WWE cut Cena's legs off by not continuing the Rapper character

[lucas_storm2]

your so right in saying wwe cut Cenas Legs off.

He has main event how many wrestlemanias now one or two? I mean him and Micheals wrestled in front just a couple of people at mania 23 it was not that many :S and he has been the champion only once or twice now.he now only has a small Fanbase,

just joking,

I dont Agree at all, Like it or not John Cena is the Biggest Star going.Im not a fan of his but he sells tickets,merchandise.He is the face of the company that Lame mid card gimmick would never have lasted that long and say it did work out he would still be slated by the wrestling community as everyone is told enough about his "5 moves" or whatever it is thats going round about him.

A Instance that comes to mind as a wrestling fan for me, how was you ever going to root for the rapper over Heel HHH at wrestlemania 22 when J.R said it was wrestling vs Rap now. unless you are a massive Rap fan it was never going to be a selling point, i cringed heavily.

In the Mid Card it worked,he was a Heel trying to build a name using the aggressiveness to make it Work for him,but when he turned Face it was pretty poor when he had to rhyme about christian or I dont know Jericho being Gay or something, it was pretty dire.

Im sure John Cena will most likely admit he prefers this Gimmick as it has made him ALOT of money.

But maybe Im wrong John Cena might of been even bigger than he is now if he carried on you never know really,Lets face it one of their Biggest Stars in the history of the company is a basically a zombie...look how that turned out

 

[Tastycles]

I don't see why you can't have both with Cena. I mean, the full on rapper gimmick is never going to be taken seriously, and it probably shouldn't be, but I don't see why he can't bring in some elements of character into his current persona. The thing that Cena is missing most is any discernible character. Austin was a bad ass, Rock was cocky, Hogan was a role model, Warrior was weird. All of them had something, whereas Cena is generic good guy. The gimmick is too goofy for a main eventer, but he could probably still cut the odd rapping promo every now and then, just to make him a bit more rounded.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Cena is a role model as well, ala Hogan. Pretty easy comparison there Tasty, really.


Dammit if there is nothing that gets old, its fucking threads about Cena's gimmick. No, they shouldnt bring any sort of that gimmick back, don't be a moron. Its not really built for mass appeal, or at least the mass appeal that the WWE wants Cena to represent. If Cena wasnt "THE" guy, then maybe, but not in the way they want ot market him, no. Parents dont want their children cheering on some guy who is involved in that damn filthy rap music.

 

[Super Crazy]

Marketing the face of the company as a thug is not going to get over well. At least, not in the PG era, maybe if it was before now, it might work well. But Cena is a man that children look up to now. He is the modern day Hogan, and it works for him. He still has some of the small aspects of the rapper gimmick, but I don't know why people want it back.

I know he was entertaining then, but that was just a way to get Cena over with the crowd on his way up to the top. Once he was over, and was the face of the company, and after about his third or fourth title reign, when the belt stopped spinning, the gimmick was done with.

I would not like to see a gimmick like this come back, at least not for him. Like I said, you do not want to market the face of the company as a thug, he'd lose a lot of fans, and all the kids would lose their role model.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

Cena is a role model as well, ala Hogan. Pretty easy comparison there Tasty, really.

Yes, he is a role model. But for some reason, he couldn't come anywhere near Hogan's level, now could he?

Let's get real. There is absolutely no comparison between Hogan as a star and Cena as a star. Today's fans only wish they could live in the Era of a Megastar, but thanks to Vince McMahon, who lost his grapefruits over the years, that is not a possibility.

I would say if not for Cena, then the WWE would be hurting even more. But Cena and his current direction along with the overall direction of the product, has both helped and hurt WWE at the same time.

But there is no denying that thanks to Cena and Vince's current direction with him, and plus pushing him as THE FACE of the company, that this has prevented Cena from entering the Mega Star ranks of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock.

Clearly, Vince is not giving the majority of wrestling fans what they want to see out of Cena, and instead opted to please the lesser of his fanbase ... the Kids. But in the long run, he has prevented his next Megastar from rising to full potential.

The Rapper character could have done that for Cena and Vince. And I am not saying he had to come out and do a rap every single week like he used to, but yes it should have been a big part of his character. The crowd was squarely behind Cena when he was playing this character. And had he been pushed to the moon in this character, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have been far more successful, and likely have sold a lot of merchandise as well, to the older teens and adults.

He could have had strong merchandise revenues as well as strong PPV buys, and House Show revenue by giving the adults what they wanted to see. An edgy character that reflected pop culture. Instead, he opted to go the safe route, and obviously, we saw what happened these past few years with that. Your top face in the company getting equally cheered and booed ... and in some arenas actually booed more so than cheered.

Dammit if there is nothing that gets old, its fucking threads about Cena's gimmick.

I think if anything, the numerous threads point to it being a strong topic of debate on how WWE possibly royally fucked up with Cena.

I like Cena, don't get me wrong. And I will always defend him as a worker. But Creatively-speaking ... Yes, WWE dropped the ball and Fucked up Big Time.

No, they shouldnt bring any sort of that gimmick back, don't be a moron. Its not really built for mass appeal, or at least the mass appeal that the WWE wants Cena to represent.

I would argue that he was designed as a rapper for mass appeal. His reactions were tremendous, and had absolute solid crowd support behind him 100% of the time in each city, as the Rapper.

But Vince wants Cena to cater to kids, the minority of his audience, so we know how that goes.

If Cena wasnt "THE" guy, then maybe, but not in the way they want to market him, no. Parents dont want their children cheering on some guy who is involved in that damn filthy rap music.

And unfortunately, adults ... the ones with the cash ... don't want to get behind some watered-down, all-around nice guy in this day and age. That Era ended with Hulk Hogan.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Yes, he is a role model. But for some reason, he couldn't come anywhere near Hogan's level, now could he?

totally a fair and just comparison, between ability, and eras. Totally. He definately wouldve been near that level if he wouldve hung onto the rapper gimmick though

Let's get real.

But there is no denying that thanks to Cena and Vince's current direction with him, and plus pushing him as THE FACE of the company, that this has prevented Cena from entering the Mega Star ranks of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock.

It has fuck all to do with the direction of the company, or, the direciton creative went with Cena's character. It has everything to do with the face that Cena isnt even near the same league as those three guys. Neither is anyone else to ever step in the ring.

The Rapper character could have done that for Cena and Vince.

Well yea, becuase everyone LOVES rap music. Word to your moms, I came to drop bombs.

The crowd was squarely behind Cena when he was playing this character.

this was also when he was a mid carder. and mid carders are cool. Like tag teams. Once people win a major title, and have a long reign = not cool. Er, at least to the sect of the crowd that boos Cena.

I think if anything, the numerous threads point to it being a strong topic of debate on how WWE possibly royally fucked up with Cena.

A strong topic among imbeciles. Yes. Kane should like, totally put the mask back on too.

I like Cena, don't get me wrong. And I will always defend him as a worker. But Creatively-speaking ... Yes, WWE dropped the ball and Fucked up Big Time.

You are close here. I don't so much belive his character development was such a fuck up, but the booking of his matches were. During the build up and transition to Super Cena, I could fucking close my eyes and tell you what was happening in the match. For, about 2 years.

Now onto how they actually in reality cut his legs out. By having him feud with, and lose to, a couple of bags of shit like JBL and Big Show. Did nothing for anyone, besides making Cena look like just another guy. Which is in direct conflict to everything they did with him for years. When Cena loses the title now, does it have 1% of the impact that Edge spearing him after the EC did? Absolutely not. Booking team. Hey, they do a lot of dumb shit though. Belive me, I too belive the WWE cut Cena's legs out, but not for the reasons stated in this thread.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

Yes, he is a role model. But for some reason, he couldn't come anywhere near Hogan's level, now could he?

Let's get real. There is absolutely no comparison between Hogan as a star and Cena as a star. Today's fans only wish they could live in the Era of a Megastar, but thanks to Vince McMahon, who lost his grapefruits over the years, that is not a possibility.

I would say if not for Cena, then the WWE would be hurting even more. But Cena and his current direction along with the overall direction of the product, has both helped and hurt WWE at the same time.

But there is no denying that thanks to Cena and Vince's current direction with him, and plus pushing him as THE FACE of the company, that this has prevented Cena from entering the Mega Star ranks of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Rock.

Clearly, Vince is not giving the majority of wrestling fans what they want to see out of Cena, and instead opted to please the lesser of his fanbase ... the Kids. But in the long run, he has prevented his next Megastar from rising to full potential.

The Rapper character could have done that for Cena and Vince. And I am not saying he had to come out and do a rap every single week like he used to, but yes it should have been a big part of his character. The crowd was squarely behind Cena when he was playing this character. And had he been pushed to the moon in this character, there is no doubt in my mind that he would have been far more successful, and likely have sold a lot of merchandise as well, to the older teens and adults.

He could have had strong merchandise revenues as well as strong PPV buys, and House Show revenue by giving the adults what they wanted to see. An edgy character that reflected pop culture. Instead, he opted to go the safe route, and obviously, we saw what happened these past few years with that. Your top face in the company getting equally cheered and booed ... and in some arenas actually booed more so than cheered.




I think if anything, the numerous threads point to it being a strong topic of debate on how WWE possibly royally fucked up with Cena.

I like Cena, don't get me wrong. And I will always defend him as a worker. But Creatively-speaking ... Yes, WWE dropped the ball and Fucked up Big Time.




I would argue that he was designed as a rapper for mass appeal. His reactions were tremendous, and had absolute solid crowd support behind him 100% of the time in each city, as the Rapper.

But Vince wants Cena to cater to kids, the minority of his audience, so we know how that goes.




And unfortunately, adults ... the ones with the cash ... don't want to get behind some watered-down, all-around nice guy in this day and age. That Era ended with Hulk Hogan.

They had that rapper gimmick on Cena for two and a half years and he was haivng matches that either nobody cared or about or have forgotten. You complain about how most things in the WWE are stale so wouldn't Cena have grown stale eventually if they kept up with the rapping gimmick? Even some look back on Austin's career and said he did the same thing over and over and that it got boring. The rap music they put out now is crap most of the time so I don't think his gimmick would last with that out there.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

They had that rapper gimmick on Cena for two and a half years and he was haivng matches that either nobody cared or about or have forgotten. You complain about how most things in the WWE are stale so wouldn't Cena have grown stale eventually if they kept up with the rapping gimmick? Even some look back on Austin's career and said he did the same thing over and over and that it got boring. The rap music they put out now is crap most of the time so I don't think his gimmick would last with that out there.

Sure people forgot about them. Because they were so long ago. Nobody cared because he wasn't given the monster push until his Rap character was over. Then, they gave him a "No Gimmick Needed" personality of just being himself on steroids. And people wonder why nobody cares about him?

Are you seriously going to compare his rap character to his character today in terms of crowd support in each of the arenas? The Rap character was what put Cena on the map. Where as he gets boos today, there were all cheers back then, and he had their attention. People cared about him.

As far as his Rap character getting stale, that is where creativity comes into play. You don't have to send him out rapping every single week, or maybe even every two weeks aren't needed, either.

Groom him as an 8-Mile character from the streets, who raps as his passion. Maybe that is what he did to try to make money growing up (kayfabe, of course).

You can vary how the Rap character is portrayed as opposed to simply ditching it altogether and giving him a "No Gimmick Needed" persona.

This "No Gimmick Needed" persona is one of the worst inventions in the history of the wrestling business.

 

[jayteeERA]

Cena rap/thug gimmick fits him perfectly. Sure alot of wrestler wouldn't pulled it off & would be too goofy for it. Not Cena.


Cena had some pretty good ass matches with this gimmick like , Carlito, Taker, Angle Big show, & JBL. He should of went farther with the rap/thug gimmick. Then around 2007 thats when he should have cut it out. I think the mistake Cena has made is as soon he won the WWE title he dropped the gimmick.

The rap/thug gimmick is what made Cena. Cena had a mean streak in him. Cena was hardly smiling with that gimmick. But ppl loved him, remember ppl was cheering him when he was a heel. If Austin was representing wwe then Cena gimmick would definitely be perfect for a new generation.

I would say it again bring the rap/thug gimmick back for Cena.

 

[Davi323]

Cena does have a mean streak, and when the time comes, a simple heel turn will unleash it. That doesn't mean he has to be the rapper gimmick in order to be mean, all it would take is one promo, where he tells the crowd, I hear the cheers, I hear the boos, I know half of you don't like me, well, frankly I don't care what any of you think, I am sick and tired of trying to be the hero for your kids", or something like that. He doesn't have to rap to bring out the inner heel. It is also extremely foolish to suggest that the reason Cena isn't Hogan, Austin or the Rock is because he dropped a gimmick. Nobody, and I repeat nobody, will ever be as popular was Hulk Hogan was back in the 80s, and nobody will be as hated as Hollywood Hogan was during the 90s. You just can't compare anyone to Hulk. Austin's personality resonated with the fans, as an everyman who got to stick it to his boss. There was no pretend with Austin, his character was himself, more or less. SCSA's character was understandable to everyone, white, black, rich, poor, we all know where SCSA comes from. The Rock? Well, he just has so much charisma, how could he not have risen to the top? Some wrestlers are simply no brainers when it comes to pushes. Once he dropped the lame Rocky Maivia gimmick, and became "The Rock", his future was set in stone. John Cena is a good wrestler. He has the intensity, he has the charisma to be the top face of the WWE without resorting to a gimmick. When John Cena is on TV giving interviews about how much he loves working for the WWE, about how he considers himself an ambassador for the company, etc, you know that he is telling the truth. John Cena doesn't need any gimmick to be over with at least half of the fans. The same fans that hate Cena because of his appeal to the little kids would still hate Cena if he was a rapper appealing to little kids. That wouldn't change.

The real truth is, John Cena doesn't need any gimmick at all, other than to just turn the volume up on his own personality, which is what he did. He has been a multiple time champion since dropping the gimmick, seriously, for those of you who think Cena is being completely wasted by not rapping, what more can he possibly do with that gimmick, that he hasn't achieved without it? He doesn't NEED it. Its just like the Undertaker not needing the whole urn/rising from the dead thing anymore. Sure, he still goes by the Undertaker name, but really, its just Mark Callaway now. The "Undertaker" gimmick died a long time ago, all that is left is the cool entrance and music. John Cena the rapper is dead and buried, because John Cena, the top face of the WWE, doesn't need the gimmick anymore.

 

[maar130]

Well in my view no, he seems to get real with the Kids as Simply John Cena, not the rapper, the rapper was more edgy, yes. But he is portraying a gimmick that goes more with the american hero or good boy fighting for himself. He is more rejected from the older guys inthe crowd but to his target he is fine. Just look as the numbers on Merchandise sales, How many different t-shirt models of Cena are in the stand over the year? They guy is very popular. Stale, yes, but popular and when those kids grow would like John anyway, for parents is also a good example for the kids so is a role model on that stand.

Sure some of us would like to see more life into the guy and a heel turn that will fresh him up but it would be probably a bad decision to the WWE since hge is their golden boy. Is like turn Superman into a villain.

Superman is a good guy but he is boring. I can in my view say the same for Cena.

 

[Kanye South]

Well yea, becuase everyone LOVES rap music. Word to your moms, I came to drop bombs.

Um, if this was supposed to be sarcastic. well that was not a very smart statement. Everyone knows about rap. More kids these days could tell you the lyrics to the last Lil Wayne or Soulja Boy song than they could for the last Green Day or Muse song. It may not be parents' favorite art form, but you can't doubt that everyone listens to it.

Hilarious. Really.

Stop it, you're making me blush.

I live Miley Cyrus, but Hannah is awful.

lulz.

Actually, I think this is incorrect. See, the thing is, prior to 2008, Cena actuallu had some decent booking. He was booked in good feuds, a la Edge, Umaga, RVD, HBK. He was interesting in his 2007 feud with Orton because he was booked well. And whilst he was certainly shedding his gimmick of a rapper, he was able to do so by having a strong booking team.

But in 2007, he still had shreds of the rapper gimmck. Crude jokes, slight profanity, and unpredictability. These were defining characteristics of the Cena Rapper gimmick, and until 2008 this was always an element in Cena.

Tell me honestly some great feuds for Cena in 2009. None really. He had little things here and there with Big Show, but the fact of the matter is, he wasn't given a storyline, and he had rubbish booking. This is usually when a wrestler can rely on his gimmick to tide him over. He didn't have this, and the WWE are with a Cena. But I still think that Cena isn't that bland. He's vanilla, perhaps, but some people like vanilla, and his promos are still intense when he wishes them to be. His gimmick is no longer marine or rapper, because he's bigger then a character. John Cena himself is a superstar, and he relies on his star power alone.

Hogan, Austin, and Rock never had to rely on "star power" to be entertaining. I think Cena is okay for the audience WWE is targeting, but I believe he can be way more entertaining whilst still maintaining the children's audience.

Not at all. We're in the PG Era, and rappers aren't very PG. No offense to anyone whose a fan of hip hop, but every should agree that the N.W.A isn't exactly fun for the whole family. I understand you like hip hop, but the WWE isn't out to appease you as an individual. His character now appeals to more people, and to be honest its better, instead of being a corny rapper that would never be accepted anyways.

His first album went Gold. His YouTube music videos have like 1,000,000 views. He'd be accepted. And while N.W.A. might not be the next big thing for kids, Soulja Boy is proof that shitty rap can get over with kids.

Plus the PG era came about as a way to make WWE more money. If Cena was selling albums and action figures, I doubt we would be here. And if we were still in the PG Era, then WWE can just edit his lyrics.

I cut out a lot of the shit you wrote because it was just a garnish. Sure, he would get great exposure as a rapper. If only he wasn't a wrestler. He would more than likely still be a joke in the media, because he wrestles half naked men every monday. If you think someone can really transcend the business, you're thinking of the Rock. And he's in a tooth fairy movie.

Again, I direct you to Soulja Boy. Makes shitty rap, but every kid knows who he is and buys him albums.

By the way, how did that Randy Savage rap album do?

Lulz.

Meh. It's really the same thing. I don't see the difference.

I don't even remember what this is in response to.

Or Cena could be known as The Champ. Or the dude with the Spinner belt. Or Ernesto Stavro Blofeld. He can be whatever you percieve him to be. Because for everyone that percieved Hogan to be a great role model, there might have been a whole other crowd that considered him an old prick thats ruining TNA.

People mostly remember Hogan for the role model thing. TNA just happened.

While I don't agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death your right to say it.

Cool.

 

[jimhelwigswastedchakra]

Like a broken needle, i think ya'll missing the point...

But seriously, I don't like the "as-is" Gimmick of Cena, but it would be repetitive for him to rap every week. But its also weird that he just stopped altogether. I probably would've liked him him to moderately continue with his rapping, but cut out some of the thuggery. He'd be a rapper with edge, that wouldn't be too standoffish, and wouldn't alienate anyone(except people who don't like rap i suppose)