Perfect timing to start a limited schedule for Cena???

[That N Word]

John Cena is a 15x world champ and soon to be a 16x world champ. There is no secret that Cena is getting up there in age. But it's also no secret that he can still put on 5 star matches.

But WWE is at the point where they're finally treating him like the legend he is. My question is not based off injuries,or age. My question is based off of making him an even bigger draw.

Seeing Cena on TV should feel special, like when he appeared on Tough Enough Tuesday. I was thinking would after WrestleMania be the perfect timing to make him a part-time attracting who only wrestles at the top 4 or 5 PPV's a year.

Think about how is could happen. At NOC, Cena def. Rollins for title #16 and he goes on to face RR Winner Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32 in the passing of the torch. Reigns goes over, Cena passes the torch and leaves TV until around WrestleMania 33. At WrestleMania 33, they have the rematch and afterwards Cena only appear at the big 4 PPV's and sometimes a 5th or 6th one as well.

Eventually he get's his 17th world title, his final world title and be done with them.

If this all goes right, Cena can make his long awaited heel turn on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 out of jealousy. Cena and Reigns clash one last time at SummerSlam that year.

Again the reason why it should happen is because appearances should feel special. He is one of the greatest of all-time. We shouldn't be like "oh here we go again" when he comes on TV. We should be more happy to see him. So am I alone on this or is there anyone who agrees???

 

[Deoxyribonucleic A.C.I.D.]

I believe yes, it's time for Cena to start up a part-time programm. Not like Brock Lesnar's, appear 6 times pes year, but maybe something like takinh short breaks between now and then and coming back for an important feud.

I think that his character would benefit greatly from that as everytime he would come back he would feel fresher, his health will benefit and who knows, maybe this schedule could even expand Cena's carreer by 5-to-10 years.

If not a part time schedule, the guy definately needs a break. The last time Cena took a break for some time, without some injury forcing him to do so, was.. never, I believe. Which means that he has been working non-stop for the last 15 years. No vacations, nothing. He's wrestling with injuries, he wrestles because he loves it.

I'm not the one to decide about his health, that's his concern, but as a fan, I'm worried about his character.. That US title did wonders not only for the company and the title but for John himself, too. Every week he wrestles the best matches. He's delivering his best in-ring work right now. That's the kind of veteran he has become. He and Lesnar are the only ones that stand above that roster.

As I feel the fans are ready for a John Cena break, I don't think the WWE is, yet. He's their top selling merchadise player, their best known name, he is synonymous with that company. At the end of the day WWE is bussiness. It's their call to decide what to do with Cena's schedule. I think thay should give it a try though. Cena coming in for big matches and feuds, could boost the Network subscribers, as the fans would miss him and want to tune in. It may not benefit the 'E, but I think it deserves a shot.

Right now is not the right time, as I'd like to see even more of Cena's work as the US Champ. Maybe after he loses that title, takes a short break for December, comes back for the Rumble and Wrestlemania and afer 'Mania he takes another short break until the MITB PPV.

 

[kadroan]

John Cena is a 15x world champ and soon to be a 16x world champ. There is no secret that Cena is getting up there in age. But it's also no secret that he can still put on 5 star matches.

But WWE is at the point where they're finally treating him like the legend he is. My question is not based off injuries,or age. My question is based off of making him an even bigger draw.

Seeing Cena on TV should feel special, like when he appeared on Tough Enough Tuesday. I was thinking would after WrestleMania be the perfect timing to make him a part-time attracting who only wrestles at the top 4 or 5 PPV's a year.

Think about how is could happen. At NOC, Cena def. Rollins for title #16 and he goes on to face RR Winner Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32 in the passing of the torch. Reigns goes over, Cena passes the torch and leaves TV until around WrestleMania 33. At WrestleMania 33, they have the rematch and afterwards Cena only appear at the big 4 PPV's and sometimes a 5th or 6th one as well.

Eventually he get's his 17th world title, his final world title and be done with them.

If this all goes right, Cena can make his long awaited heel turn on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 out of jealousy. Cena and Reigns clash one last time at SummerSlam that year.

Again the reason why it should happen is because appearances should feel special. He is one of the greatest of all-time. We shouldn't be like "oh here we go again" when he comes on TV. We should be more happy to see him. So am I alone on this or is there anyone who agrees???

I get where you're coming from but Cena is in his prime and WWE seems like the type of promotion, they'll probably squeeze every last drop out of Cena before they let him be part time. A lot of money is made with him.

 

[ASKane]

I said no, retire but what I really meant was his schedule doesnt matter but what needs to change is putting over guys, Cena can do whatever schedule he wants but I just want him to start losing, if Cena ever loses he will always get his win back and that needs to change. Whether he works 50 or 200 matches a year I don't care because if he doesn't start putting people over I don't want to see 1

 

[The Samoan Heritage]

The thing with Cena (IMO) is that when he isn't on the show the show lacks star power. Orton/Sheamus/Rollins are the main eventers/stars but they aren't big enough to hold Raw down especially with it being 3 hours. But on the other hand Wwe is so dependant on Cena that when he is on the show the fans are bored because its the same thing every night. Orton and Cena career rise are in the same boat, but with Orton there are so many possibilities and with Cena we've seen everything. Orton has potential feuds waiting with Wyatt, Owens, Ambrose, Cesaro, and Rusev among many more. Were as Cena he's face them all and dominated them to the point of very few wanting to revisit any of those feuds.

Though I feel like Cena's star power is needed, I have to agree that him becoming a part timer would be for the best. It would not only cause the wrestlers/creatives to step-up their game but it would give them room to step-up.
Also I have to say that Cena being in the mid-card is awesome. Cena has made Owens and reestablished Cesaro as the real deal. People can say what ever about Cena burying Owens and Cesaro, but these two actually feel like top mid-carders. Where in the past, guys like Morrison, Kofi,Ziggler, etc were the top but they felt no different than the rest of the mid-card. I hope Cena continues to be used to reestablish the mid-card and when he's done he can move back up(with a few other guys) and bring prestige back into the main event scene as well.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

I'll say no for the simple reason....money. You take Cena off television for even two weeks straight or not even advertise him , there's a giant legion of little kids with Cena gear on who won't watch or attend events because Cena is not there. Cena going part time has to be a slow , slow process to allow his ultamite replacement develope. There is nobody even close to Cenas money making powers right now, not even in the same planet. Sure , its going to have to happen someday...but its not currently the best idea for the company.

 

[hatehabsforever]

Personally I think it's completely asinine to even suggest that John Cena become a part time talent only. The dude is still the face of the company, who elicits a stronger reaction than anyone else on the roster pretty much every night. He's still a young man who is in the physical prime of his career. He consistently has five star matches and never needs to be carried through a match by anyone. He is the focal point of the show consistently, and that shouldn't change anytime soon. That's not to say he shouldn't see the occasional tweaking of his character (can you say heel turn?) but he should definitely remain a full time focal point of the show for the foreseeable future. Whenever he isn't on the show, his absence leaves a void that they are frankly unable to fill. As long as Cena stays healthy, focused, and has the drive that he exhibits unlike anyone else, he should remain a full time character, and should have another title run in the very near future.

 

[Messiah]

You have a lot of shitty ideas in the OP there. His appearances shouldn't feel special. He's the face of WWE and there's no need for him to be a part-timer when he's in great health and he loves doing what he does... Forget about feeling special, that's why there's guys like Lesnar, Taker, Rock. Those guys are there to make things feel special.

John Cena is the face of WWE, not a legend yet. He'll be a legend when he retires.

 

[the_peoples_adam]

I think after CENA wins his 16th title make RIC FLAIR return with any younger talent and fued with CENA to stop him getting his 17th one..

 

[Navi]

I don't think Cena himself wants a part time schedule and he's the boss when it comes to that kind of stuff.

The one thing that kind of bothered me was the OP's fantasy booking of the next couple of Wrestlemania's. First of all I don't think it's a good idea to have Reigns win the Rumble again. Look what happened last time, and there are no sure bets it won't happen again. Besides he doesn't need to win for him to be put into a main event match.

Secondly, are you saying that at last year's Mania we had Reigns/Lesnar in the main event. This upcoming Mania we have Reigns/Cena in the main event. And the following year, this feud continues and it's Reigns/Cena again in the main event.

What about the rest of the roster, do they not count? Maybe Reigns won't be anywhere near the main event. Maybe Cena will get injured, or whatever. Just seems you can't book these things years in advance. Too much shit happens for that to even be possible.

 

[Headman]

If Cena doesn't want to work part time then he shouldn't. Besides, this smells like a reason for people to start hating on Cena again. Right now he's both the face and the work horse of the company and really hasn't given his detractors anything to complain about in a while so this to me seems like a way to bitch about Cena without looking like you're bitching about Cena.

 

[Mustang Sally]

We shouldn't be like "oh here we go again" when he comes on TV.

The best way to take care of that problem would be to turn him heel. If Cena's detractors still want to hate him after he goes bad, at least they'll have something concrete to boo about. Plus, the heel turn would be such a radical departure from how he's been depicted since his 'rapper' days that it could change the entire main event scene in WWE.

As to the rest of it, if Cena wants to keep on working full-time, he should. Yes, he's getting up in age, but don't forget the man's conditioning. This was accented watching him in the ring with Kevin Owens. Yes, KO is younger, but I wonder whose body will last longer under the rigors of pro wrestling. Even while Owens can work a fine match, his wildly out of shape body will age faster than Cena's. John might choose to be an active competitor for a long time.

Mostly though, WWE has a good thing going, using Cena as much as they have. Why would they want to cut down his schedule?

 

[ASKane]

The best way to take care of that problem would be to turn him heel. If Cena's detractors still want to hate him after he goes bad, at least they'll have something concrete to boo about. Plus, the heel turn would be such a radical departure from how he's been depicted since his 'rapper' days that it could change the entire main event scene in WWE.

Most of Cena's detractors don't care if he is heel or face they have just seen enough of him beating everyone, for some the only way they will be happy to see him is as a jobber. For me I don't care if he's heel or face, I just want WWE to stop building up heels to put over Cena, Cena's constant winning and doing so over new talent is the biggest cause of frustration for me and most of his detractors. What Cena is doing now is good with the improved match quality but he must start putting guys over and by that I don't mean lose the first win the next 2 or 3, I mean lose a feud. When Cena starts losing feuds then me and his other detractors will be happy.

PS Booking is his problem not talent

 

[OYDK]

I don't think Cena himself wants a part time schedule and he's the boss when it comes to that kind of stuff.

This is true. If Cena woke up tomorrow and decided he doesn't want to wrestle full-time anymore, than he wouldn't. WWE probably would be in a panic, but I highly doubt they would force him after over a decade of service. The fact is, John Cena still loves what he does (which is amazing in itself) and his passion won't allow him to just coast when he, himself knows that he can still perform at a high level. Also, there's no need to make him an "attraction" when the guy still generates a ton of buzz every single week. The guy is an attraction in himself!

John Cena is a type of guy who will go full-throttle until he just can't go anymore... and that's obviously not right now. He'll become a part-time attraction when he retires. Think Hulk Hogan except with an actual working, logical brain.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Once Cena enters his forties (which should be next year I think) I can see him start to work a Shawn Michaels like schedule when he returned in 02. He wasn't full time, but he was pretty close. Probably the random 2-3 week breaks every 3-4 months.

 

[L@RISANO]

Would love to see the likes of Kane, Big Show and Mark Henry take up schedules like that of Jericho and RVD where they rarely appear and when they do, it Is only for a few weeks.


Randy Orton is another guy who might be of great benefit with such a schedule given he has been around just as long as Cena even though he is a few years younger.


John Cena, on the other hand, is still a legit draw as a full timer and still has "that" heel turn that will definitely shake up the WWE landscape when it occurs.

 

[BestSportsEntertainer]

We "need" Cena? WWE doesn't need any one wrestler. WWE will survive and thrive without John Cena. He is not bigger than the WWE.

Anyways, I don't see Cena going part-time until he simply can't go full-time. His passion for and commitment to WWE would never allow him to do that.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I voted yes because Cena's number one problem is over exposure. If they want to run hi full time on house shows to draw the kids, then sure. But keep him off TV every week. Maybe every 3rd week like Lesnar or something. Over exposure is killing him.

 

[whoopin' ass]

You don't need Cena on a limited a schedule, you need him off tv for 6-12 months right now. Compare him to HBK - Shawn worked a limited schedule and would work with anyone. He put a lot of guys over. He also wasn't a big merch mover - quite frankly his shirts were pretty bad so anything other than his DX shirts were probably never big sellers. But more importantly, fans loved him and were happy to see him. For him, that limited schedule was great as every return was a big deal. Loot at Cena - doesn't put a ton of guys over, certainly can't call him a fan favorite from the mixed reactions he gets and his merch sales are why wwe hasn't turned him heel despite the character being stale for a long time. Is him working a limited schedule going to change any of that for the better? Only time that limited schedule works is when you can use it to build other guys but if they are not doing that with Cena now, why would you put him on a limited schedule?

What they need to do is get Cena off tv for 6-12 months after losing a big feud and start building the product around other guys without that Cena safety net. Then you can bring him back and have him win one feud only to lose in a bigger feud next, then go away again. Then you can start your limited schedule around that idea - big win, then bigger loss. It is the only way to make his limited time mean anything because of you just pull him off tv for a few months but keep pushing him hard, you gain nothing. The issue right now isn't that Cena is on tv too much(although that is part of it), it is that he wins too much - even when he loses a match, he is still pushed as the top guy in the company and benefits from it. That needs to change first otherwise anything else is just a waste.

 

[BigDaddyKewl]

I think it's a reality that he will eventually go part time and he's a big enough star that the WWE would accommodate him and let him just work the bigger shows like we've seen with Taker, Triple H and Lesnar. But if he's still willing and able to work full time and do house shows and TV taping and PR appearances then let him. As others have mentioned he's still a top draw and there's always sells tons of merchandise at every show he appears. I'm sure Cena is probably financially secure and doesn't have to work another day in his life but if he wants to work and continue to wrestle then there's no need for the WWE to not let him do so.