This is my first time posting and alot of people may dislike this post. But John Cena doesn't have "it". Now hear me out, alot of people are thinking dude are you freaking crazy but lets break down John Cena's supposed flaws one by one.
The "5 moves of doom"
Alot of people complain that John Cena uses only 5 moves in a wrestling match and that makes him a bad wrestler which is bullshit because every wrestler in North America uses basically 5 main moves. The Rock did, stone cold did, hogan did, Triple H does. The problem with him is conviction. Sure Cena can get some people in the audience to care about his moveset but so can most wrestlers. Cena's conviction in the ring sucks down to his extremely stupid "im supposed to be in pain faces" to his constant butchery of the STF and the ever horrible looking 5 knuckle shuffle. When you saw The Rock or Austin hit a move it just seemed so real there was so much emotion, with Cena its like meh.
I'm not the biggest fan of John Cena, but the man simply gets much more hate than he deserves. In general, I think he sells pain just fine. He doesn't oversell it and he certainly doesn't undersell it. As to the 5 Knuckle Shuffle, I see it as being no more ridiculous than The Rock's People's Elbow. Both moves get huge reactions from the live crowds
His "Rapper" Attire.
This one speaks for itself, how in the world does the WWE expect more people to take him seriously when he wrestles in Jean Shorts and wears(recently) disgusting colored t-shirts.
Well, technically, Cena hasn't done the "rapper" thing in many years. He still uses the original theme music and simply wears jean shorts and all. As far as taking him seriously, sorry but that's a joke. Basing your assessment of a wrestler as "serious" or not depending upon his outgit usually doesn't work. Think about it: most wrestlers outfits consist of knee pads, elbow pads and a pair of spandex tights. Endless jokes can be made about a man running around in nothing but spandex.
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WWE Championship"
Long time wrestling fans will boo Cena for what he has done to the WWE title. I for one don't care about what the belt looks like i believe its about the status of being WWE champion. Alot of fans especially the IWC like to look at a legit looking WWE title and because of the rise of Cena the WWE feels like it is cool to have non-spinning "spinner" championships as their WWE title.
Well, first thing, Cena didn't do anything to the WWE Championship. Vince McMahon is the one that decided the spinner belt design was going to be the one representing the embodiment of the WWE Championship belt. When Cena was doing his rap thing, the belt did make a lot more sense. After all, rappers & bling go together like peanut butter & jelly. I do agree that it needs to be changed. It honestly does look like an ugly, tacky piece of bling that you'd only see worn by a rapper.
"He is always pushed down our throats."
If you watched wrestling during the attitude era then this statement is bullshit. During the attitude era Austin was pushed so far down our throats he could have came out of are asses! Austin and The Rock appeared on RAW and Smackdown and had ample amounts of ring time and mic time on both shows. Their names were mentioned on Heat, Metal, Afterburn or any other show the WWF had at the time. People complain that Cena is shoved down our throats too much and we only see him once a week on RAW. Cena's character rapper or marine just isn't captivating enough for people to want to see him every week let alone just on RAW. And the ratings show that. RAW ratings slipped during his one year title reign.
The ratings for Raw went down long before John Cena was WWE Champion. They were going down really before he was even a serious blip on the radar. The ratings for Raw began to decline after WCW went out of business and the Monday Night Wars ended. And this was when Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock were still part of the roster and still doing their thing. By 2003, Raw was drawing in the mid-to upper 3s on average as does on most occassions. The Attitude Era was a fad and like all fads, it burned out.
He is "Superman"
Again this has nothing to do with he is like Superman. Austin was booked stronger than Superman. Anyone remember when he came to the arena on RAW a literally beat the shit out of all the alliance members in the arena( by himself might i add!) who had been pounding on the entire WWF roster for the entire night. Your top face is supposed to be booked like Superman. But Cena just is not badass enough to come across as a person who could do that and the fans will boo when they see someone like Cena destroying the entire roster.
Whenever Cena starts to make a rally and come back against the opponent, the crowds go crazy like they're supposed to for the top babyface. Sure, the smarks will often boo him because that's just in a smark's nature. As for not being badass enough, how do you explain Hulk Hogan's reaction from fans during his peak in the WWF? Hulk Hogan's babyface character in his prime and John Cena's are cut from the same cloth. They're not identical, but they're quite similar.
So as you can see Cena just doesn't have what it takes to lead the WWE to the height The Rock and Stone Cold did, or what Hulk Hogan did. His character is not compelling enough, he does not look cool, wrestlers are supposed to make wrestling look legit well he is just not very good at it. If anyone wants to challenge these points feel free to reply.
Well, you're entitled to your opinion of course, but I'm not buying into it. As I said, the Attitude Era was a fad. It was a great fad that led to huge ratings, but it was a fad all the same. After the collapse of the Monday Night Wars, even guys like The Rock & Stone Cold Steve Austin couldn't keep Raw drawing in the 6s like they once had been. It's true that wrestling hasn't entered another boom period and it might not for years to come yet. John Cena has been great in the role that the WWE has pegged for him. I'm not saying that John Cena is the greatest in-ring wrestler of all time or anything, because I couldn't say that with a straight face if I tried. But, John Cena works and has worked his ass off to promote the WWE, he sells a lot of tickets, he sells a lot of merchendise and he's able to make fans care about what he's involved in. If you want a perfect example of that, go back and watch the Raw after Hell in a Cell and you'll see exactly what I mean.
