You're all wrong about John Cena

[asiatic7]

WoW! 41 years old! I thought I was the elder amongst this 17 to 22 year old demographic of young jabronis at age 32. Good thread Gramps! (just kidding).

I kinda touched on this in my," John Cena: A Retrospective" thread. I feel like you sometimes. Yeah, John gets shoved down our throats but he does so much, it's hard not to respect the man when it's all said and done. He is a workhorse in the ring and out. He devotes a ton of his time to Make-A-Wish and just being a goodwill ambassador for WWE overall. I truly belive when it's all said and done, the Cena haters will learn to appreciate Cena for who he was. When it's time to get inducted into the HOF, he might even hear a few "Thank You Cena!" chants and "One More Match!" chants. He's kinda cartoonish now and his promos are straight out of the Crazy Eddie playbook, but I think he replaced James Brown as "The Hardest Working Man In Showbiz" and for that, you don't have to like him, but you damn sure have to respect him...

 

[Mike1411]

I have nothing against Cena the person as I hear more good than bad about him I just don't enjoy his character, anything about it. However WWE won't ever turn Cena heel because they don't have too! The most heel thing Cena could ever do is come out there with that goofy smile talking about all things good and wonderful while everyone is screaming how much they hate him. So Cena won't turn because to the people like me who dislike him no matter what he is already a heel, I will still boo him exactly the same as people who like him will still cheer him. To be honest I think if Cena turned I would kind of miss the "Lets go Cena, Cena sucks chants" its refreshing having someone who isn't universally liked or hated.

P.S. Am I the only one who has noticed much more positive reactions for Cena in general now anyway? You don't hear that trademark chorus of boos as his music hits and the camera pans across the fans.

 

[braveh]

He is a talented wrestler, somewhat average in that respect, I mean he is no Shawn Michaels. Many of his promos are five star material. Some of his promos are almost on that Rock and Austin level. Then comes the gimmicks...I'm not a fan of any his gimmicks, Rise above hate would be the best one but it's not great like Hogan's gimmick or Rock's gimmick.

As far as Cena's breakthrough it is a different animal than how Hogan and Austin broke through. Cena was the golden child and he was pushed to the top.

Also I posted this Punk/Cena comparision a while back so I'm not wrong about no nobody

http://forums.wrestlezone.com/showthread.php?t=219193&highlight=

 

[Pipebombed]

Agree with your opinion entirely, OP.

Personally, I haven't seen the same appeal as others when it comes to such tops as "SuperCena" and "Cena turning Heel", and for quite the while now. The question is, why does he NEED to turn Heel? I'd bet my last dollar that if he turned Heel tomorrow night on Raw, he would walk out on next week's Raw to the very same reaction that he always gets, but the other way around; booed by the women and children, yet cheered by the males ages 18-40. People often forget that Heels get "booed", why feel the need to want someone to turn Heel just for you to wanna cheer them again? It makes no sense.

On a side note, even if the WWE wanted to turn him Heel, they probably realized that they can't do it anytime soon. Why? Because as hot as Punk was a year ago, as hot as Bryan is today, and as hot as Randy was dating back two years prior, no one is even in Cena's league today. Punk might sell merch, Bryan might sell merch, Randy and Sheamus may get big reactions from the crowd, but there's a reason why Cena's matches are the Main Events on PPV. Plain and simple, people watch Cena whether to see him win or to see him get his ass kicked. Can't say the same for anyone else today.

Think about it.

 

[scomvp316]

wow some fans still don't get it along with VKM. Where does it state that you have to be aheel to be a big draw in and out of the ring. Hogan made more money in a short period in the NWO than he ever did with Hulkamania. This notion that only faces can do charity work is the dumbest idea ever. Hogan still made all of his charitable accomplishment when he was heel just as much as he was face. Fans don't buy into that a character does everything right because thats how the real world is also. Its not the 80's and the last time I checked Punk gets more cheers and has more merchandise in the stands than Cena and Punk is considered a tweener!

 

[sjdigitall]

One of the biggest reasons against turning Cena heel is that there is not another big enough wrestler to be the Top Guy. Well have any them actually thought that turning Cena heel can actually make a star out of someone, it would certainly elevate Punk even more and make him the top guy if he was involved in a program with a heel Cena.

 

[anvilx8]

Regardless of if Cena is "really a nice guy" or if he's like Hogan, or if he's fun to watch for kids etc, etc, etc.. the fact is: CENA is BORING. Only kids care for him. I don't even watch to see him lose anymore like I used to. And I don't watch to see him turn heel anymore either - like I used to. When Cena wrestles or has a mic, I skip the segment (unless it's a ppv and I'm paying for it).

And on a related note; he's a really really bad actor. What was with his MITB celebration? First off, it looked extremely forced (the excitement) and WHY would he be that excited to win anyway??? He's a multi-time wwe champ, even if he didn't win that match, he'd get a shot in a couple months anyway... That was annoying. Cena needs to take a year off and comeback heel.

 

[asiatic7]

And on a related note; he's a really really bad actor. What was with his MITB celebration? First off, it looked extremely forced (the excitement) and WHY would he be that excited to win anyway??? He's a multi-time wwe champ, even if he didn't win that match, he'd get a shot in a couple months anyway... That was annoying. Cena needs to take a year off and comeback heel.

Yeah, I noticed that too. He's been doing that for a while. It's like he's mocking the fact that he knew he was going over in the match anyway. It reminds me of HBK's cartoon match with Hogan.

I did'nt like how he didn't sell Rocks promos and smiled a lot when he should have been serious. I'm not knocking Cena, but sometimes he goes into buisness for himself...

 

[Firewall_Philip_Hanan]

I think Cena should keep losing until he gets so angry he starts wrapping chainslocks around his fists and starts beating his enemies. He would still be a face, but one of ruthless aggression. He needs to start shouting, get red in the face, AA everybody and stop taking stuff from heels. He needs to go beat somebody backstage with a weapon after they have done something like cheat hm out of a title. He shouldn't be cocky or he'll look like a heel. He simply needs to seek revenge for people denying him what he deserves. Angry face Cena is the kind I like and we haven't seen him since he battled the Nexus though that was a mere shadow of his former "Ruthless Aggression" self.

 

[GameOver]

Hear me out

As a kid in Australia, we didn't get the WWWF/WWF until Wrestlemania. We got World Championship Wrestling and the hero was Andre The Giant - unbeatable - larger than life - kids' favourite

I was 13 when Hulkamania hit and yeah of course I bought into it. The same way I latched onto JYD, Steamboat, Snuka and still Andre.

Fast forward 20 odd years, I'm now 41 years old. I know more about this game than I ever thought from Lou Thesz and Billy Watson through to Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit. Believe me when I say I know wrestling.

And so to John Cena - I had no time for him for the longest time - I'm talking YEARS - when he came out to win the Royal Rumble I was as pissed as most of you are now at SuperCena.

But then he started to do some promos about respect - he gave props to Piper, Andre, Backlund, Bret Hart and others. Suddenly I thought, hang on, this kid knows his shit.

When I was a kid Andre was a face for years and years - when he turned and went against Hogan at WM III I was cheering for Andre.

Cena does so much work for Make A Wish and I'm sure others that his in ring character is linked closely to his charity work.

Cena can never turn heel. Why hate him for it? Did you hate Eddie? Or Austin? Or Hogan? Or Andre? Sometimes people are just over with adults as well as kids. Deal with it.

Personally, I'd mark out if Batista returned and destroyed Cena any time soon - but it doesn't diminish all the work Cena does behind the scenes. He's worked his ass off to earn his spot, he hasn't been champ for a year, and he's earned his right to do whatever he likes.

Sit back and enjoy.

actually we did get WWWF/WWF b4 WrestleMania on free to air tv, i grew up watching it in Australia too and will be 40 next February, the night Hogan won the his first world title on a taping of Championship Wrestling, which was in January 1984 a year b4 WrestleMania 1.

admit i can't remember anything else b4 that time other then World Class Championship Wrestling on channel 9 in black and white (the precurser to WCW), Hogan had just returned after being re-hired and took over as face of the company from Bob Backlund. lol can just hear Iron Sheik, "That Jabroni Hulk Hogan aaa patooey without me there would be no Hulkamania, i beat the great Boba Backland,".

anyway i digress i agree with most of what you are saying about Cena, i have changed my opinion, personally he seems to be a great guy and a good ambassador for charities, but so was Hogan and so is Triple H and Vince McMahon, the fact people hate him is more then just being Heel or Face, IMO it's the fact the character is too far the opposite direction to what Stone Cold/Rock were and what Cena started out as and just using Cena as an example we see him atleast 4 times a week plus PPV's every month, it's too much to stomach that lame a character being shoved down your throats, least with Hogan for instance you only saw him primarily at PPV's 4 times a year and a taped tv shows during the 3 months inbetween. see the difference? also Cena's evolution his entire career has been very minimal once he dropped the thuganomics character. Hogan could get away with it cause he was cool and not a lame-oid kiddie fiddler character.

Hogan would get angry, Hogan would occasionally cheat, Hogan had a much more authoritive voice and appealed to everyone, young/old/male/female alike Cena on the other hand appeals to women and kids and that's it.

as for him needing to turn heel or not is irrelevant, personally he doesn't he just needs to show a more normal side and not be so "respectfull" and lose his cool more often like a normal person would. He showed of recent that he can get everyone behind him when he actually acts normal and shows "some" aggression and drop the lame-oid attempt at comedy when he is on the mic. Kids will move on and then who's he appealing to?

and as always he could learn to act which he's never really been able to do, fact, he has taken 6yrs to learn how to sell moves. even Super Hogan sold moves.

 

[GameOver]

Eddie, Austin and Hogan all turned heel, lol. I can't remember if Andre did or not.

I have a son I watch wrestling with, so I actually very much appreciate the fact that there's "good guys" out there. I'm in the group that doesn't hate Cena at all, in fact I still find him entertaining in spite of his staleness these days, and as a realistic fan of WWE I fully understand why he needs to be a face and that he WILL continue to be a face.

But I can still talk about how I'd love to see a change in his character for entertainment's sake. And I'll tell you this, if in my perfect world of IWC awesomeness, they turned Cena full heel at the end of Raw tomorrow, I'd mark out more than I ever have for any wrestling angle or moment ever.

you don't recall WrestleMania 3 ? Hogan vs Andre? possibly the biggest match in history lol
ok well if you don't watch or are post that era i forgive you but common everyone who's ever watched

i'll enlighten you, Andre turned heel leading upto WrestleMania 3 when Bobby Heenan convinced him Hogan was hiding from him and was only his friend cause he didn't want to face him in a match, and officially turned on a Pipers Pit segment, walking off during the interview and returning with Heenan, challenged Hogan to a match at WrestleMania 3 then ripped off Hogan's cross necklace and his shirt, he immediately became the biggest heel in WWF and lasted as such until WrestleMania 6 when he did a complete bout turn, attacking Bobby Heenan in the process after Heenan blamed him for the lost of the tag titles to Demolition and subsequently slapped him.

anyway Cena is not turning for the forseeable future, they have too many heels atm anyway and Cena is scheduled to face Big Show/John Laurinitis through the summer atleast.

going back to the OP i'll say again Cena does not appeal to everyone as Hogan did, he only appeals to Kids/Women and people who don't care about the wrestling side of him.

 

[ECW Sandman]

I am not a fan of Cena the wrestler for the fact that they make him as he's bigger and better then everyone else and he's not the other reason why I do not like him and this is the main reason why.

He is always ALWAYS in the main event and I am so old school that the main event has always been the Championship match not the second to last match, To me there making Cena bigger then the WWE title and that's why A LOT of us older fans get so pissed when Cena is the main event when he is not champion.

 

[d_henderson1810]

This thread is stupid. He will turn heel it doesn't matter about these charities and crap. Every as turned heel at least once in their career- Hogan,Andre,Flair,Hart,HBK,Rock,Austin. All the stars have to, to freshen up their character its were Cena is lacking. I mena he's been doing the same moves for 8 years fueding with the same people over and over again. Big Show, Punk, Y2J etc. Wouldn't it be more interesting if he was a volent heel that all the kids hated then all the kids wanted Punk to whoop is ass. It would create a mega heel and a new top babyface- CM Punk. Ratings would increase, Ticket sales would increase and would create better fresh storylines for WWE. This may sound biased because im probably 1 of the biggest Cena haters in the world.

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You say that everyone has turned heel once in their career, but I can offer an example of someone who was never a heel in their entire career-

-RICKY "THE DRAGON" STEAMBOAT!

Ricky Steamboat never had a heel turn-ever! He even mentioned this fact to Chris Jericho during their promo after his HoF induction was announced. Apparently, Steamboat is quite proud of the fact that he never turned heel.

You know something else- Steamboat's popularity never wavered. He may not have been pushed as much as some, but that was because he put family before wrestling, not because he wasn't popular.

Even at WM25, fans marked for Steamboat and said "You've still got it!". I was worried that fans would boo a "goody-two-shoes" Steamboat, since fans only cheer heels these days, but fans will still mark for good wrestling.

Also, Steamboat rarely changed his gimmick (except that stupid one, where he dressed as a dragon).

So, you see, someone can stay face and remain popular.

It isn't Cena or others who should change, it is the fans who have changed!

 

[IT Factor]

I've seen alot of anti-Cena topics in the past and have actually mentioned things in them briefly. I usually post lengthy replies weighing various pros and cons and addressing the hate element. While I will go into some of it, I'm not gonna waste alot of time here[because I'm sure plenty of other anti-Cena topics will eventually pop up yet AGAIN].

Like many have already stated, fans do not hate Cena because he's a face. It's the fact that Cena is shoved down our throats reguardless of whether it's what we wanna see or not. Then there's the whole notion that Cena can resist turning heel and he blatantly screws with fans openly. As if he's somehow better than the business and trends. He usually sticks with the old "I am who I am and I'm not gonna change" mentality and I think most fans resent him for that. I can certainly respect Cena's accomplishments and what he brings to the shows. I've also stated in other Cena related topics that I dig the fact that he does alot for the Make-A-Wish foundation. He's a humanitarian who seems to have his heart in the right place and who is alteristic when it comes to helping others. It's amazing how he takes time out of his hectic schedule and tries to bring joy to these kids in unfortunate and grave situations.

Cena cannot justify never going heel because of the charity work, though. Many past wrestlers who were heel still contributed and were comfortable enough in their own skin to still do both. It seems like Cena has the mentality that a heel cannot maintain their role by doing charity. Which I believe is completely wrong. Look at how boring and routine his character has become. He does the same crap week after week and never changes. Some lame jokes, small scale insults[though nothing innovative or actually insulting], and Super Cena in the ring. His failure to evolve and take risk is what most fans do not like, which is why he receives alot of hate from fans. A Cena heel turn would be something out of his element and something that most fans are convinced will never happen. Which is why that's exactly what he should do[but probably won't]. We all thought that CM Punk's infamous shoot promo was game changing and that it revolutionized what WWE Superstars could do. I think a Cena heel turn would be on the same scale as what Punk did, only on a bigger level. He's the face of the company. WWE would be turned on its ear if that happened and it would be a big switch from the norm. It would be a major event that sent shockwaves through the company for months[maybe even years] to come. He is capable of much more but instead chooses the path of least resistance by remaining the same. That's what fans see through and why most of them cannot stand him. Watch how quickly that would change if he ever turned.

 

[SmattyG]

Wow! That sure did get you all talking. I appreciate all the comments - most of you had some good reasoning behind your thoughts.

A lot of you mentioned Hogan, Austin etc turning heel while still doing charity work. And you're right. The main difference I see now is that side of Cena is so ingrained in his on air SuperCena character now, that it would be detrimental to the WWE to have anything threaten his out of ring work.

It's not that I'm that big of a fan of Cena in the ring - after all I did nominate Trent Barreta V Tyson Kidd as one my fave five matches of 2011. But I can see Vince's logic of keeping him face until he retires.

And the thread title was probably a little harsh - everyone's opinion is valid - but it sure got you talking which is why we're all here.

 

[scomvp316]

Lets remeber what made JCP and Attitude Era so successful was the on-air characters were an extention of the talents actual personality. Over the last six months Cena has done interviews where he has expressed his desire to be heel. The rapper gimmick cena has mentioned in the past his an extention of his everyday personality. So Cena wants to be heel or at the least a aggressive face similar to Rock and Austin

 

[theBec2101]

I don’t think Cena will never turn heel. I think they are just waiting for great timing. Kind of like when Hogan did it. WCW wasn’t really doing anything that was affecting WWE at the time then all of a sudden, boom there they were.
I don’t mind Cena, we know he not the best wrestler but he defiantly not the worst. I get the hate a little I don’t understand why so much though.

 

[darkseid]

The difference between the larger-than-life heroes of the 1980s and John Cena is that John Cena is not a babyface hero.

He barely ever saves anyone. He isn't affected by anything. A hero is supposed to be the foil to a villain via acts of heroism. When John Cena loses to a villain, he does shitty comedy about how he never cared about what was at stake (the title) in the first place.

Imagine you're reading a Superman comic and one of Superman's villains beats him up and takes over Metropolis. Superman would fight to gain control of Metropolis back.

If you equate Metropolis with a title, John Cena wouldn't try to get it back, he would just tell shitty jokes and say that Metropolis never mattered in the first place (John Cena, in response to losing his belt, actually said "Titles come and titles go" on Raw once, as if the titles didn't even matter).

Don't confuse John Cena with a babyface hero. John Cena, the character, is actually a horrible, shitty person who treats most things with apathy.

 

[DirtyD79]

It's not that people hate John Cena the person it's the fact he's pretty much been the top dog for like 7 or 8 years now and he's been doing the same "Overcoming The Odds, Rise Above Hate, Never Give Up" routine all that time. Eventually people get tired of seeing the same guys doing the same things all the time.

And yeah the Be A Star and Make A Wish stuff starts to get preachy after a while. Don't get me wrong I can appreciate that he's helping people but I don't need to be beaten over the head with it several times a show. When you're always talking about the good deeds you did it stops looking like altruism and more like asskissing.

 

[mikekinkade]

Cena in Real Life: I couldn't care less what he does unless it's something edgey that can be combined with a heel turn (Cheat on his wife, bang groupies etc.)
The charity means nothing to me. I wish I had money and time to donate, but I am not John Cena.

Cena character: He is the biggest star in the recent era because he is pretty much the only person post 2002 debut who has exceptional mic work/personality. He can be multidimensional, and his mic work feels more real then most of the talent. With Cena, it's easier to suspend reality when he talks. CM punk is the only other person who fits this category.

Ring work has gotten better story-telling wise. But I don't expect him to do anything spectacular athletically, but that doesn't matter.

Overall, Cena is a superstar not because of hard work. Everybody on the roster is a hard worker. Cena has unique mic skills that are light years ahead of most of the talent. This, combined with debuting when Rock and Austin were pretty much done is why he gets the superstar treatment.

Cena Heel Turn: They need to save this for when Linda is done campaigning. If Cena goes heel they need to make it attitude era style heel or it's a waste. Cena should be doing things that will garner mainstream media attention...yup that bad or it's just not worth it.