**MERGED** John Cena Thread - Heel Turn, Matches, Etc. (Keep it in here!!)

[TLK]

It has nothing to do with hating Cena. I don't hate Cena at all. I get tired of his character, though. I don't think that should come as a surprise to anyone.

I could turn what you said on its side and say, "People will go to any lengths to defend John Cena." What's the point, though? Some people find him corny, others adore him. Although I don't strictly fit in either category, I find myself leaning toward the former more often than not.

 

[H16HP01N7]

I personally think it was one of the funniest Cena promos I've seen in the last year or so that I've been back watching wrestling. I have a in built hatred of the 'Super-Face' and have hated everyone of them since Hogan... But Cena is turning me, at least with his character (tho deffo not his FMoD moveset)

 

[Ausaie]

I have despised the stuff they have been doing with Laurinaitis for awhile. That being said seeing the positive affect it has had on Cena you cant really complain all that much. It is a very good thing that someone can get that level of heat to push the one people love to hate back into the one being cheered for. I do actually hope to see Cena get the win for the first time in a long time as well. I have to tip my hat to WWE as they have done a great job making me care about what Cena is doing since the start of this year.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

Who cares ? All most WWE fans do nowadays is talk about Cena. Cena this, Cena that like WWE and Wrestling is all about Cena. Cena vs John Laurinaitis is the worst match on Over the Limit 2012 Match Card. Not a bit intrested in that match. The only good match worth watching at Over the Limit is the Fatal 4 Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship Randy Orton vs Chris Jericho vs Alberto Del Rio vs Sheamus.

 

[crippler]

Thats the whole point of it to try to bring more fans behind Cena they have to try something since they do not want to make him heel

 

[dahvoo]

Other than these two posts (Which seem to be damage control for the anti-Cena crowd) everyone seems to have had a positive reaction to the segment. It's obvious that some people are invested too deeply in hating him, and while I'll admit this was not my favorite Cena promo it still played well with the general public and the members of this forum which hardly ever happens. As for never cutting a promo like Rock, Jericho or CM Punk with exception to the Rock none neither of those guys will ever be the draw that John Cena is so what is your point?

LOL, it's way more than two posts if you bothered to read the entire thread. More like 50/50. It's not about hating Cena no matter what he does, it's about not liking what you see. I didn't like his promo at all, and neither did a lot of people. The only thing I found entertaining was when Johnny slapped that goofy grin off of Cena's face, although sitting through Cena's promo wasn't really worth it. But I understand there were a lot of people who did like it, which is great for them.

 

[jrichardson25]

Two words: Puck You.

Brilliant because of the Pengs in attendance. An interesting turn to say the least. Cena blatantly mocking authority in a childish way, no matter how painful it could be from time to time, should still be considered to be channeling various superstars of the past. I won't name any names because the IWC trolls will bitch for no reason... Anyway, the promo was well done. The crowd was behind Cena because they were anti-Ace... Doesn't mean his reactions will change for the long term. However, that is the first time I have seen a crowd that behind Cena in a long time. Don't know how long it will last but it doesn't matter. It just proves a point that he can still be cheered.

 

[Jdulemba1001]

The problem I see with Cena is that, even though they cheer him now, its because of Big Johnny. When this feud ends, everyone who boos him will go back to it.

 

[TLK]

I'm sure a big part of this feud was to get people back on his side. It's keeping them on his side that'll be the biggest test. It all depends on who they pair him with next.

 

[TimAH]

Its interesting how many people bring up how other wrestlers don't get shit on for doing comedic promos, as if the only difference between the promos is who delivered them. Other guys can pull those off because they are actually funny. They can deliver it well whereas Cena tends to come off like as either an annoying 12 year old or even worse some douche frat boy who got the result he wanted from one joke so he just keeps pushing and pushing. I'm all for comedic promos if they are actually funny, I just don't thing Cena is at all.

The live crowd was certainly very into it for whatever reason. I do think JL being in the ring had an impact. Itll get him some cheers during this feud but I really can't see it resulting in anything different for the future. Noone is as hated as JL where you can get huge pops just by making fun of him so after this feud it will likely return to the 50/50 crowd reaction he has been getting for years.

 

[Rjw2688]

Other than these two posts (Which seem to be damage control for the anti-Cena crowd) everyone seems to have had a positive reaction to the segment. It's obvious that some people are invested too deeply in hating him, and while I'll admit this was not my favorite Cena promo it still played well with the general public and the members of this forum which hardly ever happens. As for never cutting a promo like Rock, Jericho or CM Punk with exception to the Rock none neither of those guys will ever be the draw that John Cena is so what is your point?

I don't hate John Cena as a person I dislike him as a wrestler. John Cena is a partial reason of why I stopped watching wrestling for a long period of time. I like what he does for kids but his gimmicks in the WWE are awful. Besides his debut match I have not liked him. Being a wannabe tough guy wigger rapper doesn't appeal to me. And being a man "above hate" but turning around and crapping on every wrestler who he feuds with making them look bad is just as bad. When he comes to Boston he all of a sudden gets a thicker Boston accent. It's annoying how fake and corny the guy is. Even though I mentioned Punk being a better promo I'm also am not a huge fan of Punk. However I think he can cut a pretty good promo his character just doesn't interest me. But even though I don't like Punk I ADMIT he can cut a good promo and he is bearable to watch unlike Cena. Yes Jericho will never draw like Cena but he sure as hell is a FAR better wrestler and cuts better promos then Cena ever has/will. I'll take a guy like Jericho over Cena every day. And just because Cena draws more doesn't mean he is not a corny awful wrestler. It's a shame that other people can actually like someone like that. Making facial expressions while cutting off someone is OLD and gets even more old when you do it for 5 minutes. I don't hate everything Cena says but it was just extremely corny and unbearable to watch. He can be okay sometimes and I try to stay out of Cena arguments because the people who ride his junk are so blind but that promo was honestly just awful. Sorry if you can't realize it.

 

[anthonymclaughlin]

I'll take a guy like Jericho over Cena every day. And just because Cena draws more doesn't mean he is not a corny awful wrestler. It's a shame that other people can actually like someone like that. Making facial expressions while cutting off someone is OLD and gets even more old when you do it for 5 minutes. I don't hate everything Cena says but it was just extremely corny and unbearable to watch. He can be okay sometimes and I try to stay out of Cena arguments because the people who ride his junk are so blind but that promo was honestly just awful. Sorry if you can't realize it.

There's a difference between not realizing the truth, and disagreeing with somebodies opinion. On monday night Cena slayed me with that loser stuff, nearly had me in tears. As for Jericho..... to me this latest run has been massively lackluster, he did such a good job of getting me to not like him that i didn't want to see punk kick the crap outta him anymore, i just wanted him to go away.

 

[SacredMesa]

I really can't say I cared for this promo of Cena's at all. When he started the whole loser thing my thought was "wow it's bad enough he's doing his bet Jim Carry impersionation....and not a very good one." Then he just kept dragging it on and on and on as if he didn't know what to do next since for whatever reason the crowd seemed to like it.

It doesn't help that nothing about his career has been consistent to make him seem legit. He started off as just a dumb jock who got some respect because he went toe to toe with Kurt Angle, and then he got hurt and came back as a vanilla ice rapper, and then turned into a marine and now he's barney the dinosaur in wrestling form. His character has been all over the place to point there is pretty much no way to tie it all together to seem like it makes sense. This has been a big issue of mine with him and it continues today as his character just continues to become more and more scattered and nonsensical.

His selling has gotten a tad better, I think he sold the attack by Johnny Ace and Tensei decently well...at least it was better than...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou_Uat454Cg

or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2uwYhrZxXE


Gotta love 20 sec chair shot sells and triple finisher sells that last for all of the 3 seconds it takes for him to be pinned >.<

Anyway I know I'm ranting at this point but really at this point I don't think there is anything Cena could do that would win me over. His rap battle vs the Rock concert exposed just how bad even his rapper gimik was and I don't see him as having anywhere for his character to go that would make sense and honestly make me care. About all I could see would be if he came out and said he was tired of playing this damn charade about caring for the kids and creative could kiss his ass he's doing what he pleases, but then I would honestly read that more as a CM Punk shoot 2.0 and write it off again. For me his character has dug a whole that he can't get out of and it needs to die. Unfortunatlly I don't see that happening for a long time.

 

[steven87gill]

To me, it feels like John Cena's been in a bit of a holding pattern since the Rocks return last year. In all honesty I think he's gone as far as he can go in his current incarnation, and it feels like WWE know they probably should do something interesting with his character (that doesn't have to mean a turn to the dark side) but keep putting it off and putting it off.

Creative are getting a lot of stick for how they handle Cena, (and have done for a while) but I've always believed that Vince is the real roadblock here.

 

[CM Steel]

If anybody's anybody as a pro wrestling fan today has followed the pro wrestling career of John Cena from when John was wrestling in the left coast to when he was wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) under a WWE developement contract. Where John Cena wrestled under the name "Prototype". Then when John Cena got called up to the main WWE roster in 2002 along with others in OVW (Lesnar, Orton, Batista), he debut in a match against Kurt Angle on Smackdown taped from Chicago, Illinois. Where Cena lost to Angle.

Then After Cena's out of nowhere heel turn in a feud with Billy Kidman. John Cena came & ran with the rapper charactor. John Cena can spit legit! With a steel chain, throwback jersey, trucker hat, and reebok pumps. John Cena rapped his way into our hearts on Smackdown. After epic feuds and a run with the WWE U.S. title a couple of times. John Cena evolve into a main eventer after Wrestlemania 21, and the rest is history. The WWE wanted to market John Cena as the poster child of the WWE. So Cena had to turn his charactor inside out heading into the WWE-PG era.

From 2005-2011 John Cena has been that one WWE superstar who always has the world title. So people love him, so people not so much. But when did you first take a liking to John Cena as a wrestler?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

Truly I have never been a big Cena fan. I have come to respect his in ring ability and I have to give me mad respect to him for his out of ring charity work but I have dislike him since his debut. I was and still am a big Kurt Angle fan and John Cena comes out with his "ruthless aggression" in his first WWE match and nearly beats Angle. So I never really took a liking to him

 

[akrassikauda]

Vengance vs Undertaker. That was a make or break match and feud for him and he delivered. I like the backstory of that feud how after he lost to Angle Taker gave him props then when he turned heel Taker was giving Orlando Jordan props and Cena took acception to it like Taker tried to take him under his wing and Takers way didn't work the thuganomics way did.

Cena's rap promos where good the one that stood out to me was days before Vengance and Cena predicted that their match would be the match of the night and it was because that was the Smackdown PPV and it did indeed suck other than that match. If you could go 15-20 minutes with Taker and look good in defeat that stands out to a lot of people which brings me to..........

WMXX vs Big Show. Cena at that time was the hottest midcarder in WWE who had turned face and still had his momentum from the thuganomics gimmick but needed a title. Cena vs Big Show for the US title the question wasn't was Cena going to win but how. Cena is a big guy but could he get Show up for the F-U. When he had Big Show up for it I thought MSG was going to explode the way the crowd popped. That's when i knew WWE had something real with Cena.

 

[Xumer]

Truly I have never been a big Cena fan. I have come to respect his in ring ability and I have to give me mad respect to him for his out of ring charity work but I have dislike him since his debut.

Feel the same as this except sometimes I flipflop on whether I like him, I guess it depends on who he feuds with at the time. Don't really know when that happened though. I hated him consistently until maybe late 2010. I do LOVE how people rage against him though and find it hilarious. Especially because I used to do it too but he still is a shit tier wrestler as far as technical ability but I guess in this era of WWE, that doesn't matter at all anymore. He busts his ASS in the ring and goes well above and beyond when it comes to charity and I just can't have anything but respect for someone who does that.

 

[JAK]

I took a liking to John Cena when he wrestled Kurt Angle as a rookie all those years back. Unfortunately my liking for Cena quickly evaporated when he then took on Chris Jericho. It was painfully obvious that Angle made Cena look good. I have enjoyed a few John Cena matches, but it's my beliefe that I only enjoy the matches because of his opponents or because of good match lay out (Cena vs Orton iron man match) - wrestling ability wise I think he's just midcard enhancement talent at best, but he has a way of connecting with his target audience (children, teenagers and women) that has deservedly propelled him into the main event (because he makes money for his employers). From a character point I've never liked him.

 

[Slowdude]

#1

The moment I started watching in 2003. I mean he was rapping, I was 11. Rapping was the thing at the time so logic said that he was awesome. I enjoyed him well into 2006 where i was 14 and the crowd was boo'ing, the internet was bitching about him so i thought you know what cena is no longer cool. I just went along with the internet.

#2

In 2010 at Summerslam when Cena won the match against The Nexus. Unlike most of the IWC who were up in arms over Cena winning I thought "Cena is a 9? time champion and just beat two guys (as in when the match was 2 vs 1 at the end) who debuted 7 months ago, who cares if he took a DDT on the concrete, he is a much bigger star then the entire opposing team" It helped that Rocky returned 6 months later as i had always planned to cheer Cena over Rocky if the two were to ever meet. Haven't had any real problems with Cena since and was extremely disappointed when he lost at Mania28.

 

[B.Ware]

I have to admit that I was a big fan of Cena when he first appeared on WWE programming. He was a breath of fresh air. I quickly lost interest in the whole Cena character after his I Quit match with JBL at Judgement Day. I was a huge Edge fan so I always favoured him in their classic feuds. I've never hated Cena the way that many seem to. In fact, I was rooting for the man to win against Rocky at WM. It seemed pretty dumb to me how many fans booed him during that feud. I guess I was rooting for the underdog. So, all in all I've never hated Cena but never really truly got behind him until his feud with The Rock.

 

[Pytch Blakk]

First off, MACK SWAGGER...it is Character no Charactor...

Second, John Cena, has always been a top mark for me...Love the guy, he doesnt care how you feel, he does it (wrestling) for himself and the kids out there, he is their superhero and I am cool with that...His wrestling technique may be flawed and uneventful, but as long as he puts butts in the seats, who cares...

Most Cena hate comes from the idiots who are still living in their mom's basement and cant understand his ways...

 

[solidsnake]

never have and i doubt i ever will.......maybe i was a lil impressed at frst with his match against angle and his match against undertaker a few months after but after that he became stale...

 

[wooooo]

Possibly Royal Rumble 2003, hadn't seen much of him before then and then someone comes out rapping on the way to the ring, it entertained me, stopped liking him just after he moved to Raw in 2005, I really liked Christian and Jericho then he wasn't helped by next feuding with Angle, possibly my all time favourite wrestler.

Gained respect for him at ONS 06, I was a huge RVD fan but I thought Cena handled the crowd really well and had a great match. Never really wanted him to win a match since 05 though lol.

 

[berlinbrawler]

I actually disliked the guy from day one (to put it mildly). Didn't like the look, didn't like the gimmick, didn't like his wrestling, sure as hell didn't like his rapping. But I could tell he was there to stay, much to my chagrin.

He actually made Carlito my favorite wrestler for a short while, when Carlito beat him for the U.S. title on his debut night, because I enjoyed Cena losing in front of his home crowd so much.

Then it came as I feared and Cena entered the main event level, never to leave again.

After years and years of him doing it and carrying the company I can't help but respect the hell out of him, and he did deliver some entertaining moments and promos. But even with all due respect I still just don't like him. At least not enough to happily tolerate him as the top guy year in, year out. I would like him much better if his role on the show was a smaller one.

And to be fair, his character is a so called "white meat babyface." A goody-two-shoes. That's the most difficult role to pull off these days. I don't know if anyone really can do it anymore. Hence the split reaction. A lot of people just don't want their wrestlers to be too nice. They want something more edgy (if I can be forgiven using a meaningless term like that). Yet Cena is sticking to his guns and "rises above the hate." That both increases my respect for him yet again, but at the same time frustrates the hell out of me as well. Cena = Seen it. Time for a change!!! But I digress...

So when did I first start liking Cena? Never did, but the first time he entertained me was probably when he quoted the Geico commercial and said he "just saved a bunch of money on his car insurance." I guess that would be the first time I had to admit that he's got something.