The Shimmy 06.01.09: The John Cena Report Card (Part Two)
Posted by Andy Clark on 06.01.2009
After a three year absence the John Cena Report Card returns to take a look at Cena's PPV matches!
A little over three years ago the John Cena Report Card debuted, taking a look at all of Cena's PPV matches and grading his overall body of work. This was done to combat the notion that Cena couldn't wrestle or only depended on better wrestlers to carry him in a match. Since then I've brought back the Report Card gimmick a number of times for various wrestlers and it has become as seemingly popular series for this column. This week I'm going back to where I left off with Cena back in 2006 and reviewing the rest of his PPV showdowns. The stigma against Cena has largely died down over the past three years so it will be interesting to see what reaction these matches receive now.
Cena, Triple H, and Edge had a great chemistry leading up to this Triple Threat Match and it followed through here. Cena and Triple H picked up exactly where their WrestleMania match had ended, crowd reaction and all. Edge, who has made a strong case for 2006 MVP, managed to actually be the pure heel of the match and helped add more to his feud with John Cena and gave us a potential preview of things to come with Triple H (should they manage to get a romance-free PPV opportunity). All three men busted their asses out there and helped to put on one of the best matches of the year. Any three of them could have walked away with the WWE Title and the crowd was into it from the get go. This was a tremendous effort just a few short weeks after WrestleMania.
This match was made largely on crowd reaction, which isn't always a bad thing. Hell, Hogan-Rock was made on crowd reaction so it at least has some good company. Cena wasn't afraid to heel it up, and perhaps he was legitimately pissed. You can see Cena's role as an entertainer evolve right before your eyes here. Where Cena was content playing the face role against Triple H at WrestleMania 22 (a match I actually like more than this one) he was not afraid to embrace the hate on this night, and that made the match all the better. It helped that Rob Van Dam knew that this was his golden moment and he made sure to soak it all in and put his best foot forward. The crowd was hot, the match was good, and it had as big of a title change as there was all year.
My Grade: A
Extreme Tables Match: John Cena vs. Sabu (Vengeance 2006)
This match went second from the top on this PPV but it was better served as a midcard garbage match. There was not nearly the same kind of heat for this match as their was for Cena-RVD, and for good reason. Charlotte is hardly an ECW stronghold and Sabu's stint in WWE, save a few matches, was pretty tedious. Lumberjack Matches are always kind of sketchy considering the massive amounts of jobberdom usually present, and when you throw in Sabu's spotty offense you don't get a main event quality match.
I had my reservations about this match being the main event of the second biggest show of the year. The Cena-Edge feud was hot enough, but I thought the stipulation was kind of lame. While I still think the stipulation a tad on the lame side, the match itself really delivered. This match surpassed my expectations and I think the expectations of a lot of people. Not only did it help make SummerSlam a really good PPV but it also helped save the Cena-Edge feud after the DQ-ending at Saturday Night's Main Event left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths.
There was a lot of skepticism as to whether Cena could hang in a Ladder Match. Guess what? He thrived. Cena has done a tremendous job of starring down adversity (both in kayfabe and real life) and this match was a testament to that. That's not to say that Edge didn't do his fair share of the work. He's wasn't 2006's MVP for nothing, but this match was also a good springboard for Cena to become 2007's MVP. Not only was this an excellent match all around, the finish was absolutely crazy. Edge is one crazy bastard for taking that FU off the ladder and it was a perfect way to cap off a great match and pretty much end a great feud (until it was revisited earlier this year, providing even more great matches). Cena's regret at having to stoop to such measures to put Edge away was an interesting touch at the end as well.
For the first Champion of Champions Match this had a rather bad dynamic between these three. Big Show was really the one sticking out here as he was pretty worn down physically at this point and spent a large majority of the time outside of the ring. Had Rob Van Dam been ECW Champion at this point the finished product would have been much better. In the end what should have been an epic showdown of World Champions came off as more of a half-speed free TV match that served to advance the Cena-Kevin Federline feud (which was admittedly pretty entertaining but shouldn't have really overshadowed this match) instead of pushing any actual wrestling feuds.
My Grade: C
Survivor Series Elimination Match: John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam, Sabu, & Kane vs. Big Show, Umaga, Test, Finlay, & MVP (Survivor Series 2006)
Survivor Series Elimination Matches are always at least a little fun just because of their structure, but this one was pretty clunky with a number of styles clashes. This match had two key goals: 1) get Bobby Lashley over as a bigger star considering he was due to win the ECW Title in a week, and 2) transition Cena into his feud with Umaga. For his part Cena did a good job leading his team in this match and ended up being one of the final two survivors along with Lashley, but the match itself was nothing to write home about.
My Grade: C+
John Cena & Batista vs. Booker T & Finlay (Armageddon 2006)
This match would be a perfectly acceptable SmackDown main event. In fact a few weeks prior to this show a similar match was the SmackDown main event. How anyone thought that this was a good idea to close a PPV is beyond me. Sure the crowd went home happy with the two face champions emerging victorious, but the match was adequate at best and impacted absolutely nothing. OK match but far from a PPV main event.
Going in to this match I don't think people had high hopes. Cena still carried the stigma of not being a good wrestler despite having a great 2006 with the likes of Edge, Rob Van Dam, and Triple H. Umaga had not shown any signs of having a good match since he came in to WWE less than a year ago. And yet these two went out there and shocked everyone by having a great underdog-big man match that culminated with Cena ending the undefeated streak of the Samoan Bulldozer. They would go on to shock us even further later in the month, as we'll see in the next match.
When this match was initially announced I really had no desire to see this matchup. Sure, Cena and Umaga had a surprisingly good match at New Year's Revolution, but was Umaga really deserving of getting two WWE Title shots in a row? And how was Cena going to defeat Umaga in a convincing fashion without making him look bad in the process? Well, we found out. This match wrote the book on Last Man Standing nearfalls and we've seen a couple of the spots first done in this match in subsequent Last Man Standing Matches (like tossing the steel steps out of the ring directly at an opponent).. Both men went full throttle to give us an incredible, brutal, emotional match that managed to make it through the course of 2007 still fondly remembered. For the record this was my 2007 Match of the Year.
Will Ric Flair get any closer to returning to a WWE ring? He's rumored to be wrestling overseas soon, and with WWE pulling him from ROH this past weekend you'd think they'd want to get something out of him. If Flair is sure he wants to wrestle again I wouldn't mind seeing him get some breathing room from Triple H and Edge in terms of title reigns.
That's it for this week's column. See you next week for another installment of the Cena Report Card. Until next time, don't die. Clark…out.
This article is too pro-Cena to make me take it seriously. Sorry.
Posted By: 411Reader (Guest) on May 31, 2009 at 11:20 PM
The Cena Hate has died down because he's not main eventing every PPV, playing the underdog card every single week, and is no longer pretending he's an actual marine.
Posted By: August (Guest) on May 31, 2009 at 11:45 PM
Cena> HBK and Y2J
Posted By: Guest#6928 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Cena> HBK and Y2J
Posted By: Guest#6928 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:01 AM
I think you need to see a doctor right away.
Posted By: Random (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:13 AM
It's hard not to be pro-cena when you look at his body of work. There's no real denying he's delivered a lot of great PPV matches. The only people that would have any of the matches that got an A are people who just refuse to accept anything Cena does as good.
Posted By: Westen (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:28 AM
HBK and Y2J average one A match a year but according to the article, Cena had 6 A matches just in 2006!
Posted By: Guest#4150 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:32 AM
If you want to be pro-Cena, look no further than 2006! Great matches with Edge, Triple H, RVD (mostly for the atmosphere, yeah), and Umaga make for a pretty good year!
Posted By: Sam! (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 02:51 AM
This article is too pro-Cena to make me take it seriously. Sorry.
have you actually seen those matches? the edge cena fued in 06 was fantastic and the matches lived up to the hype. cena-rvd at ons is one of my favorite matches of all time. and both the umaga matches were great and were carried by cena. now cena may be a company man but in 06 cena was the one who was keeping the company afloat.
Posted By: db (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 03:17 AM
im not much of a fan of cena but he put on a clinic in 06
Posted By: Guest#2251 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 03:47 AM
I wasn't watching wwe much in 2006 so can't comment on most of these still don't watch wwe a great deal today either all i know is whenever I do see a Cena match he fails to impress me and I'm fed up with hearing him whining about the rock too. But thats another topic
Posted By: britishfan (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 05:19 AM
Jericho "averages" one A match every week on Smackdown. Cena hate is fun, but I respect him, not just for his matches. He is the company man, only had a sniff of a belt in over a year, etc. Problem is his opponent. Compare some the above matches to his ones with JBL, Khali, Orton, Show and there will be different "average" of grades.
Posted By: icon zeke (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 06:09 AM
Most of the matches mentioned here are pretty good but I think you overrated them here.
The first Umaga match was pretty boring. All that happens is he gets his ass kicked basically the entire match then wins in a role up. Edge and Cena's matches were also very good, but not quite A+ level.
Posted By: Sev (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 06:45 AM
Sorry but I'm still not over him beating Mark F'ing Henry in an arm wrestling contest. Yeah Cena is strong but come one. The spotlight thing along with the repeated beatings by Show and still being able to hit the FU with no issue was pretty bad too.
Posted By: Flying Dutchman (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 06:55 AM
HBK > Cena .
Cena > Y2J .
Cena 's best matches have indeed been with Edge , proving that EDge - Cena is the best feud WWE Has had in the past few years , extending from 2006 to 2009 and i hope it will go on in the future .
Posted By: Hannah Hardy (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 09:09 AM
I don't hate John Cena.
I'm bored by John Cena.
Posted By: BobbyC (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 11:03 AM
Cena has, much like the Rock before him developed a main event style of wrestling that lets him produce good matches, despite not being in HBK, Y2J, Steamboat, Flair, Hart, Savage, Hennig or Angle's league in terms of pure wrestling ability.
Cena can produce these good/great matches, but has he ever had a match that broke 4 1/2 stars? I don't think so, and that's why I don't believe he is in the all time upper crust.
Nevertheless, it isn't Cena's ability to wrestle that bothers me about him - it's the super push. He can't ever lose, he can't be made to look vulnerable, and it gets very VERY boring, especially when he holds gold.
Further, the character is so unbelievably bland and dull, and hasn't changed one iota since 2005 (before you say neither did Hogan in the 80s, he wasn't on TV each and every week).
That's why I dislike Cena...crap character, horrendous entrance music (please bring back Basic Thugonomics permanently), and the always boring superman push.
Posted By: Quimby (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 11:36 AM
I'd never deny that Cena has had many very good PPV matches. Some of them though are definitely overrated. His stuff against Umaga gets way too much love. That being said, he is usually put up against great performers.
Cena isn't the type of guy that can carry others. If he's in the ring with a bad wrestler he'll have a bad match. Period. Please don't pretend that his matches with Khali were anymore than an abortion.
The problem with Cena is less the quality of his ring work and more his overall record. Look at any WWE main eventer's overall PPV record. Most main eventers bat around .500. They may have a few more wins than losses or vice versa.
Then there is Cena. Cena has won about 20-30 more PPV matches than he's lost. And since he's been a main eventer you can count on one hand the number of PPV matches he's had where he hasn't either won, retained or at least challenged for the WWE/World titles.
Cena has oversaturated the market. I don't care if you love him or hate him. The bottom line is that there's too much of him. Just like Hogan in the early 90s eventually even Cena's most diehard fans will get sick and tired of him if he doesn't freshen his character up with a heel turn a massive chunk of time spent away from the title picture.
Posted By: Ron Mexico (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:35 PM
Cena can wrestle, there's no denying that. 2006 was a good year for him and take a look at his matches with Angle in 03-04. He's a great wrestler, just limited now cuz he's a top guy (face of the company) and top guys go "WWE Style" eventually. He needs to go heel is what needs to happen.
Posted By: sour grapes (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 05:00 PM
Cena did have a lot of good matches, but for christ's sake dude, take his balls out of your throat. It's embarrassing.
Posted By: B/\\NGER (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 08:29 PM
One thing is painfully obvious even through this biased article - Edge, HHH and Umaga obviously can carry Cena. Otherwise, he - and his matches - are shit.
Posted By: Guest#2024 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 10:41 PM
I've yet to hear one person come up with a legitimate reason why they dislike Cena. The only drawback for the guy is that he is neutered by WWE booking so often. But that really isn't his fault!!
Posted By: Guest#5020 (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 12:41 AM
"Nevertheless, it isn't Cena's ability to wrestle that bothers me about him - it's the super push. He can't ever lose, he can't be made to look vulnerable, and it gets very VERY boring, especially when he holds gold."
HOW is this anydiffernt from how Triple H is booked in the E, yet we fail to see Triple H on the scale of CENA?
Posted By: ehhh man (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 01:29 AM
I've yet to hear one person come up with a legitimate reason why they dislike Cena. The only drawback for the guy is that he is neutered by WWE booking so often. But that really isn't his fault!!
Posted By: Guest#5020 (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 12:41 AM
Then I pass the question back to you. What would you consider to be a legit reason for hating Cena?
My reasons:
- Cena is overexposed and thus boring.
- Cena's matches are more cookie cutter than anyone that people try to compare him too when this argument is made. Yes, guys like HBK and Hart went through a lot of the same moves too but they still have many more moves and vary them up. Cena's moveset is better compared to Hogan's.
- Cena can't carry anyone. He doesn't need to be carried but if he's put in a match with a wrestler worse than him there's no chance that he can make the other guy rise up and do better.
- Cena's gimmick is stale. Like Jericho's promos say, he feels like he's pandering to fans and doesn't believe in what he says. He's just saying what he knows fans will respond well too.
Cena isn't a bad guy. He's just not an entertaining guy. He's capable of it. I still have much love for Cena circa 2003. But he's been in cruise control for so long.
Again though, I ask you because it may provide some insight. What reasons do you think would be valid for Cena hatred?
Posted By: Ron Mexico (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 12:12 PM
"Cena> HBK and Y2J
Posted By: Guest#6928 (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:01 AM
I think you need to see a doctor right away.
Posted By: Random (Guest) on June 01, 2009 at 12:13 AM"
I definitely respect his opinion.
Wrestling isn't real ya Doofus, quit taking it so seriously..
Posted By: Propagandhi (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 01:30 PM
2007 Cena PPV report
No Way Out: B-
Wrestlemania 23: A
Backlash: A+
Judgement Day: B- (making Khali watchable)
One Night Stand: C (Poorer Match)
Vengence: C (Match was a mess/Foley main-event a ppv how crazy)
Great American Bash: B
Summerslam: A+
Unforgiven: D- (Horrible PPV, Lame DQ)
Then Injury.
Posted By: Guest#8246 (Guest) on June 02, 2009 at 10:05 PM
HBK, Angle, Jericho, and Edge carried Cena to his best matches of his career. Umaga actually did most of the work in the LMS match. His match with JBL at Judgment Day '05 was pretty sick, and probably Cena's best 'performance' to date.
I have a theory about pro wrestling. Some wrestlers can lead the match (and dictate the pace), others cannot. HBK, Bret, Angle, Jericho, Macho, Flair, and others were/are great at leading matches. They are terrific storytellers. Not all of them were great technicians but they knew how to control the crowd and get them to invest in what they were seeing. They make me almost really believe again. Cena does not do that. He is not a storyteller. He only seems to know one way of doing things and his way of doing things doesn't appeal to me. He is like a slightly more polished version of The Ultimate Warrior. He and Batista are very similar to Hulk and Warrior. Batista has the size and mobility of Hulkster, with the rope shaking ability and exploding veins of Warrior. Cena's got an updated version of Warrior's move set (Warrior 95, Warrior 5.0, or Warrior XP), and Hogan's redonkulous All-American super-hero persona. That junk was old in '92, and they are still trying to sell it. I'm also souring on Orton, and I am 50/50 on HHH. Both have had epic matches, but at times they just seem to go through the motions. Say what you want about Bret or HBK or Flair, but have never brought less than they were capable of to the ring. They always gave 100% of themselves in every frickin' match. I don't the same impression from Cena, Batista, Orton, or HHH. That's just one man's opinion. If you like those guys then I am sure that you are more than satisfied with the current product, and you probably aren't alone. I'm also sure that there are many who share my opinion. Each of our opinions are equally valid, and let's leave it at that.
Posted By: Guest#0896 (Guest) on June 03, 2009 at 01:36 AM
hardcore matches dont require too much ability to make them good take a good look at this list, all of his good matches are gimik matches.And the hatredfor him hasnt died down cause w sudeenly "ses him as the world class technician that he is" we just get tired of complaining and change the channel, that why the raings have been droping.
Posted By: cenasucks (Guest) on June 07, 2009 at 09:35 AM
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