Who is Impact Wrestling's ''John Cena''?

[Odisho]

simple question, WHO IS THE ''JOHN CENA'' or ''company man'' of TNA/IW.y?

For me, Aj StyleZ. AJ Stylez was the only reason why i started watching TNA in 2005. This guy(and Chris' Daniels) made me think TNA was better then WWE for a while. all of AJ's matches was picture perfect, it was a work of art. AJ Styles vs Chistopher Daniels vs Samoa Joe is probobly one of the greatest triple threat matches i have ever seen. Spot after Spot, every 30 seconds i found myself ''blushing'' as i was falling in love(lol, romantic). Espessially AJ styles vs christopher daniels iron man match. i believe it actually could be on the on the same level as HBK vs Bret. AJ is great in the ring, super athletic, can go from a ground game to flying in the air. Great technission. To me AJ Stylez might come close to the tittle ''best wrestler in the world''. I mean if you compare AJ Styles to CM Punk, AJ makes punk look like john cena in the ring.(CM punk makes AJ look like evan bourne on the mic, ) The only talent that could be the company man other than styles would be sting. robert roode and James storm are not there just yet, but soon.

So who would you consider to be TNA/IW's #1 guy?

 

[LegendKiller716]

I don't think they have a John Cena. That's one of IW's biggest problems. I think they're pushing James Storm to be that guy, but it's gonna be a long journey, as he is far from a #1 guy right now. I think at next year's BFG Storm will win the belt and go on to be the main guy. However IW management has ADD and might forget about his push.

 

[dtroppe]

Is this a real question? Obviously if TNA had a Cena it would be obvious. TNA is basically an indie promotion on steroids. There is no major star in the company other than Hogan. And trust me Hogan is not a TNA company man.

 

[mlp420]

^That's bullshit. TNA has plenty of star power. They don't have a Cena, but there's only been 3 other guys in wrestling history that have been bigger than Cena. And there might not be another one in either company.

 

[mlp420]

I don't think they have a John Cena. That's one of IW's biggest problems. I think they're pushing James Storm to be that guy, but it's gonna be a long journey, as he is far from a #1 guy right now. I think at next year's BFG Storm will win the belt and go on to be the main guy. However IW management has ADD and might forget about his push.

Explain to me who else the WWE has been able to get to Cena's level with all of their exposure and resources over the past 8 years?

 

[Jerichoholic8894]

They don't have a John Cena. They have AJ Styles, who is nowhere close to John Cena, but it's what they got

I'm not sure they will ever really have a John Cena. And don't say Sting or Kurt Angle, to me the "Cena" is someone who started off a nobody, and built himself up to this mega start. Kurt Angle and Sting were huge before TNA, maybe not the theme of a kids birthday huge, but still a big name to the wrestling business

 

[dtroppe]

TNA has a lot of star power? Really? Who? Kurt Angle and thats it. If there is so much star power why dont more people watch? Stars draw numbers, merchandise sales, publicity? Where are these stars? And by the way mugshots and arrest reports don't count as publicity.

 

[Headman]

They don't have one. It's not really a knock on TNA either. After the Rock left the WWE didn't have that John Cena / Hulk Hogan / Stone Cold type either. You can ask who TNA's top guy is, but there's nobody there who could be called their John Cena. Some people seem to think it's easy to create a top level star, but if it were the WWE would be turning them out left and right.

 

[mlp420]

TNA has a lot of star power? Really? Who? Kurt Angle and thats it. If there is so much star power why dont more people watch? Stars draw numbers, merchandise sales, publicity? Where are these stars? And by the way mugshots and arrest reports don't count as publicity.

I'm guessing you're one of these people that like to seize TNA's ratings as a chance to pass yourself off as an expert on pro wresting. This ratings obsession is out of control. Since TNA does 1.0s that means nobody on the roster's a star? Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, Hogan and Sting. None of those guys have any appeal?

By that logic nobody in the WWE (besides Cena) is a star either because every big name on the roster besides Cena has been moved over to Smackdown to help bring the ratings up. CM Punk, Randy Orton, Triple H, Undertaker, Batista, Chis Jericho, among others have gone over in the draft. Yet three years in a row, Smackdown has average in the high 1s in the ratings. If Randy Orton is a star, why didn't Smackdown's ratings go up last year when WWE decided the build the show around him?

As for Raw, ratings are declining for the 3rd year in a row, WWE brought the Rock back. Did he increase ratings? No. Did he help their Survivor Series buyrate? No.(That was the Miz's fault....) Did he increase their Wrestlemania buyrate? Early reports say no. They brought Lesnar back, has he increased ratings? No. They made Raw a supershow, meaning everyone on both rosters are on the show, and they still can't reverse RAW's steady decline in the ratings. So where are all the stars in the WWE?

 

[Pedigree1]

TNA has a lot of star power? Really? Who? Kurt Angle and thats it. If there is so much star power why dont more people watch? Stars draw numbers, merchandise sales, publicity? Where are these stars? And by the way mugshots and arrest reports don't count as publicity.

Wow i guess guys like AJ styles Bobby Roode james storm Jeff hardy are not starts huh? Samoa Joe Kaz,Christopher Daniels, Austin Aries, not stars huh. Anderson! Listen Tna probably wont be on WWE's level WWE/WWF/WWWF has been around for like 50 plus years!! TNA has been around barely 10!! TNA as of late has been putting on quite the fucking show and some of their matches are better than the WWE's. Give TNA some time its going to grow and they will move out of the impact zone.

 

[itssoeasy123]

I don't think AJ Styles is TNA's "John Cena." They don't have a "John Cena," a guy who's easily marketable to the younger fanbase and sells shit-loads of merchandise and tickets. Having a top guy is what TNA is seriously lacking in to be a cohesive company. Both ECW and WCW didn't have a top guy, a main character. They both ended up in the same place, in Vince McMahon's video library.

A top guy is someone who a majority of people pay to see. And considering TNA doesn't even charge money to their Impact tapings in Orlando, they don't have a top guy.

 

[LynchCats]

There is no "John Cena" on the TNA roster, YET. And I emphasize yet because I haven't seen anyone that TNA has built to be that one megastar on the level of John Cena. They've had the opportunity to do that with AJ Styles, but they can't seem to decide whether or not to build the "Franchise" so to speak around him or not. They've teased him as The Man, but he hasn't been able to carry the ball and run with it for a prolonged period of time. I compare Styles more to a guy like a Chris Jericho, someone who fits the mold of both the mid-card and the main event level because of how well he works in the ring.

I think the guy they could try to turn into their "John Cena" is Crimson. He seems to have that it factor and he's been built up enough so that he's intimidating, but he hasn't been shoved down the throats of the fans (yet).

 

[BreezyDaProtege]

TNA has no main guy as their face but they have more TALENT then WWE. Its kind of like WWE is the LA Lakers of wrestling with Cena being Kobe and TNA is the Miami Heat...they have multiple stars but no ring. lol. Besides WWE built Cena for 8years which is about the time TNA has been around so lets say they need more time before they have they Cena. But I will say AJ Styles because he is the reason i even tuned in to see TNA in the first place because i heard so much about him and he is better than most if not all the WWE roster and i love WWE

 

[Reflection]

like legendkiller said above, they don't have a John Cena, and that i7 their biggest problem. AJ Styles used to be the top face, then all of a sudden, BOOM! his push was ended and he was used to elevate less capable guys. If they needed a top face like John Cena, it was AJ, and they let go of thìs opportunity. They then pushed jeff hardy, but he screwed up. Now they are pushing james storm, but i am not convinced that its a good idea. Its worth noting that Ring ka King is only a few months old, yet they already have a face of the company in the form of Mahavali Veera. Steiner was right, this team of hogan-bischoff-pritchard has a lot to learn.

 

[Reflection]

another guy they could push as top face is Chris Sabin. His wrestling abilities are on par with AJ's, maybe even better. He is decent on the mic as well, also looks good physically. They should give him a chance at the upper card and see how he fares.

 

[d_henderson1810]

Is the question who is TNA's No. 1 guy, or is it who in TNA no-sells and people are sick of seeing all the time, and the fans just wished he died or at least retired?

If it is the latter, then that man would be Hulk Hogan. Remember him? He would no-sell, hog the title, had only three moves (as opposed to Cena's five), would always main-event, always had the title, and seemed to overcome massive odds every time.

The funny thing is, when Hogan did this, the IWC loved him. Yet when Cena does THE EXACT SAME THING, he gets castigated for it.

I smell double-standards!

 

[dtroppe]

Some of you guys say the craziest things. I can't believe someone would say that Roode, Storm, or Styles is a star. That is crazy. Roode could be a top guy one day- but there would need to be some big changes in either TNA or his choice to be in TNA. Styles looks like an average Joe- so what he is decent in the ring. These guys arent stars though. To be a star you have to be on a big stage and TNA is not that stage yet.

I think its also crazy to say that TNA has the best talent. Thats nuts. WWE spends time,energy, and money to ensure they have the best talent. Most of the top guys in TNA are ex WWE guys and WWE doesnt miss them. Why should they when the have the absoulte best talent on their payroll- HHH, HBK, Taker, Rock, Stone Cold, Brock Lesner, Cena, Orton, Punk, Kane, Bigshow- these guys are all huge names in the business. TNA has Hogan, Flair, and Angle.

 

[Mr Mikey Mike]

TNA has no main guy as their face but they have more TALENT then WWE. Its kind of like WWE is the LA Lakers of wrestling with Cena being Kobe and TNA is the Miami Heat...they have multiple stars but no ring. lol.

This makes no sense whatsoever as the miami heat actually sell out arenas wherever they go. If wwe is the lakers then tna are the charlotte bobcats. I'd like to think tna doesn't curently have a John Cena but that's not a bad thing. They still have a ton of great talent and I think if anyone's close to Cena in tna it would probably have to be Jeff Hardy.

 

[Mr Mikey Mike]

I'm guessing you're one of these people that like to seize TNA's ratings as a chance to pass yourself off as an expert on pro wresting. This ratings obsession is out of control. Since TNA does 1.0s that means nobody on the roster's a star? Jeff Hardy, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair, Hogan and Sting. None of those guys have any appeal?

By that logic nobody in the WWE (besides Cena) is a star either because every big name on the roster besides Cena has been moved over to Smackdown to help bring the ratings up. CM Punk, Randy Orton, Triple H, Undertaker, Batista, Chis Jericho, among others have gone over in the draft. Yet three years in a row, Smackdown has average in the high 1s in the ratings. If Randy Orton is a star, why didn't Smackdown's ratings go up last year when WWE decided the build the show around him?

As for Raw, ratings are declining for the 3rd year in a row, WWE brought the Rock back. Did he increase ratings? No. Did he help their Survivor Series buyrate? No.(That was the Miz's fault....) Did he increase their Wrestlemania buyrate? Early reports say no. They brought Lesnar back, has he increased ratings? No. They made Raw a supershow, meaning
everyone on both rosters are on the show, and they still can't reverse RAW's steady decline in the ratings. So where are all the stars in the WWE?

Just to let you know raw still is a top 5 show on cable each week and the raw after mania was the number one show on cable for the week. It's not all about ratings what's also important is the ability to draw crowds which is something Tna hasn't been able to do.

 

[GameOver]

noone. they have a plethera of upper midcarders who have only shined very briefly

Kurt Angle is the closest they have to a still competing superstar and he is a shell of his former self and is not a good ambassador for the company when he rants.

 

[Headman]

noone. they have a plethera of upper midcarders who have only shined very briefly

Kurt Angle is the closest they have to a still competing superstar and he is a shell of his former self and is not a good ambassador for the company when he rants.

This is the most important distinction between John Cena and anybody TNA has. They don't have a guy who can go on the today show or guest star on episodic television while representing the brand as an ambassador. Cena does more for the company than wrestle. Angle would spend more time answering questions about his wacky behavior than talking about TNA.

 

[DA_Masta_Detekta]

to be fair i disagree im not a big fan of tna but i do watch and i have to say if we are talking about not just being a wrestler but having that look that can cross genres i have to say a lot of the x division are capable of being "those" guys. down to earth people persons. i know ill probly get heat for saying that but even still think about it styles, daniels, aries, shelly they all have that openess to them that makes ya feel like your wlecome there when your at a tna show.

 

[BreezyDaProtege]

This makes no sense whatsoever as the miami heat actually sell out arenas wherever they go. If wwe is the lakers then tna are the charlotte bobcats. I'd like to think tna doesn't curently have a John Cena but that's not a bad thing. They still have a ton of great talent and I think if anyone's close to Cena in tna it would probably have to be Jeff Hardy.

Ok let me clarify what i was saying. Im not talking about popularity and selling out arenas im talking about talent wise. Kobe carries the lakers like Cena carries WWE and TNA relies on multiple talent like the heat with bosh/wade/lebron. Lakers are always in the championship hunt and have alot under there belt and the heat have not lived up to the expectations just yet. Like TNA...we all would like to see them succeed in some form but it has not happened yet.

 

[HBsam31]

When I think TNA I think AJ Styles. I think this thread is being looked at the wrong way. Obviously TNA isn't going to have someone with the star power of Cena. Cena is a household name. He has a kid following that I haven't seen since Hulk Hogan. He does charity work like it is job, and does PR stuff for the WWE all the time. Given the fact that TNA doesn't have the resources of WWE I think AJ would be the closest thing they have. He bleeds TNA and you can tell his loyalty is there. If you asked any fan about TNA and they knew the product I am sure AJ would be the first name that comes to mind. Roode and Storm may get there but it will take some time.

 

[It's Damn Real!]

I hate to say it, for those of you who think this honor belongs to AJ Styles, but the answer is Kurt Angle.

Angle has been, for years, the most marketable and most dominant commodity for the company, and the competition, as much as we'd like it to be, just isn't close.

Styles could be that guy in the future, with the right push behind him, but even now as it stands, the guy to play next in line to Angle is going to be Hardy.