Pin Point the beginning of Anti-Cena attitude

[timmy872]

Ok so I am watching Wrestlemania 22, arguably the most hostile crowd Cena has been in front of, and the other being at ECW's One Night Stand against RVD.
I don't remember their being any BIG Cena hate (ala Cena Sucks chants) before his programme with Triple H..
Can anyone think of the first time Cena got the opposite reaction he expected?

 

[AFC1986]

I remember Cena started getting booed when he was fueding with Angle for the title in last 2005. I think it was because Angle was on a roll at the time and fans didn't like Cena winning so they started booing and it snowballed into what we have now

 

[Miko]

I thought it was during the Jericho fued, could be wrong but I remember a lot of people being pissed because Cena beat him in that loser leaves WWE match.

In fact I am certain it started during that fued, not long after his move to RAW.

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

The first time I ever noticed it was Summerslam 2005 against Chris Jericho when half the crowd booed him. Then during his feud with Angle he was regularly booed but the real hatred didn't start until early 06, the heat he got in that elimination chamber match was insane, people were cheering for Chris Masters over him at that point.

 

[Shua]

It definitely happened around the time Cena was drafted to Raw. Shortly after that, he just kept getting shoved down everyone's throats. However, the precise moment I got tired of Cena was during his feud with JBL (when Cena associated himself with Cryme Tyme). Some of the worst promos ever.

But, then again, since Cena is really taking the whole "PG" thing to heart, it's no word die hard fans loathe him.

 

[bluejt16]

erm don't mean to burst your bubble but did you see the TLC match between him and edge in Canada? that was about the same as hbk singing "oh Canada how i hate thee" lol i think that the WWE fans simply don't like him... he's 1 of the only faces that gets more boos than most heels. i for 1 used to be a huge cena fan but now i hate him. people have gotten tired of him being in the main event, kinda like HHH at backlash, gets stretchered out and the fans start singing "na na na nah na na na nah HEY HEY GOODBYE!" i think that everyone justs wants change every so offen.

 

[The Rob]

Like alot of people, I began noticing that people were booing Cena around mid to late 2005. But the match that really, really got that ball rolling was without a shadow of doubt against Triple H at WrestleMania 22. The heat he got about 30 minutes before the match even got started was insane, when they did a build-up thing where they showed Cena and Trips getting ready. As for the match... it was probably 70/30 in favour of Triple H during the entire match... remarkable considering he was probably the company's top heel at the time.

 

[MattDaCripple24]

My memory agrees with Burke. I definetely remeber Chris Masters getting more cheers than Cena, which I believe was right before Wrestlemania XXII. I gotta say I enjoy Cena, but I wouldn't mind him getting beaten by the Miz, just so he can hide his head in shame for a few months and new stars can get recognized. then of course if that happens he'll return in a Title match and win like the Survivor Series BS last year. Iwas actually at that and me and my friend left early just because we didn't care.

 

[WunNightStan619]

i think the biggest change came after he did the marine. his entire character changed after that he went from being a white rapper type guy to Mr. Marine and he was just corny.....das when i stopped liking him anyways

 

[farlance]

I think the anti-Cena thing started brewing right off the bat from his push into the main event scene. When he lost his US title to Orlando Jordon, and then swiftly beat JBL at Mania after JBL's 10 month reign of beating the best of the best, there was this dont make sense feeling. Many people felt the same way but tried to move on. Then like everyone else said, when he moved to RAW and started feuding with Angle and Jericho it started to get bad. I mean when Angle superplexes HBK off the top rope and he just gets back up from it, then five minutes later HBK gets pinned from an FU, it seems to not make any sense. By the time he got to HHH people started getting sick of Cena. Then he goes on to beat HHH, the monster heel that was dominant for years, in some cartoonish style.

 

[Chrisjeffers]

I will discribe when I became anti-Cena....
Tribute to the troops!
Very little agreed with the war... Or whatever you wanna call it.... Cena was a tool of both Vince and bush! I think it was a political hatred.... I believe that now bush is out Cena might lose his reaction altogether unless he turns heel!

 

[avi01]

It`s pretty much went he won the WWE title. I think he was the one that ended JBL`s long reign. He is not a guy many people expected to see as the world champion. He liked him when he was a mid carder...as rapper and all but when he got into main event...anti-cena started. Of course it course worst with time...specially vs. the veterans. Last year, he was hated a lot and I think his injury actually helped him in a sense.

 

[Coco]

I remember Cena hate really started catching on over the summer in 2005. He was over on SmackDown and he was over when he first came to Raw. But by the they reached SummerSlam, the crowd was split between cheering Jericho and Cena. Coming out of that feud, he was placed against Kurt Angle. At the time Kurt was more popular than he ever had any right to be, so fans started pretending they were "smart" and cheering Angle over Cena because they perceived him as legit. Cena's hate was solidified in that feud and it grew from there.

 

[RVD420]

Yeah the Cena hate definatly started in mid 2005 and just kept growing. Personally, I've never liked the character. My favorite match with him is his first match on Smackdown against Angle. After that......no thank you

 

[Shocky]

The most unlikely source of all Christian Cage. Christian started to mock Cena all the way back at the Rumble, and finally in the summer of 2005, both guys were on one show. Christian cut some pretty damn good promos that punked Cena out, and essentially this is where the rift, in my opinion, began.

Christian was subsequently buried by Cena, and then demoted to Smackdown, and left the company. This is when I personally stopped watching Raw, as I saw what was going on, and simply didn't feel someone like Christian deserved tog et treated the way he did.

From there, in my opinion, it steam rolled. Cena was paired off against guys like Jericho, Angle, then Edge and Triple H, followed by Rob Van Dam. Every single one of these guys, were better then John Cena during that time period,a nd I have no problem saying that. John Cena was young, John Cena was green, and John Cena had no business being on Live TV on Monday Night Raw. He was a joy to watch on Smackdown, but he was also heavily edited and we weren't exposed to how bad the guy actually was at the time.

Now let me phrase something quite clearly, John Cena is the best the business has to offer now, but in 2005, no way shape or form was he remotely in that category. You add in th emove to Live TV, getting put into the ring with guys that worked their asses off and Cena brought them down in matches, and you have the beginning of a trend. It exist now purely as a mockery, or something along the liens of the Charlie Haas po.

 

[Camel Clutch]

To be honest, I liked Cena on Smackdown. The "white rapper" gimmick was gold. His promos were funny, his character was unique, his feuds with Lesnar, Angle, and Guerrero were done very well. Even when he won the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 21 I was cheering for him. The classic "Rags vs. Riches" match. When he got drafted to Raw, I went with it.

When Cena started to get on my nerves at least was right after Wrestlemania 22. After I realized that Cena was the champion for the year (excluding Edge's 3 week reign), I got sick of it.

The rapper gimmick was long gone, his promos were boring, his matches were boring because they were almost identical. I have no problem with him as a main eventer, don't get me wrong, but being the champion for the majority of the last 3 years? That's where I draw the line, because then it just gets bland. And if it's not a lengthy title reign, it's 3 short ones in the span of two months...

 

[muxiroger]

I remember when I first decided I hated him. I think it was..oh yeah HIS DEBUT. I have never liked anything he's done. I have always thought he should have stayed in OVW with Batista, and saved us many painful to watch matches.

As for the crowd, I think the first time I noticed him getting booed was in mid 2005 during his feud with Jericho. I'm not gonna say it was the "loser leaves WWE match," because I can't remember exactly which match, but one of their matches I started to hear it.

My favorite anti-cena moment was One Night Stand 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom. I remember the chants of "Fuck You, Cena" and it brings a smile to my heart.

 

[maar130]

Well, in general it was when he begun to feud with Chris Jericho in 2005, his two rap videos sucked big time and Jericho out wrestled him at Summerslam 2005. Then it really heated up when he was out wrestled by Angle later, Angle actually admitted to make him look bad while they wrestled, Not until he got at it with Edge that he got it back for a while.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

To me, it started with him beating Angle, but it didn't snowball until he faced RVD at One Night Stand. That ECW crowd will tear you a new asshole if you're not up to snuff, and Czena was not. It's like fuggin' A-Rod going into Fenway Park and challenging Dustin Pedroia to a match. No way Cena was getting over with that crowd...and that's when it became cool to boo the Franchise!

 

[farlance]

I will discribe when I became anti-Cena....
Tribute to the troops!
Very little agreed with the war... Or whatever you wanna call it.... Cena was a tool of both Vince and bush! I think it was a political hatred.... I believe that now bush is out Cena might lose his reaction altogether unless he turns heel!

Your anti-Cena because he participated in tribute to the troops? You'd have to be anti-Austin, anti-HHH who both participated and plain out anti WWE to have a problem with that. Actually the only WWE guy that opposed to participating was RVD. To think that Bush being out of office has a thing to do with any reaction that Cena gets is the most ******ed thing I've ever heard.

 

[Greenlight13]

For me it began the night he moved to Raw. Smackdown seemed a little looser, kinda like Vince wasn't paying attention (I know that sounds stupid because he appeared on it himself almost more for quite a while). Cena was swearing, being sexually suggestive, he seemed genuinely different. Then after a few weeks on Raw he started trading in the jerseys for his own brand shirts... to be fair to the WWE they need to make money from kids wanting to look like him, so that was expected eventually.

His promos became duller and duller. It became "I never quit, I'm tougher than you, I'll bury you." It was monotonous. He got away with it for a while, sure, but eventually he found himself against better wrestlers. This is when the men turned on him. When you stop being funny people notice your act is sort of the same. When you wrestle Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, your ring skills look even worse. He got very hostile reactions when he was with Angle particularly, Jericho was more because as much as people may hate a character, they don't want them to never be in the WWE again, so people wanted Jericho to stay.

But against Angle, he just didn't look good in the ring, didn't sound good on the mic, was just shown for what he is and yet still presented like he was a god among men. Against JBL that didn't show up as much, it was just straight up asshole vs hero stuff, neither was an amazing wrestler. But Angle was trying to teach Cena to wrestle and it was very clear he couldn't. It rolled on and on and people were sick of Cena beating Angle on like 3 straight PPVs and they just wanted a new champion, so they saw the Elimination Chambe as the best chance. Booed the hell out of Cena winning.

But then a funny thing happened. The moment Edge had the title they cheered Cena again. Honestly, go back and look. Edge won it, cheered like crazy. Next night, boos. Very weird. But then once he won it again not even 3 weeks later we're right back to anti-Cena and a love of Triple H.

I know ECW was perhaps his most hostile crowd, but I think that was just because he's about as far removed from what ECW was about as it gets. But the WWE audience booing him was late 2005 as people said. Perhaps the night he retired Jericho, perhaps the night he started wearing his own merchandise, perhaps when he beat Angle clean. Maybe it was that Raw is the A-show and seeing a man with a spinner belt wasn't acceptable like it was on the more fun based Smackdown.

Through it all though I don't think he's lost any support with women and children. Just men have lower voices and they're louder. Look at his merchandise sales and tell me he's hated. I think they book him better now, he is superman no longer. After he won the Rumble he lost a tonne and didn't win at Wrestlemania, a genuine surprise.

He's also far more hated when he's the champion than when he's chasing.

 

[kingofmyworld]

Yea it definitely started when Cena left the more kid friendly Smackdown to move to Raw but to me one event that always stood out was as some of you said the elimination chamber and the subsequent match when Edge cashed in MITB.
Cena faced some hostile crowds wrestling fan favorites such as HHH and RVD (In an ECW environment) so those werent so unexpected. Cena-Edge always stands out to me though because one of my biggest pet peeves of Cena came as a result of the heathe was getting. This was a little over three years ago and people were already being fed up with his character and the crowds would chant Cena sucks or cheer for Edge. Cena would then take the time in his promo's to acknowledge the crowds reaction and pretty much try and talk people into liking him again.
Luckily for Cena and WWE he gets his breaks so they can keep his character as fresh as possible but the beginning of the Cena Edge was it for me

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I actually think when they began toning down his Rap Gimmick, and turned him into the Goody Two Shoes Babyface, that is when things went downhill.

I could actually point to SummerSlam 2005 at the MCI Center.

It was John Cena (face) vs Chris Jericho (heel). Washington DC can be very smarky at times, as well ... and was so on this night. I was in attendance for this show, as well. Halfway during the match, the arena became divided, virtually 50/50 with the "Let's go Jericho" chants, followed by the "Let's go Cena!" chants. This may have been the first arena and show that did something like this to the degree it did, while virtually splitting the entire crowd in half. Don't quote me on that, but I don't really remember crowd chants being split like that down the middle, before that particular event.

By this point, Cena's rap character was virtually over. He had long past the point where he stopped rapping every week ... which stopped I believe even before Wrestlemania. However, before Wrestlemania, the crowd really didn't turn on him like what happened at SummerSlam later that year.

So I point to SummerSlam 2005, and the Cena vs Jericho match, when the Rap Gimmick was virtually over ... when the crowd began it's turn on Cena. I think the DC crowd was responsible for starting an Anti-Cena movement across the country, at that show, with other cities simply following, by example.

 

[PDepew2181]

I think, in a way, it doesn't really so much matter when the Cena hatred started. I say this mainly because it's here, been here for some time, and doesn't stand much chance of going away.

Personally, I like Cena. Don't really care if that offends people. At the same time, though, I will agree that he could use some freshening at this point. I personally think he should go back to the old rapper gimmick, but since that was really a heel gimmick (and there's no way they're turning him heel with his merch sales), and they've gone PG, I don't see that happening. I admit I hate his entrance music. I sometimes think that the sound of his music is what gets people angered more than actually seeing him.

I think the problem with Cena right now is the same thing that gets the crowd to turn on Triple H at various times: he's almost always feuding for the belt or has the belt. Personally, I blame this on the creative/booking decisions. Used to be, way back when, that they could build feuds around guys for reasons other than the belts. Yea, the "this is personal" crap is overused, but sometimes that's really all it takes. If they actually moved these guys off belt feuds once in a while, I think it would help prevent people from getting tired of seeing them. I kind of expect this to happen to Orton eventually, too. I'm not sure why people haven't turned on Batista yet. Cena has had more good matches than Batista, not that that's saying much at all, but he can also talk better than Batista and yet Batista is universally loved, it seems. Hopefully they turn Batista heel because he could use it.

A bit off-topic here, talking about the creative decisions. One of the problems is that they seem to start silly feuds. Right now they're going to have MVP feud with Regal. I like both of those guys, and I know it hasn't been done before, but after you have MVP wrestle Orton and then Rhodes, having him feud with Regal will do nothing to give him any momentum on Raw. This isn't a knock on Regal, but his status is always mid-card, and not even upper mid-card. So creative isn't really helping MVP right now. The same goes for Cena now feuding with Big Show. Obviously they need to wrap up the ridiculous stunt from Backlash, but these two have seen each other enough. Let's move them elsewhere after the feud. Maybe finally have Cena feud with Miz? Could only help Miz in the long run. Maybe Matt Hardy, someone, anyone Cena hasn't feuded with in his time. This also applies to John Morrison feuding with Shelton Benjamin on SmackDown. Should produce some great matches, but can't see either guy gaining a lot of momentum from a feud.

So, yea, the Cena hatred is palpable, and in my opinion, largely ridiculous. I think most people who boo Cena do it just because it's so "trendy" or "cool" to do it. If it's true that the internet wrestling community only makes up about 10% of the overall fan base, it just goes to show that a lot of people can be easily swayed by a precious few. But, like I said, it's getting to the point where I can see people booing Cena for legit reasons, not just because. That being said, I don't see anything about Cena's character changing anytime soon, so we're stuck with what we have.

 

[powermonty]

iv never really cared much for cena and didnt swich on the tv to watch his matches. the two ocations that stick out in my mind are when he versed HHH at wrestlmania and edge in canada. when he won the TLC match i remember him being booed as if he was a big time heel lol.