TNA Needs John Cena

[Steamboat Ricky]

In order to be truly competitive...to be viewed in the same breath...and to genuinely be a popular alternative to WWE...TNA must find a way to sign John Cena.

WCW didn't legitimately compete with WWF until it signed Hogan...and even then...it took the nWo angle to really rocket WCW into the lead. If TNA gets other main WWE talent, it might make a little bit of difference, but Cena is beginning to be at the stage where he is transcending the business/getting over in other avenues. We know that Vince and Co. do not like this so much, as it gives talent a certain power over them.

So, when Cena has run his course with WWE...would TNA be able to snag a name like John Cena? And would that put TNA into legitimate contention with WWE?

 

[slayerofpanda]

what TNA needs is a good storyline, like you said it wasn't till NWO that it really took off.

Now is the time for TNA to really get some viewers because with WWE being PG, TNA can push the envelope with some great adult oriented story lines.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Yeah, but a great storyline won't matter unless they have a talent that people really care about it. Cena is that talent...perhaps the only figure currently in wrestling that can say that.

 

[Jordan adams]

I like john cena but don't think he is the biggest ratting grabber i think triple h is so i think tna it would be huge for tna to get triple h. But at the same time the difference between when wcw got hogan and if tna got triple h would be that was that wwe was for the most part focus around hogan as a face so when hogan not only went to wcw then turned is shock the world of wrestling because no one saw that coming. and wwe is now not built around one guy it like maybe 5 to 8 guys

 

[TwistofRKO]

Triple H would never leave the WWE, and his name belongs to WWE.

If John Cena signed with TNA everyone who watched wrestling in the last five years would at least tune in to see what he's up to at least once.

 

[Ryanhitman316]

I disagree I don't think TNA needs Cena. I mean a lot of people already hate him in WWE. I believe TNA needs people who can wrestle or put on a show. RVD, Shelton, Jericho, Christian is what TNA needs. They don't need Cena, HHH, Hogan, etc. HHH is what caused RVD to leave in the 1st place. I don't think HHH will be someone good in TNA because of what he uses his power for. Kurt and HHH would probably collide, or even Booker and HHH.

 

[farlance]

I agree with everyone that says that TNA needs a good storyline, and some organized thoughts, not more big name wrestlers. When Angle, Sting, Christian came along, ratings didn't skyrocket then, so it proves that names dont necessarily mean ratings.

 

[TwistofRKO]

They were all older, you'd be getting the most popular, current wrestler at the age of 32-33. Maybe it's just a little different.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

No offense to Sting or Angle...but they are not JOHN CENA. And Triple H also isn't in the league of John Cena in terms of mainstream name recognition and marketability. He is the post-Stone Cold/Rock face of professional wrestling.

When Angle came over, things immediately looked up for TNA. So, why wouldn't a guy like John Cena, who is far more over with the general audience, generate even greater business for TNA?

 

[Jordan adams]

No offense to Sting or Angle...but they are not JOHN CENA.

Your problay yonger so im not going to make fun of you but sting was huge in the late 80s and most of the 90s. much bigger than cena and i am john cena fan.

 

[Diablosbomb]

RVD didn't leave because of HHH, he left because his wife has cancer and he already said he would love to return to WWE when the get through it. If HHH is why he left then he would not be willing to return to WWE. And I think TNA should sign Cena cause then I don't have to watch him anymore. And no matter who they get without a decent story going no one will ever care.

 

[Ryanhitman316]

No offense to Sting or Angle...but they are not JOHN CENA.

Your problay yonger so im not going to make fun of you but sting was huge in the late 80s and most of the 90s. much bigger than cena and i am john cena fan.

Yeah and not only that, but Sting never been to WWE and no matter how much WWE try to get Sting they couldn't. So any anti-WWE fans will support Sting and TNA since he is there.

 

[RealDealOdin]

im sorry but i dont think cena is more over than angle and sting
first he not as good in the ring
second his lame promo are uninterresting
third you dont want the tna to become more boring that it is right now
so no tna dont need john cena please!!!!!!

 

[Ryanhitman316]

RVD didn't leave because of HHH, he left because his wife has cancer and he already said he would love to return to WWE when the get through it. If HHH is why he left then he would not be willing to return to WWE. And I think TNA should sign Cena cause then I don't have to watch him anymore. And no matter who they get without a decent story going no one will ever care.

I know about the cancer part. But from what I remember, HHH was holding down a lot of talent and RVD was one of them. Jericho seems to be another. I mean RVD does make appearances once in a while but I rather see RVD in TNA than in WWE...because I see TNA as the old ECW whereas, WWE takes the old ECW talent and used them as trash.

 

[Diablosbomb]

I know about the cancer part. But from what I remember, HHH was holding down a lot of talent and RVD was one of them. Jericho seems to be another. I mean RVD does make appearances once in a while but I rather see RVD in TNA than in WWE...because I see TNA as the old ECW whereas, WWE takes the old ECW talent and used them as trash.

Yea HHH holds people down, I was just saying it isn't why RVD left.

 

[Unrated Superstar]

Your problay yonger so im not going to make fun of you but sting was huge in the late 80s and most of the 90s. much bigger than cena and i am john cena fan.

I'm not even a huge Cena fan, but your statement about sting isn't really relevent to this particular debate. Regardless of whether Sting WAS bigger in the 80s and 90s than John Cena is now, I would agree with Ricky that as far as marketability, draw, and current star power, John Cena is bigger than Sting. The key word being "is". We're talking about how big an impact he would have on TNA and there is no doubt in my mind that it would be considerably better for ratings than Sting's debut was.

Back to Cena himself, I think John Cena could possibly change the landscape of TNA and boost the ratings at least for a while, but I just don't buy that one man can make TNA legitimate competition for WWE. TNA needs to find its own way, there's really no "quick-fix" solution. Besides, TNA would go bankrupt from losing that shit load of money they'd have to pay Cena to sign him to a deal.

I actually started watching TNA due largely in part to Christian's debut. I don't know if I'd watch TNA if Cena debuted though...it wouldn't be Cena's fault, I just think I'd be too distracted looking out the window watching all the pigs flying around while I try to stop the monkeys from flying out of my ass.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

Your problay yonger so im not going to make fun of you but sting was huge in the late 80s and most of the 90s. much bigger than cena and i am john cena fan.

Ummm....

Thanks for the history lesson. I very well know about Sting's early days. Cena is 31, is a 5-time world champ, and has spent 884+ days as world champ. When Sting was 31, he was JUST winning his first world title. Furthermore, Sting never sold out arenas like Cena does, nor did Sting ever have the mainstream notoriety that Cena sports. So...no, Sting isn't and was never "bigger" than Cena is.

Cena would make TNA an immediate contender and would elevate the status of the entire company.

Edit: Furthermore, RVD didn't leave WWE because of Trips...he left because he was burnt out, tired of travelling, and had some kind of spiritual awakening that led him to want to explore different opportunities.

 

[Richard]

John Cena would be an incredible asset for TNA and wether you like Cena or not you can't deny his popularity, his work ethic and his marketability. It would definately generate more interest in TNA and even though I don't watch TNA, I'd probably have a look once in a while to see what he's doing there. He'd be able to make them a lot of money with merchandise sales too. There would also be some matches that I would like to see if Cena went over there as well like Cena vs Sting. I'm sure that would generate some PPV buys and increase the ratings a little bit. Although I don't see Cena jumping ship though. Why would you jump ship to a smaller show and be the champ there when you could stay in the number 1 show, infront of tens of thousands of people each night and be the number 1 guy there as well? Unless something major happens between Cena and the McMahons, don't expect to see Cena going over anytime soon.

 

[Steamboat Ricky]

John Cena would be an incredible asset for TNA and wether you like Cena or not you can't deny his popularity, his work ethic and his marketability. It would definately generate more interest in TNA and even though I don't watch TNA, I'd probably have a look once in a while to see what he's doing there. He'd be able to make them a lot of money with merchandise sales too. There would also be some matches that I would like to see if Cena went over there as well like Cena vs Sting. I'm sure that would generate some PPV buys and increase the ratings a little bit. Although I don't see Cena jumping ship though. Why would you jump ship to a smaller show and be the champ there when you could stay in the number 1 show, infront of tens of thousands of people each night and be the number 1 guy there as well? Unless something major happens between Cena and the McMahons, don't expect to see Cena going over anytime soon.

You're right...this wouldn't happen soon...I'm just saying...look at what Hogan did. He left WWF to pursue a movie career/his relationship with Vince became very strained. After taking some time off...Bischoff waved a bunch of money in Hogan's face and he came aboard to WCW. Something similar could happen with Cena. Inevitably, somewhere down the road...Vince is going to replace Cena. That is when we will see if something like this proposed scenario is plausible.

 

[Jordan adams]

Ummm....

Thanks for the history lesson. I very well know about Sting's early days. Cena is 31, is a 5-time world champ, and has spent 884+ days as world champ. When Sting was 31, he was JUST winning his first world title. Furthermore, Sting never sold out arenas like Cena does, nor did Sting ever have the mainstream notoriety that Cena sports. So...no, Sting isn't and was never "bigger" than Cena is.


okay but cena won the title while there has been 2 titles in the company so in my opion less meaning full .I would frist to admit that cena is hated on to much by people on the internet. But he is not selling out arena by him self like sting did in wcw. for example over 70,000 this year wrestlemania where not all there to see cena they where to see all of the superstars. Maybe you really can't compare the two

 

[Richard]

I know, it would be in a few years although I'm not sure how long Vince will depend on Cena to be where he is right now and I'm not sure how long Cena's contract with WWE is for and when it ends. The immediate shock of Cena jumping to TNA would generate some interest but after a while, they'd have to do something big with Cena to keep everyone watching, like Hogan's heel turn and joining the NWO. I wouldn't put it past TNA to turn Cena heel once he got there though to generate more shock and interest in what they are doing. As much as I don't think Cena should be a heel at this point in time, lets say that Cena did decide to tell Vince to stick it and he ended up with TNA, I wouldn't put it past them to make him heel simply for the shock value.

 

[lord_altan]

Even if TNA did sign John Cena, which won't ever happen, they simply wouldn't know how to use him.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

I agree that Cena to TNA would be as huge, but it wouldn't be as huge as some are making it out to be. Cena is absolutely not on the level of Hulk Hogan. Sure he maintains the spot Hogan had way back when, but he's nowhere near the popularity level of Hogan. Cena is not really all that mainstream, WWE just makes it look that way on their programming. Also remember that by the time Hogan and the nwo happened WCW was either already or very close to airing against RAW on Monday nights, so wrestling fans knew exactly where to go, were touring in arenas, already have HUGE name established stars like Sting and Ric Flair (depending on specific dates), and was backed but a multi-billionaire who was a wrestling fan and owned the network on which the show aired.

Now let's say Cena stays face for 5 or 6 years and then jumps to TNA, the kids of today who would then possibly be teenagers might be interested in seeing where he went, especially if he turned heel shortly after. I agree that Cean, at the moment and probably in the future would be the biggest name that TNA could get and it would probably help a great deal, but let's not put Cena up where he doesn't belong just yet.

Also, like others pointed out. You can't simply have good characters...you need a good story.

 

[mauihaole69]

Sure, any wrestling promotion would love to have John Cena. However, TNA's major problems stem from poor booking and their lack of marketing. Often their storylines don't make much sense or suffer poor buildups. And TNA has a bunch of young stars such as Styles, MCMG, Beer Money, etc and they don't really market them or their product. I see tons of commercials all week for WWE shows/events, but rarely do I ever see anything for TNA. This is why TNA's rating stays the same, because they just keep the same viewers and are doing nothing to bring in new viewers.

 

[y2j930]

Cena is not all that big anymore. At least how big he was before he got injured in 07. What TNA needs is that overrated spotmonkey, Jeffrey Nero Hardy. He is actually selling a good bit of merch, and is getting pops that are as big as 06 Cena's. They need him back, he was over when he was first there and would still be over, if not more, if he returned