Second Round: Detroit - Curt Hennig vs. John Cena

[klunderbunker]

This is a second first round matchup in the Detroit Subregion. The ring and arena are universal throughout the first round and the organization is not a factor. There is a 20 minute time limit. Vote using any criteria you like. Most votes in the poll at the end of the time period wins. In the case of a tie we will go off of the number of written votes. In the case of a second tie, both are eliminated. Assume one week has passed since the first match.

Location: Palace of Auburn Hills, Detroit, Michigan.

Curt Hennig

Vs.

John Cena

Voting is open for 4 days.

 

[Coco]

A glorified midcarder in the big leagues against The Franchise, The Champ, the man who has dominated the 2000s and redefined the big fight feel in a way that is all his own and left us with countless classic memories as result... If you go with the midcarder, you're as close to objectively wrong as you can be in this tournament. Vote Cena.

*Edit* Sweet Cena-loving Jesus, I voted for the wrong man!

 

[klunderbunker]

Hennig was a great worker, but he was never a top guy. With Cena, it's not is he a top guy, it's how far can he go on the all time ladder. Cena is going to go down in history as one of the biggest stars of all time. Hennig is great, but Cena is just ahead of him. That's all there is to it.

 

[Hulkamaniac]

I actually like both guys, but I voted for my man Curt Hennig for no other reason then he's my second favorite wrestler of all-time, and I want to vote for him. That said, everyone else should vote for Cena. Tough, tough, tough match up for my boy Curt.

Even with my accidently vote for Hennig taken into account, this is far too close. Hennig is remembered for what? A run with a midcard belt and a few matches with Bret Hart. Can't count his AWA run as significant, as the Bockwinkel-Angle thread shows just how insignificant the AWA was.

That's ridiculous. It can still be significant without being dispositive. The AWA run is VERY significant, but it's not like it automatically gets a win for someone. It's not like "Oh, Angle went over Bockwinkel, so the AWA is insignificant." Angle went over Bockwinkel because people feel he's a superior wrestler.

 

[Coco]

Even with my accidently vote for Hennig taken into account, this is far too close. Hennig is remembered for what? A run with a midcard belt and a few matches with Bret Hart. Can't count his AWA run as significant, as the Bockwinkel-Angle thread shows just how insignificant the AWA was.

Cena, on the other hand, is THE best wrestler of our generation. He's taken mixed reactions, and rather than turning heel or hiding the reactions, addressed them, took on all comers (be they heel or face), and welcomed a main event atmosphere the likes of which seperates him from the herd. Nobody brings that credible sizzle to the main event these days like Cena. Heck, sometimes Cena's reactions make it look like Undertaker is wrestling in an empty building. While doing this, his run on the top have worked to reverse the damage done during Hunter's post-Austin/Rock reign of doom.

What's not to love about Cena?

 

[Megatron]

Ouch, harsh draw for Hennig. One of my favorites of all time, but Cena's up there as well. Also, Hennig never was 'the man' of a company, and, at best, an upper midcarder. Cena, however, is the face of the current generation and will eventually become one of the greatest of all time. I'd honestly be shocked if Hennig had a snowballs chance in hell, just better hope that the Anti-Cena marks don't completely sway the vote.

 

[PsychoBlack]

im going to break kayfabe for a minute

John cena wrestles in a time where there are two world titles in the same company. Curt hennig was the world champion in a promotion with only one WORLD title. Hennigs reign as champion lasted 373 days cena held Either of the so called world title 9 times for 1002 days. now its time for a math lesson9/1002=11.3 this means that hennig was a better champion. Hennig was in an era where the midcard was at its peak with stars like brett hart roddy piper kerry von erich, John cenas main event stay has Batista and sheamus. now on to ability curt is in the top 10 of in ring performers ever and has an extensive moveset, Cena is not a great in ring performer and has one of the most limited movesets since goldberg. Hennig has had classics with brett hart, mitsuharu misawa, texas tornado, roddy piper, ric flair and many other greats, cena not so much hell not at all.

Vote Hennig

 

[Ferbian]

While Curt Hennig is quite obviously the better wrestler in this one, and has had quite a decent influence from his career on this business, the fact is that he's up against a tough competition in arguably the most over person in the wrestling world today, the Hulk Hogan of this era, John Cena has by far influenced the business more than Curt Hennig.

Also from a kayfabe view, while Curt will prove to put on a tough match for John, we all know John is very known for never giving up, and therefore I see John Cena's determination mixed with the pure strength he has, will be able to keep Curt from hitting the perfect-plex and therefore would become a victim of either an STFU or an FU.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

im going to break kayfabe for a minute

John cena wrestles in a time where there are two world titles in the same company. Curt hennig was the world champion in a promotion with only one WORLD title. Hennigs reign as champion lasted 373 days cena held Either of the so called world title 9 times for 1002 days. now its time for a math lesson9/1002=11.3 this means that hennig was a better champion. Hennig was in an era where the midcard was at its peak with stars like brett hart roddy piper kerry von erich, John cenas main event stay has Batista and sheamus. now on to ability curt is in the top 10 of in ring performers ever and has an extensive moveset, Cena is not a great in ring performer and has one of the most limited movesets since goldberg. Hennig has had classics with brett hart, mitsuharu misawa, texas tornado, roddy piper, ric flair and many other greats, cena not so much hell not at all.

Vote Hennig

Extensive movesets do not you mean you are the better wrestler. Evan Bourne has a more extensive moveset than Hulk Hogan. Does that make Bourne the better wrestler then?

John Cena's year-long reign saw him beat Edge, Umaga when he was undefeated, HBK, Orton, Khali when he was undefeated, and Bobby Lashley. Even when Cena was in the midcard early in his career he beat the Undertaker and Chris Benoit three months after he had one of the best matches of all-time against Kurt Angle who should be added to that list as well. So you're comparing one reign to nine reigns in which one of them is the same length as the only one? Nice job there.

 

[Coco]

John cena wrestles in a time where there are two world titles in the same company.

If there was one World Championship, Cena would still dominate. He's the top guy in the company.

Curt hennig was the world champion in a promotion with only one WORLD title.

Yes. A dying company.

Hennigs reign as champion lasted 373 days cena held Either of the so called world title 9 times for 1002 days. now its time for a math lesson9/1002=11.3 this means that hennig was a better champion.

First of all, 111.3.

Second of all, Cena averages out standard size reigns for his era just like Hennig's reign was pretty average for his era.

Take out the division, and you see that Cena dominated for more than two years with the title, with about three months breaking Cena's most dominant period up.

Cena dominated in a way that is unseen in this era. Hennig didn't dominate like Cena.

Cena, thus, was better by your standard.

John cenas main event stay has Batista and sheamus.

And Orton, Edge, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, and the ultra-protected Lashley, Khali, and Umaga, among others.

Cena's dominated a deep main event scene. So I agree with what you're saying.

now on to ability curt is in the top 10 of in ring performers ever and has an extensive moveset, Cena is not a great in ring performer and has one of the most limited movesets since goldberg.

Yet Cena entertains the masses more than Hennig ever did. With fewer moves and less natural ability.

Talk about efficiency!

Hennig has had classics with brett hart, mitsuharu misawa, texas tornado, roddy piper, ric flair and many other greats, cena not so much hell not at all.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Hennig goes over here because there are so many fans on the net that simply despise John Cena. I admit that I also roll my eyes whenever he goes into SuperCena mode, but I really don't see it as any worse than what Hulk Hogan was doing back when I was 5 years old so I can't really knock him all that much.

Hennig was a great overall talent and it wouldn't have bothered me one big to have seen him become WWF Champion at one point, but it didn't happen. If I had to liken Hennig to any particular star in the WWE today, it would be the wrestler he got by in the first round, Christian. Like Christian, Hennig was someone that could always be counted on to go out there and put on a great match with just about anyone he went up against, was pretty charismatic and gave great interviews. Hennig, however, was never the top guy in the WWF for whatever reason and John Cena has been the WWE Franchise for the past 5 years.

Is Cena among the all-time greats in the ring? Nope, probably not. However, neither was Hulk Hogan and he's still considered to be possibly the greatest star pro wrestling has ever produced. Cena is along that same vein and will go down as one of the biggest stars of his generation. While I do like Hennig more than Cena, there's just no way to logically convince me that Hennig goes over here. Nothing Hennig could throw at Cena would be little more than an inconvenience and minor irritant for Cena. Now, that doesn't mean that Hennig wouldn't catch Cena off guard with a quick roll up for the win, but it's unlikely. Cena's ultimately just going to be too strong for Hennig to go over. Cena will do his own version of "hulking up" and draw upon that "****** strength" as my grandfather used to call it whenever Hogan did his thing and that'll be all she wrote for Hennig.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Mr.Perfect is one of my all-time favorite wrestlers, but I'm going to have to pick Cena on this one. Cena has taken down Triple H, HBK, and Batista at Wrestlemania. Cena's has stood toe to toe with some of the WWE's biggest and baddest wrestlers, and he's been the top guy in WWE for years now.

Henning had a memorable run in WWF, but he was never a main eventer. So my vote will have to go to Cena.

 

[PsychoBlack]

to both of the cena lover in this thread (co co and lawler) i must say this yes cena is a star and better draw but i doont give a damn who 9 year old kids want to see i want to see a great wrestling match with wrestling moves not just 5 at the start of the match the a bunch of punches to the head and kicks to the gut before a firemans carry that im supposed to believe is a finisher. ccurt hennig did that and for arguments sake he did it against hall of famers. think of it this way if you were goin to show a classic wrestling match to someone who was just getting into it would you show them hennig or would you show them cena.

 

[Dagger Dias]

John Cena wins, and here is why.

Mr Perfect's accomplishments include holding the AWA Championship 1 time for 373 days, before losing it to Jerry Lawler. This was an impressive reign. He also held the AWA World Tag Team Championship 1 time with Scott Hall in a reign for 119 days. In WCW he was the United States Champion for 104 days, as well as the WCW World Tag Team Championship with Barry Windham. Hennig was also a 2 time Intercontinental Champion in the WWF, his two reigns add up to 406 days.

Cena is a 2 time WWE World Tag Team Champion (once with Batista and once with Shawn Michaels) holding the belts for 70 days total. Cena is also a 3 time United States Champion, with a total of 221 days holding that title. Finally, he is a 9 time world champion holding the World Heavyweight Championship twice for 105 days as well as the WWE Championship 7 times for 897+ days and counting. He won the Royal Rumble in 2008.

Mr Perfect might have more ability in the ring, but this is not a match based on "real" wrestling ability. Perfect spent his career mostly in the midcard, while Cena has been the top guy in WWE for 5 years, with a grand total of over 1,000 days as world champion.

You can't argue with facts like that. In a kayfabe'd match, Cena wins and it's not even close.

 

[Adam08]

John Cena goes over here with his never give up attitude,his domination. Henning is a great wrestler but he is no match for Cena. Maybe in another country but thats it.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Pretty much going with the reasoning of every rational poster in this thread. John Cenai s the face of this generation in wrestling and will go down in the history books as one of the greatest to have ever stepped into the ring. I say that now, even though he still has 10 -15 years left in his career. His dominance from 2005 onwards has been outstanding, and tops anything that Hennig ever accomplished.

Hennig was always mid-card. Cena exemplifies Main Event Wrestler.

 

[Franchize1990]

My vote easily goes to Cena in this round. Although he is not the most technicial wrestler in the business, he still has enough skill to get one over Hennig. Also, like most people have said on this board, he has accomplished more in and outside of the ring and he's also the bigger star than Hennig.

im going to break kayfabe for a minute

John cena wrestles in a time where there are two world titles in the same company. Curt hennig was the world champion in a promotion with only one WORLD title. Hennigs reign as champion lasted 373 days cena held Either of the so called world title 9 times for 1002 days. now its time for a math lesson9/1002=11.3 this means that hennig was a better champion.

Hennig's best and only reign, as you stated, lasted a long 373 days. A very great reign and to my knowledge, only 4 people have been able to surpass it. One of those men, however, is John Cena who held on to what some call the most prestigious title in the company for 380 days (who knows how much longer it could've gone had he not injured himself against Orton). So if length of titles reigns mean one was a better champion, Cena is.

Hennig was in an era where the midcard was at its peak with stars like brett hart roddy piper kerry von erich, John cenas main event stay has Batista and sheamus.

Not to mention the likes of HBK, Triple H, the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Edge. Pretty good star power if you ask me.

now on to ability curt is in the top 10 of in ring performers ever and has an extensive moveset, Cena is not a great in ring performer and has one of the most limited movesets since goldberg. Hennig has had classics with brett hart, mitsuharu misawa, texas tornado, roddy piper, ric flair and many other greats, cena not so much hell not at all.

When going through techinical ability yes, Hennig is the better of the two. But, look at most of the best wrestlers in the business and you will see they weren't known for thier techincial skill either, Hogan Austin and The Rock are a few for example. These three would beat Hennig as would Cena.

to both of the cena lover in this thread (co co and lawler)

Add Franchize to the list

i must say this yes cena is a star and better draw but i doont give a damn who 9 year old kids want to see

It amazes me how everybody who says the only people who are Cena fans are under 12 and/or female while they somehow fail to see the thousands of teen and adult males can be seen wearing Cena gear, rocking the spinner belt, and rising to their feet actually cheering for Cena when his music hits.

i want to see a great wrestling match with wrestling moves not just 5 at the start of the match the a bunch of punches to the head and kicks to the gut before a firemans carry that im supposed to believe is a finisher.

I know you don't really believe that Cena has only his 5 signature moves. Cena's moveset is a nice blend between power moves, brawling strkies and techincal skills. Another thing, you're really comparing the FU to the Perfect Plex? A move that Cena does routinly minus the pin attempt?

ccurt hennig did that and for arguments sake he did it against hall of famers.

As did Cena.

think of it this way if you were goin to show a classic wrestling match to someone who was just getting into it would you show them hennig or would you show them cena.

Probably a little more Hennig than Cena but that doesn't prove that he would beat Cena one-on-one.

Vote Hennig

Vote Cena

 

[ScreaminNormanSmiley]

henning is easily a better technical wrestler and i personally believe superior at cutting promos. i also realize cena has dominated more in his career and has had more title success. i am still voting for henning though because i think he deserved more in his career and i hate cena. i know my pick is completley biased but im gonna make it anyway

 

[ScreaminNormanSmiley]

Hennig's best and only reign, as you stated, lasted a long 373 days. A very great reign and to my knowledge, only 4 people have been able to surpass it. One of those men, however, is John Cena who held on to what some call the most prestigious title in the company for 380 days (who knows how much longer it could've gone had he not injured himself against Orton). So if length of titles reigns mean one was a better champion, Cena is.

if your counting reigns outside wwe like you are in hennings case plenty of champs have surpassed that length. not an arguement for mr perfect, just letting you know.

 

[DirtyJosé]

Kayfabe: Heels like Curt were made for guys like Cena to go over. In modern times, Curt most assuredly would have had a main event push, and probably some world title gold at some point. Only to drop it to Hogan/Cena.

Performance: If I'm looking at this from a technical viewpoint, the edge goes to Curt. If I'm looking at it as the whole package, including promos and such, the playing field comes close to even.

Personal: I've stated before that as a child, there were almost no other guys I wanted to be like than Mr. Perfect. Sure, Hogan had the fame, HBK had the bitches, and Undertaker had the cool powers, but Curt was perfect. But I can't ignore the facts that Cena has achieved a place in wrestling history, and that he reached a level of stardom rivaled by few others. Whether I've liked all of his work or not, you can't buy that kind of popularity (believe me, WWE has tried before). It's earned.

This round goes to Cena.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Hennig's best and only reign, as you stated, lasted a long 373 days. A very great reign and to my knowledge, only 4 people have been able to surpass it. One of those men, however, is John Cena who held on to what some call the most prestigious title in the company for 380 days (who knows how much longer it could've gone had he not injured himself against Orton). So if length of titles reigns mean one was a better champion, Cena is.

true but hennig won his belt from bockwinkel(im never going to spell that right) who was the face of the awa. cena won his from edge because edge wasnt fit to be champion yet and im sure you can agree that wwe was in a bad time during that title reign

Not to mention the likes of HBK, Triple H, the Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Edge. Pretty good star power if you ask me.

yes great star power in an era where these guys are playin hot potatoe with the world titles

When going through techinical ability yes, Hennig is the better of the two. But, look at most of the best wrestlers in the business and you will see they weren't known for thier techincial skill either, Hogan Austin and The Rock are a few for example. These three would beat Hennig as would Cena.

austin was a brawler and the rock does not get enough credit for his in ring ability while hogan i must admit has beaten hennig before in a surprisingly good match so your argument of them not being great performers is kinda of ehh

Add Franchize to the list

will do

It amazes me how everybody who says the only people who are Cena fans are under 12 and/or female while they somehow fail to see the thousands of teen and adult males can be seen wearing Cena gear,.

I do like cena myself to an extent his promos are great but when he steps into the ring for his match i just lose interest.

rocking the spinner belt,

they like the spinner belt because it spins not because of cena

and rising to their feet actually cheering for Cena when his music hits.

ill concede here because its the truth

I know you don't really believe that Cena has only his 5 signature moves. Cena's moveset is a nice blend between power moves, brawling strkies and techincal skills. Another thing, you're really comparing the FU to the Perfect Plex? A move that Cena does routinly minus the pin attempt?

no its not just his 5 signature moves he used much more when he was the prototype but to compare him then curt hennig is unfair and as the marine he uses repetitive moves and doesent do them convincingly. no im not comparing the perfect plex to the FU/attitude adjustment because neither of them are great finishers

Probably a little more Hennig than Cena but that doesn't prove that he would beat Cena one-on-one.

Hennig beat ric flair in 92 clean at that. he also beat jerry lawler in memphis, he beat the road warriors in a handicap match, wrestled stan hansen to a time limit draw, and like i said earlier he beat nick bockwinkel this proves that he can beat the BIG stars of wrestling which no doubt cena is

Vote Cena

Vote Hennig

 

[Coco]

true but hennig won his belt from bockwinkel(im never going to spell that right) who was the face of the awa. cena won his from edge because edge wasnt fit to be champion yet and im sure you can agree that wwe was in a bad time during that title reign

Don't agree. WWE drew record profit in 2007 and Mania 23, with Cena as the face of the company, became the highest grossing Mania ever (I haven't looked up WM26 numbers yet, but those wouldn't hurt an argument for The Champ). WWE was in a great time. Heck, if anything, Cena's injury tanked momentum for the company as ratings faltered when the belt went to Orton.

yes great star power in an era where these guys are playin hot potatoe with the world titles

I REPEAT:

Cena isn't just another guy getting a one off title reign and then getting shot back down to the midcard. Cena is the FACE of the era and the champion on a consistent basis.

Still, not seeing what hot potato belts have to do with star power. Are you trying to argue that those men listed aren't stars? You'd be wrong.

Cena's in damn decent company. And he trounces them.

austin was a brawler and the rock does not get enough credit for his in ring ability while hogan i must admit has beaten hennig before in a surprisingly good match so your argument of them not being great performers is kinda of ehh

So, Austin gets a pass for being a brawler, yet you're going to insist on riding Cena?

That. Makes. No. Sense.

I do like cena myself to an extent his promos are great but when he steps into the ring for his match i just lose interest.

they like the spinner belt because it spins not because of cena

That's right. Cena has no appeal at all.

"I can't see or hear any adults cheering Cena."

no its not just his 5 signature moves he used much more when he was the prototype but to compare him then curt hennig is unfair and as the marine he uses repetitive moves and doesent do them convincingly.

You're saying this after giving The Rock a pass.

The Rock.

The silly open handed punches that people oversold, the People's Elbow, the Rock's own overselling... You're really going to tell me he's more convincing than Cena?

henning is easily a better technical wrestler and i personally believe superior at cutting promos. i also realize cena has dominated more in his career and has had more title success. i am still voting for henning though because i think he deserved more in his career and i hate cena. i know my pick is completley biased but im gonna make it anyway

I'd find your argument more convincing if you could spell your man's name.

 

[It's...Baylariat!]

I give the fuck up. It's official that this site knows very little about wrestling in general. Because Curt Hennig never was able to get a shot at the WWE title, he's automatically squashed by John "Lex Luger with Promo Skills" Cena. What a crock of shit.

If anyone here looked at overall skills in the ring and the ability for someone to win a match, you'd clearly come to a conclusion that Cena would be outmatched by Curt Hennig. Everything Cena can do, Hennig done better. Except winning the WWE title. Then again, Hennig was in an era where Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Warrior, and others were in the main event due to them drawing huge money. Hennig was a fine wrestler and being the IC champion during the Hogan era is about equaled to being the WWE champion today in prestige. And Hennig defended the title against opponents that would tear Cena apart.

It's Hennig here. And you folks should be ashamed of yourselves.

 

[gd]

This should go to Cena pretty easily here. The only thing Perfect might have an edge in is in ring ability, but Cena is certainly no slouch when it comes to great matches. He's had a few stinkers over the years, but for the most part he's able to come up with something decent against pretty much anybody.

There doesn't seme to be a convincing argument for Hennig other than only the kids like Cena, he doesn't know any moves, etc. This one is a walk for Johnny Boy.

 

[Megadeth]

I give the fuck up. It's official that this site knows very little about wrestling in general. Because Curt Hennig never was able to get a shot at the WWE title, he's automatically squashed by John "Lex Luger with Promo Skills" Cena. What a crock of shit.

If anyone here looked at overall skills in the ring and the ability for someone to win a match, you'd clearly come to a conclusion that Cena would be outmatched by Curt Hennig. Everything Cena can do, Hennig done better. Except winning the WWE title. Then again, Hennig was in an era where Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Warrior, and others were in the main event due to them drawing huge money. Hennig was a fine wrestler and being the IC champion during the Hogan era is about equaled to being the WWE champion today in prestige. And Hennig defended the title against opponents that would tear Cena apart.

It's Hennig here. And you folks should be ashamed of yourselves.

This is one match that I have to 100% agree with you on. The man was undefeated for his first year in the WWF, and it was Curt who beat Ric Flair in a Loser leaves the WWF match, sending the Nature Boy back to WCW. He was the last man to be eliminated in the 1990 Royal Rumble, being thrown out by Hulk Hogan. And had it not been for his untimely death, he could have, and probably very well would have become the NWA champion in TNA.