What is Cena's Gimmick?

[Shadowmancer]

And yes on this forum he is no longer live.

 

[Skullz Crack'Em]

John Cena is WWE's Ronald McDonald, he is the mascot of the WWE, he will never say a bad word about the company, he will always be passionate about the business and is the main role model for younger fans. Basically, he is the Anti-Steve Austin, while Austin was appealing to teens and adults 10 years ago, Cena appeals to a younger audience today. His gimmick is Stone Cold without the Beer, foul language, or middle finger.

 

[Los666]

First he was a rapper, then he made that stupid movie and began doing marine salutes, so no-one really knew what his gimmick was. When he started in WWE he was great cause you knew what you were getting, people understood him. But after he won the WWE title the rapping stopped, the salutes started and he started becoming over passionate about things, (sure Samoa Joe can get over passionate in TNA, but when he does it, its far more believeable).

Compare Cena to others in WWE...

Triple H
The Game, a man who will do anything to become champion, that includes using a sledgehammer on your opponants and betraying your friends.

Randy Orton
The Legend Killer, pretty self explanitory. Although I will admit he has moved away from 'killing' legends as of late.

Undertaker
The Deadman, probably the most recognisable gimmick in pro. wrestling history that seems to stand the test of time.

What do we learn from all of this? That if you were to ask the majority of wrestlers in WWE what their gimmicks were all about they would be able to answer the question with ease, but Cena probably couldn't because we're not even sure if he knows his own gimmick. People don't hate Cena cause he can't wrestle, because he can, its just his character/gimmick that annoys everyone (well except the kids).

 

[powers_the_dragon]

Who says Cena has to have a gimmick? His gimmick is that he is John Cena. He's someone who works very hard to attain his goals. Maybe his gimmick is that if you work hard you can get what you want even if you are "the underdog"? I'm not the biggest Cena fan, but I don't think he's that bad either. I think women like him because he's not a bad looking guy and kids like him because he is clean-cut. Why are we all still discussing this? lol

 

[ty970]

the reason why he acts like that is that vince is trying to recreate old gimmicks cuz he has no idea what he's doing now. I mean just look at the roster now

John Cena = Hulk Hogan
Batista = any roided up wrestler in the 80's
Khali = Giant Gonzales
JBL = Ted Bibiase
Carlito = Razor Ramon
John Morrison =Shawn Michaels(his entire career retrospect)
Matt Striker = Dean Douglass
Big Daddy V = King Kong Bundy
Kevin Thorn = Gangrel

And check wrestlers before them

Orlando Jordan = Virgil
Muhammadan Hassan = The Iron Sheik
We all know he doesn't know how to use gimmicks correctly for example:

Vince's Ideas

Steve Austin = The Ringmaster
The Rock = Rocky Maivia
Nova = Simon Dean
Rikishi = The Sultan
Brian Adams = Adam Bomb
and thats about all i can think of

 

[travis_touchdown]

I feel that various posters have made great points. NoFate made a good reply I would like to add on to. Afterwards I’ll point out other interesting aspects of this discussion.

If you choose to believe that all wrestlers have a gimmick than it’s also necessary to realize they are not applied in the same manner. In the WWE there are two categories of gimmick that are generally used—the outlandish character and the more practical one. This was explained by NoFate.

John Cena satisfies the requirements of a more practical character. The absence of a nickname should not prevent you from realizing that. A nickname can be a way to determine character but isn’t without fault. Nicknames do not always describe the full scope of a character. They can also be used to describe a behavior.

Someone bought up CM Punk, he has a gimmick that of a Straight Edge Wrestler. That can be used in either a face way, which he has been doing for some time now in ECW. And He can go down the Heel route with it in that he says that he is Straight Edge so he is better than everyone because of that fact, as he did on the Indy Scene. That is his Gimmick.

He assumes the straight edge lifestyle but the majority of his segments do not serve as constant reminder of this. Instead he is given a practical character.

Similar to how John Cena wears clothes of hip-hop influence and arrives to the ring with the aid of the music. However, when we hear Cena speak, we are greeted by a practical character.

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 posibtion 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.

Again, you are describing the trait but exclude him from your Cena treatment because he satisfies a nickname. How is that rational?

yeah but Shawn Michaels and Batista have gimmicks that you can pin point with a name

Batista has no personality or Soul so it is pretty hard to give him a Gimmick

Say what?