What is Cena's Gimmick?

[Shadowmancer]

This is not a bash Cena or Praise Cena but it raises a question that I would like to have Answered. What is Cena's gimmick.

He Started off with a Ruthless Aggression Gimmick(Debut)
He Went to White Man that thinks he is Black and he raps
Next was the Marine but not really

Now what is he? Ive noticed one single bit of continuity in Cena's gimmicks, he makes Gay Jokes. Is that his gimmick now a White Pro Wrestler that cracks Gay Jokes and Makes Homophobic innuendos about other Wrestlers?

 

["THE FIERCE ONE" MIKE W]

I just figured his overall gimmick is that he's superman without the costume. IDK though.

Actually it seems to be an expansion of the Matt Hardy "I WILL NOT DIE!" gimmick. He won't back down or give up no matter what. The only thing is that even though it didn't really take off for Matt Hardy he's better at it.

 

[Starchild]

Cena is just kind of the major face type guy. He is one of the better guys on the mic and is always the underdog so it works.
I mean (and going into this comparison again) when the Rock was...the Rock, what was his gimmick. A guy that talked in the third person and was just the best on the mic. And he was one of the most over guys in WWE history.
It doesn't really take a strong gimmick to get over, not to say it never happens cuz it does all the time (Austin, Taker, McMahon, Hogan, Warrior, Sting), but it doesn't need to be there if you work hard, have at least decent ring skills, and great mic skills. Aside from Rock and Cena, look at someone like Ric Flair...obviously he was probably the best wrestler ever to lace em up, but what was his gimmick really? Just a veteran that cheated to win, even when being a face.
Anyway, Cena doesn't really have a true gimmick, but it's proven and is again that no real gimmick is needed to get over.

 

[Shadowmancer]

You can label all of the gimmicks that they have though. The Rock, The Peoples Champion and other similar styled things. Ric Flair, The Nature Boy the Leader of the Four Horsemen. They have gimmicks. You can't label Cena's currrent gimmick because you can't even see one.

 

[AnthonyMango/NoFate007]

Cena = Hulk Hogan, 2008

Think about it.

"Never say die attitude"....check.

Major face of the company.....check.

Complains about being the underdog, but wins most of the time....check.

"Hulks up" at the end of a match, makes two or three moves, and wins.....check.

Honorable methods......check.

Eat your veggies......check, basically.

"I am a real American"/The Marine.....check.

Lol.


But really, he doesn't have a "gimmick" anymore in the sense that he's not dressing up like a pirate or parading around in a dress or something. He's sort of just become his own, sort of in the sense of Michaels, HHH, etc, in that he's just "Cena" now.

 

[Shadowmancer]

Yeah but Shawn Michaels and Triple H both have nameable Gimmicks.

 

[ortonchamp28]

It seems like ur looking for nicknames more so than actual gimmicks in which case cena's would be "the champ"

 

[chrisgod]

Cena = Hulk Hogan, 2008
"Never say die attitude"....check.
Major face of the company.....check.
Complains about being the underdog, but wins most of the time....check.
"Hulks up" at the end of a match, makes two or three moves, and wins.....check.
Honorable methods......check.
Eat your veggies......check, basically.
"I am a real American"/The Marine.....check.

Agreed...

Basically Cena's Gimmick is that of some kind of Hulk Hogan, who some day knocked himself against the door, woke up and felt like he was Stone Cold... but in a Hogan way, you know... not so agressive, not so badass, more of a good guy who wants to be loved doing bad guy stuff... like embarrasing his opponents and yell "The former champ is heeeeeereeeeee" (if those are bad guy stuff things)

I though since WM24 the gimmick of cena is that of a college football captain... who likes to rap as a hobbie, and would want to be a marine...

 

[ronalddeo]

I think cena is a combination of all 3 gimmicks now and also that he is being himself. He does the salute during entrance (marine), when he enters does the work life sign (rapper) and still does the throwback move with "u cant see me" (rapper) and during backstage skits is intense (ruthless agression)

 

[Shadowmancer]

No Gimmick Names are good for labelling the Gimmick is what I am using them for.

 

[Slyfox696]

John Cena is John Cena.

"The People's Champ" wasn't a gimmick as much as it was just a nickname.

What is Shawn Michaels gimmick? He doesn't have one. He's just Shawn Michaels.

What is Batista's gimmick? He doesn't have one. He's just Batista.


John Cena is just John Cena, a man who strives to be the best, just like everyone else.



But, if you want to use silly technical things like "Ric Flair: Leader of 4 Horsemen", then John Cena is the leader of the Chain Gang.

 

[Shadowmancer]

yeah but Shawn Michaels and Batista have gimmicks that you can pin point with a name. Shawn Michaels' Gimmick is that he is attempting to steal the show each and every night, that being his current gimmick the is also the religious part of it and the remorse for ending Ric Flairs career in there. See there is the Gimmick it may not be named in the modern Michaels case but you can see the gimmick. Batista has no personality or Soul so it is pretty hard to give him a Gimmick combine in the fact that I can't and haven't been able to watch Smackdown for 2 years due to work.

That means that I have no idea what Batista's gimmick is due to not being able to look for myself and determine it.

 

[Slyfox696]

yeah but Shawn Michaels and Batista have gimmicks that you can pin point with a name. Shawn Michaels' Gimmick is that he is attempting to steal the show each and every night, that being his current gimmick the is also the religious part of it and the remorse for ending Ric Flairs career in there. See there is the Gimmick it may not be named in the modern Michaels case but you can see the gimmick. Batista has no personality or Soul so it is pretty hard to give him a Gimmick combine in the fact that I can't and haven't been able to watch Smackdown for 2 years due to work.

Then John Cena's gimmick is that of a guy who wants to be champion, and he won't quit until he is.

 

[Lil Wes]

John Cena's gimmick is.....My Hero

 

[Slyfox696]

John Cena's gimmick is.....My Hero

Face Wes rules.

 

[chrisgod]

This is a hard one to call...

I guess today almost no one has gimmicks... since 2000 there has been a lot of change from gimmicky wrestlers who got over based on a character... more than skills... and so, I supose we were kids or 15 year old guys who loved to see Zombie like gimmicks, clowns (belive it or not... Doink was Uberpopular back in the nineties...) and all stupid kind of gimmicks (repo-man anyone??)

I think wwe has understood (at least partially) that his market has changed or grown up, and the kids which used to cheer hogan in the 80's, Austin and Rock during the 90's are now parents, or old guys which are less capable of applying any suspension of disbelief... so there are no gimmicks... or have become more real...

No body believes John Cena is a marine... I mean... Lashley was indeed a real marine... and it would have been odd pairing them to form "the supermen army" with both making the salute and wearing matching army outfits... or something like that...

Also nobody sees Cena as a 240 pound huge powerful version of Eminem... except maybe little kids, which is good I supose, wrestling industry will always need marks who cheer and boo loudly, not just smarks who like to love shelton benjamin and hate anyone who cannot perform a moonsault...

we can check te current roster... and who has a gimmick?
Batista: strong guy gimmick? Mark Henry: the same but stronger? Snitsky: the same but more boring version? Big Show: the same but bigger?

Elijah Burke, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Shanon Moore, Jamie Noble : IWC idol gimmick?

HHH: The boss'es daughter Husband, who loves to use politics to be champ... wait... nevermind...

the beloved Kennedy... does he have a gimmick??? is that of the eternal promise with a lot of potential who blows every single chance he gets??

Besides Kane and Taker I don't see gimmicks anymore... even Kane is now just a big bald doughy guy... does he have "powers"??? is he unstoppable??? he is not even scared for the big fire on his house (as the original storyline said so)...

the ultimate opportunist??? pffff... that's not a gimmick...

 

[Lil Wes]

Elijah Burke, Shelton Benjamin, Charlie Haas, Shanon Moore, Jamie Noble : IWC idol gimmick?

Although Elijah is an underrated talent.

HHH: The boss'es daughter Husband, who loves to use politics to be champ... wait... nevermind...

x2.

the beloved Kennedy... does he have a gimmick???

An arrogant, cocky loudmouth from Green Bay, Wisconsin who loves his name obviously.

is that of the eternal promise with a lot of potential who blows every single chance he gets??

Outside of that little incident last year

Injuries, they'll do that to you

 

[sharpsh00ter23]

John Cena is John Cena.

"The People's Champ" wasn't a gimmick as much as it was just a nickname.

What is Shawn Michaels gimmick? He doesn't have one. He's just Shawn Michaels.

What is Batista's gimmick? He doesn't have one. He's just Batista.


John Cena is just John Cena, a man who strives to be the best, just like everyone else.



But, if you want to use silly technical things like "Ric Flair: Leader of 4 Horsemen", then John Cena is the leader of the Chain Gang.

Good point, but what "gang" did John Cena actually lead or establish? He never led any sort of stable, like Ric Flair (4 Horsemen), Shawn Michaels (D-X), or Triple H (D-X, Evolution) did. John Cena is a disappointment all on the fact that Vince makes him seem "unstoppable." That's not a gimmick...

 

[Lil Wes]

John Cena is a disappointment all on the fact that Vince makes him seem "unstoppable."

John Cena and disappointment shouldn't be in the same sentence this day in age of pro wrestling.

 

[Slyfox696]

Good point, but what "gang" did John Cena actually lead or establish?

In 1990, what "gang" did Hulk Hogan lead? But, was he not the leader of the Hulkamaniacs all around the world?

He never led any sort of stable, like Ric Flair (4 Horsemen), Shawn Michaels (D-X), or Triple H (D-X, Evolution) did.

No, he just led the WWE itself.

John Cena is a disappointment all on the fact that Vince makes him seem "unstoppable." That's not a gimmick...

That doesn't even make sense.

 

[Slim Pickns]

Do we really need to be able to name every gimmick for every wrestler? Whether or not he has a gimmick, Cena is the most popular wrestler in the world today. Isn't that enough?

Also, Ric Flair as leader of the Four Horseman is a stretch on a gimmick name. If we go that route Cena could be Leader of the Chain Gang, The Chain Gang Soldier, The Marine, The Champ, etc.

 

[chrisgod]

This is becoming another "I hate Cena / I love Cena / I don't hate Cena but don't love Cena" thread...

I think gimmicks are more of a quasi theatric character... which is rare nowadays...

Undertaker IS a gimmick... does anybody think he goes by the world with the hat, rolling his eyes and summoning bolts??? he gets his happy meal at McDonalds and says "Thank you... you will reeeeest iiiiiin peeeeeeeaceeeeeeeeee"

Chuck Palumbo... well... his gimmick is that of a chopper store owner... sort of...

D&D is a gimmick... Boogeyman...

John Cena is just a successful wrestler... I think... is that his gimmick??? does he need a catch phrase???

Wat will it be??? "And that's the bottom rhyme... cause the marine said so!"

 

[Lil Wes]

Translator? Sly?

 

[Shadowmancer]

Yeah but what elements are coming through to create the personality. Look at Edge. You have a clearly defined set of his moral standings in calling him the rated R superstar. He Portrayed them he fits his character into the position that he is in like the Rock Star Prima Donna. He is smart so he makes the best options available to him at the right time. The actual components of his gimmick are easy to see and Label. I can't do that with Cena. If you can do that then you have a gimmick that you can see and understand, there is no current Cena gimmick. He is out of the current Title Picture so that rules out Sly's idea on his gimmick, It is what I am trying to get at, you look for commonalities and whether you can name the aspects as something.

 

[Slyfox696]

Yeah but what elements are coming through to create the personality. Look at Edge. You have a clearly defined set of his moral standings in calling him the rated R superstar. He Portrayed them he fits his character into the position that he is in like the Rock Star Prima Donna. He is smart so he makes the best options available to him at the right time. The actual components of his gimmick are easy to see and Label. I can't do that with Cena. If you can do that then you have a gimmick that you can see and understand, there is no current Cena gimmick. He is out of the current Title Picture so that rules out Sly's idea on his gimmick, It is what I am trying to get at, you look for commonalities and whether you can name the aspects as something.

Wait...why does it rule out my idea? The last time we saw John Cena, it was in the Backlash main-event for the title. How has my idea been ruled out?


And, for Cena you have a very clear moral standings for him to be John Cena. You're making all these other exemptions for other wrestlers, but are not willing to make them for Cena. So, because Edge gave himself a nickname, suddenly that's a gimmick? Please. His gimmick is an opportunistic cowardly heel. Just like Cena's is a no-nonsense, never back down, hard-working, and always strive to be the best gimmick.

You wanted an answer, and are now arguing with people when they are giving you one.