Would Cena be missed?

[Shadowmancer]

This entire thread effectively asks whether Cena is bigger than the WWE, the WWE survives the losses of its Main Eventers quite well, they survived the loss of Hogan, they survived the loss of The Rock, they can survive the loss of John Cena. The WWE can manufacture another mega-star as they did with both Brock Lesnar and Cena. So he would be missed for a month to a year then it wouldn't matter because by then a new star would have taken his position and gotten just as over with the fans if not more so. So it is actually hard to say on how long but It would end up being Cena not being missed on the whole, it is all the question of whether Cena transcends wrestling which he hasn't yet.

 

[Wrestlefest07]

These comebacks after injuries always take a superstar to the next level in their career, and I think it will do the same for Cena. I was there in New York for One Night Stand, and people wanted him to be publicly executed AND he f'n knew it.
Nevertheless, Cena road through it for the business.
Personally, I would like to see him come back as a cocky heel. And bring his raps
they weren't the best flows, but they made me laugh.

 

[nailinthecoffin]

i personally wouldnt miss him, i cannot stand him, as soon as he comes onto RAW week in week out and cuts his promo i want to kick him in the balls to shut him up, he talks about being 'against the odds' so much that phil collins should be singing his f'n theme tune

the only thing he is to WWE is merchandising, the only reason he was champion for so long was because he could shift the most t-shirts a month, but like its already been said, he didnt need to be champion to do that, look at CM punk, he wasnt ECW champion for ages, yet i bet he made the WWE a damn good amount of money just because the fans react to him well, if they put cena on the bottom of the card, and gave him two minutes to speak a night, the marks would be happy, we wouldnt all have to complain as much, and wwe would still sell out on all their 'chain gang' shirts.

i dont think hes a huge enough star though to be missed severely for years and years to come, what the wwe have doen with cena is what they couldve done with any wrestler on the roster, take jeff hardy, sure alot of people hate the guy, but the little kids go nuts for him week in week out, market him like they have done for cena and theyve got a replacement already, cena is a manufactured drone that wwe will milk until they drive him into the ground.

if he never came back though, he wouldnt be missed, he really wouldnt, sure his fanbase would be disappointed he wouldnt be back cutting another repetitive promo or having another stale match, but he wouldnt be missed. For example, Shawn Micheals is on a huge roll now, the fans are really getting behind him, and he must be getting the loudest pop of the night (or possibly behind jericho), if he came out tonight and said 'im retiring for good' he would be missed, fans would have signs out for weeks on end asking him to come back, so far i havent seen any signs to bring back cena, it is like alot of the crowd have already forgotten who he is.

which proves the point completely, so far i dont think hes been missed

 

[RabidChihuahua]

The obvious answer to this question has to be yes. It might not matter to some, maybe even a large number of, members of the IWC, but overall Cena would be missed. Would it be to the extent that Ric Flair was missed when he was having issues with WCW? Probably not, but missed nonetheless.

What we all have to remember is that wrestling (like other forms of entertainment) will continue to exist even without performers like Stone Cold, the Rock, Big Show, Goldberg, Bret Hart, Trish Stratus, Lita, Chyna, Chris Benoit, Eddy Guerrero, Owen Hart or Brian Pillman being in the picture. Yes John Cena will be missed and to say otherwise is being disingenuous, IMO.

The better question is how long would he be missed? Everyone discusses wrestlers for a while once they're no longer on the television, but would the discussion last for awhile (like when Flair was forced out in WCW) or would the discussion be really short (like when Big Show decided to step away) or non-existent (like when Essa Rios just disappeared from the WWE)?

I don't have the answer to that question, but I figure he's probably closer to Big Show at this point in time.

 

[kieran_devlin]

proper wrestling fans wouldnt miss him the kids would tho and wwe would because he draws a big children's crowd and sells merch

i wouldnt miss him i used to like him when he was US Champ but thats a long time ago

hard to say they might just move a new guy into his spot or really milk it for months

 

[orangepee]

i would miss the guy and so would my wife... we met him on monday night... yes he was at the raw tapings and yes he was in good spirits... he is taking the trip to iraq to visit troops... he's a nice guy and taller then you think!

 

[julieannclements]

I say it is hard to say, because it is equal. Half of the WWE audience love John, but the other half hate him. Give it a month or two and no one will care.

 

[FoleyIsGod]

Im not sure, the Raw's that are on now are much better than the ones with Cena headlining each week. Sometimes its good (wtf) when a superstar gets injured, especially when they are as stale as Cena's gimmick. This gives the guy a chance to rest up, hell, he was on every show for damn near 2 years, he must have been knackered and perhaps come back refreshed with a slightly altered gimmick.

Personally, I hope he comes back with his attitude of before, playing more of a tweener character than the goofy babyface that the kids love.

But on the kids note, anyone else noticed that Raw is moving away from the adult market and more to the children, hence with things like Hornswoggle's cartoon antics?

 

[MR.SCOTT]

I miss Cena, but I do agree that giving him time off (the injury) is good for his image with the wrestling fans. There are people who hate him but they'll still miss him and those same people will cheer for Cena when he returns. It's a trend. When HHH was injured with the knee injury during the McMahon-Helmsley Era, he was hated by a lot of fans, but when he made his return, he had the loudest cheer ever. The same could happen to Cena.

Cenas image and character became stale, he needs this time off to reoup from injury and to give his character more momentum, people where hating on him so i hope now with his absence the iwc will realise that his character was an important part of raw and the wwe title

 

[ACTAFOOL]

yes he would be missed... i would miss him... b4 i was like 99% of the IWC that hated cena, but u gotta look past his terrible booking and see how great he actually is

i think cena is a guy who would have been great during the attitude era where it was pure brawling, hes got great charisma and great mic skills.. i think he would've been interesting in the attitude era

but one of the other reasons he was so boring during this last year is cuz pretty much every1 was injured... but when he had decent ppl to work with hes feuds were actually good, i enjoyed his RVD feud.. honestly who didnt? also his feuds with HBK, HHH, and Edge were very good, his orton feud was getting a very good reaction from the IWC until he got injured, if cena is put in a feud with a decent opponent then he can make it interesting... and i think WWE really isnt using cena to his full potential.. they are just using him to sell a shit load of merchandise

but if they gave him the freedom to do more shit in ring, and play a better, more interesting gimmick than the babyface he played through 2 straight years he would be much better, with his mic skills and charisma he could be an amazing heel, b4 when he was heel he was still green but was still more interesting than nowadays, but imagine him, now that hes more established, as a major heel? he could be great IMO..

 

[Rusty]

How can you not miss John Cena. He is amazing whether it be on the mic or in the ring. He has lots of passion for the business which is pretty rare in nowadays.

I have 2 agree that hes booking has been boring and lame but he is talented whether u like him or hate him u have to admit he is interesting to watch. Every week on Raw to me it just feels like someone is missing and then I think oh thats right Cena is injured. He is dedicated to wrestling and it reliable. Hell he was the top dog for over a year and trust me that cnt be easy.

 

[hugrad]

John Cena was en route to Bruno Sammartino status. He held the title longer than most champions in recent years. He's very talented and multi dimensional. But when someone like him goes down and stays out for months, it does 2 things: it allows a few people to shine, and it keeps others back, as in those who were working with Cena. I know that sounds weird, but when last has Kennedy and Umaga sought the title since Cena went down? Cena sells merchandise. He draws crowds. And also, someone else who enjoys watching will one day slowly develop into a high profile talent. We just dont know when.