John Cena-The Trampoline

[Pay Per Ghost]

Look at him,
this man is, well, the biggest thing in professional wrestling in the world right now, WWE biggest cash-cows, loved by kids, hated by the kids' older brothers; you get the deal.
But is he also a huge trampoline to put your favorite heel wrestler over?

The main basis for this are two points of observation:

1. Orton going over

When 2009 was coming to an end and the rivalry between Cena and Orton was winding down you could see half of the section cheering for the heel.
This was solidifying the dogma of the 17-35 demographic of 'Anyone but Cena'.
Orton then imploded legacy with his own two hands, turned face officaily on the grandest stage and has without a question of a doubt GONE OVER!

2. Sheamus gets pops

When these two had their match, at WWE MITB, I heard for the first time the crowd popping for Sheamus and chanting 'Let's go Sheamus'. Such chants have not been heard since.

So my question is-
if any superstar is on the threshold of going over (The Miz for e.g), or has the backstage approval, will a feud with Cena make him go over instantly?

 

[AlwaysHasBeen]

Not at all. Most of the time the solitary reason for the crowd getting behind Cena's opponent is because they are usually the 20 and 30 somethings that have been following wrestling through the 90s and Attitude Era and despise him, therefore thinking cheering for the other guy will somehow change the inevitable outcome of the match/feud (Cena hulking up and coming out on top).

Cena is not a trampoline in fact he is a bear trap for up and coming talent, as he makes everyone look bad; be it in a promo with someone or in the ring wrestling someone, doesn't matter. He'll get jumped by a rival at the end of RAW one week to the point of unconsciousness just to open RAW the next week with a stand-up comedy bit about that same guy, basically negating all the credibility that guy who jumped him accrued the previous week. And the problem with this is the other guy is not given the mic time Cena gets and will not get a chance to build face like Cena does.

My bad if I turned my response into a Cena rant. Gotta mention one more thing that irks me about him. He is now in a position to be a ring general and call his own matches. I don't mind this as he has tenure. But what ruins it for me is that he makes it so damn obvious when he's communicating with his opponent, basically looking into the camera and talking to the guy, that it always distracts me from the match and its something very hard to overlook. I mean, that's like basic wrestling 101 stuff, I thought...

 

[Ytoojae]

Don't confuse pops for the heel with the hatred for Cena. As you yourself said with the last sentence of your Sheamus part "Such chants have not been heard since."

That in itself would suggest that when he faces Cena that he is over. However, following that feud he isn't. It means just one thing -- that the only reason why they are over is the hatred Cena receives.

If Cena was putting heels over you wouldn't be able to say what you said about Sheamus.

Orton is the exact wrong example. He was well and truly over prior to his feuds with Cena. The feud with legacy was something that everybody had wanted so that he could turn face. Rather than the failed face push he got years ago this time the WWE Universe was well and truly ready. With the hatred Cena gets they needed a face that they could cheer for.

 

[Spuddogg]

not everyone hates cena, he is loved but 95% of the wwe fans, it shows he is the biggest star since stone cold and the rock

 

[Ferbian]

I wouldn't necessarily say that John Cena is directly the kind of person to get a heel over hugely. It can be achieved through other wrestlers, like Triple H and currently I'm sure it could be accomplished through Randy Orton just as well.

Besides, I would really exchange Sheamus with Edge if I was you. Edge and Cena had some great feuds with Edge as heel back in 2005-2006, as well as again in 2009, where they battled over the championship. So, while Edge got over before his feud with Cena, Cena elevated Edge into the true main event wrestler he is today.

John Cena is a good guy to make the opponent look great. He has the ability to come out victorious, while the opponent got the chance to dominate. While some might think that it makes John Cena bury the opponents because he gets his quick comebacks, that's hardly the case. Especially considering the fact that the opponents still get their opportunity to shine before John Cena gets his adrenalin rush returns.

Trampoline is hardly the choice of word. But I can definitely see your point in John Cena being great at putting over heels. But I can also see him as just the regular guy to support the heel push, rather than finalizing and maximizing it.

 

[Dave]

You may be onto something but I fear that you have missed something vitally important when thinking up this thread.

Yes! The people who go against Cena do generally get some mainstream success with the fans and are getting some pops. You have correctly pointed out Sheamus and Orton as being examples of that. However, what is actually very dangerous and is outlined in your post is that John Cena is actually being very destructive to the bigger plans of the WWE right now.

Look at like this, if you would. John Cena is a face right now and the last two men who have feuded with him before Wade Barrett and The Nexus, were Randy Orton and Sheamus. At one point during both of those feuds, John Cena was getting less of a positive reaction than the heels were. That is really dangerous. In fact, it was probably part of the reason that Randy Orton changed alignment. He went over Cena numerous times and got some sort of rub from him. Look at him now! He is a great talent on Raw and an all-out fan favourite.

To my mind, Cena is actually being very destructive. They keep putting him in the ring with the top heels and he is consistently getting a more negative reaction from the fans than the heel is. To me, this is sullying everything that the WWE has done to build up these heels in the first place. Yes! The people he feuds with are getting some rub from him but it may be causing more damage than good in the long run.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

You may be onto something but I fear that you have missed something vitally important when thinking up this thread.

Yes! The people who go against Cena do generally get some mainstream success with the fans and are getting some pops. You have correctly pointed out Sheamus and Orton as being examples of that. However, what is actually very dangerous and is outlined in your post is that John Cena is actually being very destructive to the bigger plans of the WWE right now.

Look at like this, if you would. John Cena is a face right now and the last two men who have feuded with him before Wade Barrett and The Nexus, were Randy Orton and Sheamus. At one point during both of those feuds, John Cena was getting less of a positive reaction than the heels were. That is really dangerous. In fact, it was probably part of the reason that Randy Orton changed alignment. He went over Cena numerous times and got some sort of rub from him. Look at him now! He is a great talent on Raw and an all-out fan favourite.

To my mind, Cena is actually being very destructive. They keep putting him in the ring with the top heels and he is consistently getting a more negative reaction from the fans than the heel is. To me, this is sullying everything that the WWE has done to build up these heels in the first place. Yes! The people he feuds with are getting some rub from him but it may be causing more damage than good in the long run.

Excellent!
This actually did allude me, so as current scheme of things stand heels will never go over as heels COMPLETELY when long-feuding with Cena.
Orton had a long drawn out feud with Cena, and I firmly believe the foundation for his 'going-super-over' were laid here. When Sheamus started getting cheers they shortened his feud with Cena, more like put in patches of feuds with other faces, so the fans knew they HAD to boo Sheamus no matter what.

However Ferbian does raise a good example in pointing out Edge, he did get pushed to the main event scene, had a great feud with Cena but STILL stayed a heel in the fan's eyes.

I can't completely wrap my head around this paradox, maybe it's the timeline.
The 18-35 demograph just can't stand Cena in 2010 as opposed to 2006.

 

[I_got_bant_for_idiocy]

not everyone hates cena, he is loved but 95% of the wwe fans, it shows he is the biggest star since stone cold and the rock

id have to disagree i think brock lensar got the torch passed to him but he didnt want it, austin the rock didnt pass the torch to cena it was passed to brock, its like rocky 5 tommy gun becoming the champ but he was a paper champ just like cena, i believe cena wouldnt be as big if brock lensar never left wwe for mma

 

[Ace333]

id have to disagree i think brock lensar got the torch passed to him but he didnt want it, austin the rock didnt pass the torch to cena it was passed to brock, its like rocky 5 tommy gun becoming the champ but he was a paper champ just like cena, i believe cena wouldnt be as big if brock lensar never left wwe for mma

I completely agree with you on the fact Brock Lesnar would be the top star. Cena being pushed as the face of the company and not being over as much could be the reason why to have the HIAC match with barret so he can become the Heel while Orton is the face.