumble. Whats more impressive to you? I know whats more impressive to me.

You went off topic a bit at the end but I'll summarize the end of your post. You say Cena doesn't have the in-ring ability of Lesnar thus wouldn't have taken his spot. I disagree Lesnar had a more diverse style but didn't have close to as many great matches as cena has had in the last few years. You say he should go back to being a rapper and ignore his younger fans. I say the rapper gimmick got old and while a throwback moment for one night wouldn't be too bad based off nostalgia alone I'm content with Cena the way he is and saying he should ignore his fans is asinine. That's not the guy Cena is and its not the way he or any superstar should be. Why should he ignore specific portions of the audience. Everyone has just as much right as everyone else to enjoy wrestling. You need to understand that.

 

[President Evil]

I think Lesnar and Cena were meant to be the "Big Rivals" type of guys for this current generation, much in the way Rock was to Austin, you had the guy who started as a cocky heel who managed to win over the fans and had a limited moveset in Cena (similar to late 90's Austin) Brock was your athletic guy who could play heel or face but was more enjoyable as a heel, he was a perfect example of the corporate champion while Cena appealed more to the everyman.

So do I think Cena was Brock's replacement? No, Cena would've gotten over no matter what, towards the end of 2003 he was in heel feuds and he was getting cheered more than a lot of the faces. But I do feel both were designed to be a counter point to the other. They tried a similar thing with Lashley and Cena but it didn't really work out.

I agree here, that Cena and Lesnar would have been "the Big 2" By this I mean being the 2 main men, and the main rivalry for the next few years. But of course this didnt happen because of Lesnar leaving. It would have made sense. Because Cena would have been the main good guy, and Lesnar the main selfish bad guy. Cena can dominate on Raw, and Lesnar on Smackdown.

For the past few years, Cena seems to be synonymous to the word workhorse. All I hear is workhorse, workhorse, workhorse. Ok, so I respect the fact that he's the first man in, last man out, Austin did the same when he was the man. I respect all the Make a Wish Foundation stuff he does for the kids, and the thousands of autographs he's more than happy to sign every week.

But what do we get from him in the ring? Not very much. The same orange shirt, and less than 10 moves per match. Ive see his shoulder block, shoulder block, side-slam, 5 knuckle shuffle, Attitude Adjustment set so many times I think Ive done them in my sleep. It seems like he spends so much time doing other "company things" that he's never had any time to learn any new moves. People appreciate seeing new things.

We dont have to wait til a Wrestlemania to see something never seen before, like a 5 knuckle shuffle off a top rope.