JR agrees with Vince on "Brass Ring" comments

[L@RISANO]

Found this on the Main Site:
http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/539041-jim-ross-reacts-to-vinces-brass-ring-remark?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Wrestlezonecom+%28WRESTLEZONE%29

Jim Ross:
“Since we signed John Cena, no-one has outworked John Cena. John Cena’s work ethic is beyond reproach. It’s been phenomenal to see what he does and he’s made himself a brand. John was willing to do things that had not been done, he was willing to take a chance – his wrestling attire was non-traditional, he was a Caucasian rapper and that was unique for wrestling, that was bold. Vince made a good point, Cena did all he could to become the guy. Has anyone else since John Cena worked in every phase of their game to get really good? I think the argument could be made that some have worked as hard as Cena in some areas, but not across the board as he has.”

“Sometimes if you look at your talent as athletes, not entertainers, they need to be challenged occasionally – we need you to play better, I need you to lose 20 pounds, I need you to work on your tan, as silly as that sounds. From an athletic point of view, every coach has those heart-to-hearts with their team at some point in time. If you’re going to go down the athletic road, every now and then they need a pep talk, and every now and then they need to ask themselves, ‘What have I done to make myself better than I was last week? What am I doing to make myself a more valuable player?’ I think Vince is sending a subtle message there, or not-so-subtle, that Cena was the last guy that went the complete distance to grab the brass ring. And then when he grabbed the brass ring he didn’t quit growing, he kept trying to get better. He’s their guy right now, lord knows what they would be without John Cena.”


This isn't the first time, I've read/heard about some praising John Cena in this way, but it is clear how hard Cena has worked for the position he is at, regardless of what people tend to say. I think that the new talent has to strive hard if they want to displace him and go out of their comfort zone if they are to become the figurehead of the company.

That said; I'm still skeptical about having One Guy so far ahead of the rest, especially in today's market, which I think have grown to not like such a setup at all. Hopefully, we can get at least 4/5 guys who are better than the rest, but are interchangeable in terms of being on top. Surely, that could only help the product in the long term.

 

[Navi]

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who disagrees with what JR says about John Cena, and he's right. The issue is that since Cena has made himself untouchable in Vince McMahon's eyes, McMahon is wearing blinders to everyone else.

It's all about booking the this industry, and if a wrestler isn't booked properly then how do they go about grabbing that brass ring? If you don't give them a chance then of course they aren't going to succeed.

Look at the Shield. When they were brought up they were booked perfectly. Since breaking up, Rollins and Ambrose have done okay, Reigns not so well. Now a lot will say he's inexperienced including myself, but how does someone get that experience, you have to give it to them. Of course him having surgery didn't help, but now he's back and hopefully he will get what he needs to succeed.

Cesaro is another good example. The guy is amazing in the ring, but lacks personality. They keep changing him around also. First he's part of a tag team with Swagger, then he's a Heyman guy, first he's a face, now he's a hell. I mean come on people make up your minds. And all this happened in the space of less than 12 months. How are fans supposed to get behind someone who changes as fast as we change our underwear.

Yes Cena is a workhorse, and no one will ever be able to accomplish what he has or will do. But let's be realistic here, if they want another John Cena, they have to start giving the guys behind him some credit and opportunities you know like the ones he had. And they better be prepared for some failures along the way.

 

[JDHale]

I tend to agree with the opinion no-one has grabbed the brass ring since Cena. Obviously the booking needs to be right to get to the point Cena is at, but that isn't the only thing a wrestler can do. There are so many things that need to click together to make things work, and bearing in mind I don't have a clue what I'm talking about, I'll try explain from my views on it below. Now what I think you need to be 'The Man; in WWE is essentially looks, athletic and wrestling ability, charisma, mic skills, character and attitude.
Looks - This is a massive point for marketability and crowd pleasing. You need to look the part. The part needs to suit your gimmick and purpose. Example? Reigns. He needs to be a straightup, punch you in the face guy. He looks a total bad-ass, suits his purpose to a tee.
A&W Ability - WWE is sports entertainment. You need to be able to wrestle, it's the job. Storytelling, whether it to be make you, your opponent or both look amazing to increase interest in you plays a major part too. Example? Ziggler. Survivor Series. He put in a performance that when he was 3-1 down, my 7 year old cousin was crying, and by the end of the match, he had the biggest smile I'd ever seen. now owns a Ziggler t-shirt.
Charisma - It gauges interest into you. Major part of your character in the play known as sports entertainment. Example? The Rock. When he's on tv, you're watching. There's a gravity to him now, that he got from putting together all his perks, be it the eyebrow, catchphrase, expressions etc. you name it he got it spot on.
Mic Skills - You need to sell your matches. When you get to higher feuds, you need to be able to promote them. It needs to suit who you are too. Example? Ambrose. Speaks like a Lunatic. Says he'll do crazy things to you. Check the feud with Rollins. He makes it look that easy.
Character - You are given a role to play. It's a show and people need to care about you enough to remember them. Interest is key. With the role you need to put all the above together. Your moves need to reflect your persona. You need to look the part. You need to keep eyes on you at all times. Your movement, whether in a match or in a promo is key. Gimmick is important in this too, which is why entrance, from theme to routine, as well as celebration routine, taunt technique, facial expressions and such are crucial. Example? Orton. You may disagree, but he does it great. He's a snake, should be quick and deceiving. RKO 'outta nowhere' is perfect for the character too. On the mic he's crazy in a way which fits him, not knowing what he's gonna say or who he'll target. His theme screams Orton, and his entrance is at his own pace. His celebration, the pose on top of the rope, is arrogant in a way that suits him.

Finally, attitude. This is where no one can touch Cena, as he keeps on improving. He's constantly going the extra mile, whether it be making another kid's day, helping at charity events, supporting the troops over there for example. Even little things like high-fiving another kid at ringside, it really changes their whole experience. More wrestlers need to do this, and some are slowly making the effort (Ziggler being more humble isn't an accident, thanking the fans for helping his career and leaning into the crowd after a match is really smart on his part, and is just an example.) You need to be passionate for your job in a way that you wanna make that extra effort to impress every living second. You start putting in that effort, you will get rewarded.

Only Cena has managed to put all these together and put in the extra effort since he took that brass ring but I do feel others are understanding and are slowly getting there, but we will see. Sorry if I rambled on but this is why I agree with Vince's comments. I am not in the business as I'm sure most of you are not either, but I do feel what I've said is majorly true. These are only my opinions anyway so feel free to disagree

 

[Mustang Sally]

That said; I'm still skeptical about having One Guy so far ahead of the rest.....

It's ironic, too. Consider what becoming the #1 guy has gotten him; many people in the crowd booing him.....many folks on forums like this one hating him, or bored with him. For that matter, who knows how the rest of the locker room feels about him?

Okay, that's the price the clear favorite often has to pay for attaining his/her position by working longer and harder than everyone else....but it's not always logical. Sure, it's prudent to recognize that guys like Bruno, Hulk, Stone Cold & Rock had their detractors, too.....that's apparently part of the price of being so far above the rest of your peers.

We see this in the corporate world, too; employees complain that their company is set up in a way that doesn't allow for them to express their own ideas or creativity. Sometimes, that's true.....yet, there always seems to be a worker who manages to get heard anyway, did you ever notice? (When it's a woman, we sometimes hear the "regular" employees say things like: "Hmmph. Who'd she screw to get the promotion we all wanted?")

Then, there's Cena......and his development is why it's called "grabbing the brass ring." While others might have been complaining that the company doesn't listen, Cena found a way to make them listen.......and all by using his own persona: he didn't grab management's attention with silly nicknames or outrageous gimmicks.

Instead of spending his time pissing & moaning (as far as we know), he did it by working harder than everyone else.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

While I don't completely agree with Vince's "brass ring" comment, there are points that I think are right on. John Cena has worked his ass off in a way that nobody before him or since has done. Cena has his haters most definitely, a good degree of that hate is unjustified in my opinion, but nobody can doubt Cena's work ethic and his loyalty to WWE. If someone wants to take his spot, then they have to be willing to step up to Cena's level and not wait for it to be handed to them on a silver platter or want the same level of success but being unwilling to put in as much work.

At the same time, however, things have chanced since John Cena was signed in that wrestlers in WWE don't enjoy the same degree of creative freedom in 2015 they enjoyed circa 2002. If what I've read over the years are true, Vince isn't as open to talent opinion as he once was because he's more focused on WWE being more than a wrestling company. He wants WWE to be this multi-level entertainment conglomerate that alters public perception of what pro wrestling is. To some degree, Vince has done that in that WWE is what most Americans think of when they hear professional wrestling, even if they've never watched wrestling in their lives. However, the vision that Vince McMahon has is a pipe dream that even with all his will and stubbornness can't force into existence: a vision where professional wrestling and any form of entertainment associated with a professional wrestling company is fully embraced by the mainstream media.

He's so focused on trying to make WWE all things to all people that he no longer listens to talent input as he once did, he insists on scripted promos to ensure that talent doesn't wind up saying what he believes would be the wrong thing, he insists on talent having gimmicks and characters that nobody really is interested in. As I said, talent can only do what they're given by creative and how is someone supposed to connect with fans and rise up through the ranks to be the next Cena when they're feuding with midgets, beating up people in bunny costumes or portraying a character inspired by Mighty Mouse?

I think Vince's "brass ring" comment first & foremost was to pass the buck onto the talent as far as problematic issues doing on with the company rather than accepting any of the responsibility himself. I recall an interview a long time ago in which Vince said that he doesn't give guarantees, he gives opportunities; that's all well and good but it seems Vince's opportunities are more along the lines of "do exactly what I tell you and it's great if you get over but it's your own fault if you don't" regardless of how lousy what the talent is given is. There are just some obstacles that no wrestler can overcome, no matter how talented.

 

[L@RISANO]

It's ironic, too. Consider what becoming the #1 guy has gotten him; many people in the crowd booing him.....many folks on forums like this one hating him, or bored with him. For that matter, who knows how the rest of the locker room feels about him?

Okay, that's the price the clear favorite often has to pay for attaining his/her position by working longer and harder than everyone else....but it's not always logical. Sure, it's prudent to recognize that guys like Bruno, Hulk, Stone Cold & Rock had their detractors, too.....that's apparently part of the price of being so far above the rest of your peers.

We see this in the corporate world, too; employees complain that their company is set up in a way that doesn't allow for them to express their own ideas or creativity. Sometimes, that's true.....yet, there always seems to be a worker who manages to get heard anyway, did you ever notice? (When it's a woman, we sometimes hear the "regular" employees say things like: "Hmmph. Who'd she screw to get the promotion we all wanted?")

Then, there's Cena......and his development is why it's called "grabbing the brass ring." While others might have been complaining that the company doesn't listen, Cena found a way to make them listen.......and all by using his own persona: he didn't grab management's attention with silly nicknames or outrageous gimmicks.

Instead of spending his time pissing & moaning (as far as we know), he did it by working harder than everyone else.

I don't think the One guy is better than the rest thing will be stopped at all. I just think that in this day and age, with how the direction of the WWE and how the crowd of today is responding, that positioning more than one guy near the top, and then letting the crowd choose which one to go for, might be a more beneficial direction to go, and with the talent available, that is exactly what can be done over the next year or so.


Thing is tho, John Cena had a lot of "top dancers" with whom to dance with, given the roster quality at the time of his rise.

If we compare the rises of Cena and Reigns(because he is the 'company choice') for instance, we can see that at Mania 21, Cena fought for the WWE title vs JBL and then moved to RAW thereafter(as the Brand Split was in effect) where his reactions started to go 50-50 slowly thereafter as it became clear he was going to be the figurehead/face of the company.
Reigns is rumoured to be pencilled in for the WWE title shot exactly a decade later, but whereas Cena fought for the US title at Mania20 and had ample singles action, Reigns was in a short squash match at Mania 30 as part of a 3-man group and has also had his injury problem, coupled with the fact that he has had to assume the role of Babyface no.2 during his push whilst in action as the original babyface no.2 in Daniel Bryan got injured as well this year, whilst babyface no.1 is still Cena himself and we all know how many others feel about him, though this year reinforces why he is where he is,lMO.




So, the real question is, assuming Roman Reigns is indeed the anointed choice of the Top Brass;
Does the WWE force Reigns through regardless?
or
Do they step back and realise that maybe Reigns needs a slightly lesser match(perhaps second to last on the card or thereabouts, say Batista or HHH) before going into the Main Event as certain factors have clearly messed with the original booking planned for him?


Sadly, if they do the first option, it hurts to say this, but it could break Roman Reigns and his chances of being relevant in the WWE, whilst the company itself will just go to plan B. Such is the name of the game...

 

[No Count Pup]

There is one important element to John Cena's lot in life. He is unmarried, he has no kids. When a person doesn't have such lofty commitments it is far easier to be "the guy." Can you imagine if John Cena was a married man with kids? He would have to let someone down. If he was home to spend more time with his family, he would disappoint Vince McMahon. If he was holding down the same schedule he has today, his kids wouldn't see him and his marriage would likely suffer. The "brass ring" is in some ways a disingenuous concept. Just because a guy can't give 90 hours a week nonstop and on the road, doesn't mean he is any less of a professional.

What is the price for a Diva to give her all? She probably couldn't get pregnant and have a child without concern for career repercussions.

Kofi Kingston had a child a couple of years ago. I would imagine he is a good father who spends as much time at home with his child as possible. If that is the case, his priorities are in the correct order. WWE wants their performers' priorities turned upside down.

I don't view John Cena as the hardest working guy in WWE. There are other wrestlers who show up for work every day, keep themselves in good shape, and give 100% in the ring. Those who make time for their families and maintain their integrity are the most commendable people in the company. They give WWE a better image than John Cena ever could.

 

[kadroan]

From what WWE shows, Cena is a hard worker but I don't think Cena is the only wrestler who goes over and beyond putting his all into the company.

There has to be somebody else. I guess Cena is who the company chooses to promote.