If I Can Be Serious For A Moment 08.10.09: You Really Can't See Him
Posted by Chris Lansdell on 10.08.2009
Is John Cena intentionally irritating his detractors?
Hey yo. Welcome back to If I Can Be Serious for a Moment, your weekly dose of intelligent wrestling discourse with me, Chris Lansdell. To say I'm on a high this week would be a vast understatement. I was buoyed by the reaction to last week's column, and even the people who disagreed had some great points. This week we're taking a similar look at the man Randy Orton finally defeated cleanly on Sunday night. That's coming up, right after the
BANNER!
It's A Bird! It's A Plane! It's…SuperCena!
It's not often that the WWE commentators make a statement with which I agree. In recent months I've found their attempts at banter to be largely forced and unfunny, and their observations about talent to be marketing guff. Gorilla, Jesse, Roddy and Bobby they are not. However when JR and Michael Cole refer to John Cena as the most polarizing WWE superstar ever, they are only slightly exaggerating. There have been more popular faces, more hated heels. You've had people like Bret Hart, who were hated in the US but blew the roof off with cheers in any other country. Cena's different. When I do the pay per view reports, I always mention the approximate percentage of cheers to boos, and it varies wildly from city to city. Even the internet fans are split on the man that is arguably the face of WWE today. Why is there such a dichotomy? Why aren't WWE addressing it?
From Ruthless Aggression to Hustle, Loyalty and Respect
John Cena's debut was a little more auspicious than that of his nemesis, Randy Orton. What's hard to believe is that it was a full 7 years ago. Kurt Angle was in one of his "open challenge" periods and was looking to show everyone just what "ruthless aggression" was all about. Here it is, for those who've forgotten:
Despite this promising start, Cena was bland. Like a lot of people who came up at the same time, they had no real gimmick or character to speak of, and were all about displaying "ruthless aggression", Vince's new buzzword at the time. The West Newbury native would feud with Chris Jericho before teaming with Billy Kidman in a tag team title tournament. When the pairing lost in the first round, Cena would turn on Kidman, thus becoming a heel. He remained gimmickless until a Halloween episode of Smackdown produced this:
Although some people have claimed that the gimmick shift was due to an overwhelming reaction to Cena's costume and much pleading from Cena himself, it seems clear that the plan all along was to turn Cena into a freestyle rapper. Before long he would be saddled with Bull Buchanan, now rechristened "B-Squared", who lasted only slightly longer as Cena's enforcer than Red Dogg, who would become Rodney Mack. Cena would start wearing throwback jerseys, normally for the rival team of whatever city he was in at the time. During this period we saw the first hints of division in the fans as some of the "smart" internet fans started cheering for Cena's freestyle raps. His star was rising so quickly that he got a brief title feud with Brock Lesnar in February of 2003. This feud is the one that gave us the F-U, which was named as a mockery of Lesnar's F-5 finisher. I couldn't find a clip where the announcers actually tell us the name, but I'm fairly sure it was after this:
By the time Survivor Series rolled around, the reaction to Cena was so favourable that he was turned face again, joining Team Angle against Team Lesnar. Cena would end up as one of the two survivors of the match, along with Chris Benoit. He has stayed face ever since.
This also marked the start of the decline of the Doctor of Thuganomics in the eyes of the smart fans. Cena would start a feud with Big Show, which led to him winning and then customising/defacing the US Title in the now-(in)famous spinner style. Some people were displeased with "his" decision to do that to a belt with so much heritage, if a belt awarded to a chosen wrestler in a fixed "sport" can be said to have a heritage. His film The Marine was a harmless action romp that met with some fierce dislike from wrestling fans, thus alienating him from another segment of the audience. When he made it to the main event of WrestleMania, a spinner version of the WWE Championship followed. Soon after, as the first One Night Stand PPV approached, the boos in the audience for John Cena were becoming audible on air. This was despite his refusal to join the invasion of One Night Stand by WWE talent. Many attribute this dip in popularity to Cena's move to Raw, which meant that his raps had to be toned down for a live show. As the risqué raps were what got him his following in the first place, this reasoning makes sense. The FCC had already made some waves about some of Cena's more questionable freestyles while he was still on SmackDown though, so to blame it on Raw seems a little harsh. The situation got worse and worse throughout the next 12 months, forcing the announcers to acknowledge it on air and to try and find a reason for it. It did nothing but worsen the effect though, culminating at the second One Night Stand:
Despite continuing to polarise the crowd, Cena has not experienced a reaction like that since. For a long time WWE fought the crowd reaction, booking Mr Word Life against nefarious characters and evil foreigners, but the reaction to his opponent seemed to have little effect on the reaction to Cena himself. Feuds with King Booker, Khali, Umaga and Randy Orton did nothing to improve the situation. That brings us to the current day, when we're still faced with John Cena beating almost everyone that is put in front of him with little effort, all the while cutting promos that sound scripted and appearing on every possible media outlet to promote WWE and its products.
Hustle. Loyalty. Reject.
John Cena is far from the only wrestler to elicit a mixed reaction from a crowd. Indeed, some of the biggest faces in recent history only became faces because the crowd started loving them when they were heels: both The Rock and Stone Cold fall into this category. Even more recently we've seen fans start to cheer for MVP, Mr Kennedy, Umaga and John Morrison before they had been turn face, either causing WWE to turn them or caused by WWE's decision to turn them subtly. Unlike all of these guys (except Umaga, who never fully turned face), the mixed reaction to Cena has continued for over three and a half years, and in that he is unique.
Not only has the reaction continued, but it's feeding itself and at this point is self-perpetuating. The more the Cena fans cheer him, the madder the haters get. How dare these ignorant, clueless marks have an opinion of their own, and worse yet an opinion that is not the same as theirs? Don't they know that as smart fans, we know everything about who to cheer for, and Cena isn't it? Let's boo louder! CENA SUCKS! Of course, for their part the Cena fans hear this, and they too get mad. How could these unwashed, pony-tailed basement-dwelling geeks tell us who to cheer? This guy is cool, he wins all the time and he's funny and he doesn't break the rules! What a great role model! Let's Go Cena!
Look at pro sports. A lot of people who did not grow up in an area where there was a professional team will support the teams they see winning: the Yankees, Manchester United, the Lakers, the Patriots. They don't know why they're supporting that team, but why not? I mean, what sense does it make to root for a team that isn't winning? By and large these people are casual sports fans, the ones who don't appreciate the nuances of good play. They just like seeing people they like winning. The Doctor of Thuganomics falls into this category, without question.
Not only is the reaction feeding itself, but the writers are feeding it too. The harder they tried to make everyone love Cena, the more people in one segment of the audience resented it, making them boo even louder. This started off as the opposite of what they wanted, but now I'm not so sure.
If You Can't Beat Them, Work Them
In recent months, I've noticed a subtle change in the way the Chain Gang Commander is being handled. Instead of doing everything they can to stop the "smart" fans from hating him while the women and children love him, Creative seem to be focused on driving a wedge into the emerging schism and widening it. Whatever else you can say about some of Creative's decisions, I don't believe they are always stupid. You cannot manufacture the kind of heat that Cena gets from certain segments of the audience, yet the very things that garner this heat are the things that make him popular with other segments. Having spent months trying and failing to make Cena into the next Hulk Hogan, a case can certainly be made to say that they stopped trying and went with the flow instead. You can't fight the tide, you can only swim with it and wait for it to ebb.
Take Cena's rapping, for example. Once he released his album in 2006, he pretty much stopped cutting rap promos on his opponents. As we mentioned above, these promos were instrumental in triggering his initial surge in popularity, and once they got watered down and then died out, some people lost interest. However, he was now all of a sudden accessible to a new group of fans: children whose parents weren't comfortable with the nature of his freestyles and battle raps. As the Doctor of Thuganomics persona died out and was replaced with the hard-grafting yet goofy "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" character we have today, so the makeup of Cena's fanbase changed. When they became aware of what was happening, Creative tried to combine the cornball family-friendly stuff with the more edgy things that the 18-30 male demographic wanted to see For example, take this segment from Cena's feud with JBL:
Yes, that really does say "poopy". Although having three men destroy a limo with sledgehammers would normally be met with a decent pop, the graffiti that Cena utilised was perhaps less in keeping with the spirit of what he was doing. The whole thing fooled none of those it was meant to fool: the 18-30 males saw through it and just kept on hating.
I find it hard to believe that at this point, the writers are not aware of the situation. Anyone can tell that even on the best of nights, the crowd is only 60% for John Cena. Even knowing that, Cena's promos have not changed. It is possible to be edgy and appeal to the smart fans without being R-rated, yet there has been a conscious choice to keep Cena's promos at a family-friendly level. Sometimes they take up the intensity, but the basic level of the promo remains the same. Far from trying to hide from it, the announcers and Cena himself acknowledge and even seem to enjoy the duelling crowd reactions to his character.
You Can't Wrestle!
It's a chant that is levelled at Cena in the "smart cities" – places like Philadelphia, Toronto, New York – and is often cited as a reason for the fans' dislike of the man. To be fair, he does exhibit a very limited moveset in his matches, and the last time he added to it was at One Night Stand 2006, when we first saw the second-rope Rocker Dropper. It's not helped by the tendency to book Cena in matches where he either wins quickly or spends most of the time on the receiving end of a beating, so the little offence he does get feels even less fresh.
The question is, WHY has John not been given any new moves in three years? If WWE management are so concerned about Cena's popularity, and they know this is an issue, surely it's a simple matter to change some moves around? Although Vince McMahon has been repeatedly quoted as saying he'd get rid of the wrestling aspect of his shows if he could, surely that doesn't mean that your top name has nothing new to add? Every top wrestler in WWE has a limited moveset, but most of them will occasionally break out other moves in big matches. Not Mr Cena. Of the other big names in WWE, only HHH has changed his moveset less often, but he vacillates between heel and face so regularly that it never feels as stale.
It's also worth pointing out the difference between "can't wrestle" and "doesn't wrestle". Khali can't wrestle. Stone Cold Steve Austin didn't wrestle. Cena probably falls somewhere between the two. He's not horrible, but he's no Kurt Angle. Regardless, there is potential there for him to expand or modify the moves we see from him every week. Like Stone Cold and Hulk Hogan before him, he either chooses or is told not to do so. There's a school of that that says if you diversify a moveset too much, the fans won't pop for the trademark spots because there will be too many of them. This is probably not true of the hardcore fan (as evidenced by Ring of Honor), but the casual fan certainly fits this profile. Most people don't know a dragon suplex from a dragonfly, so why go to the trouble of using it?
He's No Hogan!
Speaking of the Hulkster, it quickly became obvious to long-time fans that John Cena was being positioned as the next Hulk Hogan – the squeaky clean babyface who faced down and beat all the monster heels, who is trotted out whenever the company needs to put a positive spin on themselves after the latest controversy or wrestler death or steroid bust, who has a belt groove around his waist and who dominates merchandise sales. Really, the parallels are staggering. Hogan was the biggest name in professional wrestling, and some would go so far as to say he WAS professional wrestling in the mid 80s. He was all over everything: lunch boxes, mugs, shirts, hats, bandanas, Band-Aids, Saturday morning TV and the A-Team. He was known for his chiseled body, his infectious charisma, his ability to beat even the biggest of bad guys against the longest of odds. Ribs crushed by a 500-pound man? No problem, he'll come back and beat him. Tombstoned on a chair? Not to worry, he'll be back to regain the title in 3 days. He even managed to leave a WrestleMania with the world title, despite being booked in a tag title match on the card. While Cena has yet to pull off that last stunt, he's certainly managed most if not all of the rest. Not too sure about the Saturday morning cartoon. Hogan was huge when the WWF was aimed at children and families, and at a time before the internet. Nobody cared that his moveset was more limited than Cena's, or that the guy never lost, or even that he was keeping down people like Ted DiBiase and Roddy Piper.
Even in later days, when Hogan is revered as a legend and a trailblazer, his "workrate" is derided by many, some of whom even number among his fans. Although I'm one who is quick to point out that the Hulkster was NEVER as bad as many people make out (well, maybe in the last 8 or 9 years he was), he's no technical whiz. The same can easily be said for the Leader of the Cenation who, although better than Hulk by a considerable margin, is still on the average section of the scale.
The similarities are clear, but for one small thing: Hogan was universally loved at his peak. Cena has never and will never attain that, and by trying to force-feed him as the next Great Orange God they have only managed to alienate half the fanbase. At the same time though they are appealing to an even larger segment, one with more disposable income: kids with parents who make money. More in that in a moment.
That Money, Money, Yeah Yeah
One thing you would often hear was "Well they should just turn him heel so everyone can hate him, and it will freshen him up". This argument has slacked off a bit in recent months but I think it's still a common belief and one that bears addressing.
Fact: Cena makes money. I remember reading that as of 3 months ago, his total merchandise sales were second in the history of WWE, behind either Stone Cold or Hogan. That's in less than 7 years. Time was that you would see a ton of kids and teens wearing Stone Cold shirts...now it's Cena shirts. Hell, if it wasn't for the exorbitant shipping costs to Canada I'd have one of the 8-bit style ones myself! His work with the Make a Wish people (or is it Children's Wish?) not only speaks volumes about the man's character, but does no harm to his merch sales either. As long as John Cena plays to the kids and families (and women), he will sell to the kids and families. The second you turn him heel, you lose that.
And really, what is the point of turning him heel? As things stand, you have the best of both worlds. You have the kids and casual fans eating out of the palm of his hand, the kind who would buy a rock with his picture on it. No matter how many times he hits the same sequence of moves or how much young talent he squashes, to them he will be the best part of Raw. But you also have the people who hate him and, like with Randy Orton, will pay to see him lose. I've been a wrestling fan for a long time and I cannot think of one person who could almost literally split an arena 50/50 and have half baying for his blood while the other half would drink a cup of it. With that situation in place, what good will come of turning him? He doesn't need to be fresh, and attempting to do so risks alienating his intensely loyal fanbase.
Attitude Adjusted
I think Ryan Byers summed it up best: John Cena is like Barack Obama or George Bush, in a way. No matter what they say or do, 30% of the audience will hate him and 30% will love him. What matters is the 40% in the middle, and right now WWE and Cena are winning that battle no matter what. If the 40% love him, they buy his merchandise. If they hate him, they watch more often to see if he loses. The percentages may change with the location, just as with Obama and Bush, but there will always be people on both sides.
There are two problems with this theory. The first is that there is a growing segment of the WWE audience who have given up caring about the entire Raw product, and part of that is down to the continued dominance of "Super Cena". Instead of paying to see him lose or shifting to his camp, they are shifting off the show altogether. With some it's a conscious effort, but more worrying is the group who stop watching due to apathy. The other problem is that if the writers are really trying to emphasize the split, they've made some kooky decisions. Most recently, having Cena lost to Randy Orton at Hell in the Cell. You can put this down to the booking team not having a clue what they're doing, or to Vince McMahon's desire to screw over the "internet know-it-alls", but the bottom line is that it puts a bit of a spanner in the works.
What remains true is that John Cena is not responsible for his über-push. He doesn't write his own stories or book his own angles, and from all reports he doesn't play politics to keep his spot. If you really dislike the way he's used, then booing yourself hoarse helps nothing. The best way to show your dislike for someone is to show apathy. There is no such thing as "X-Pac heat". In addition, Cena knows that he is disliked by some fans and he is not bothered by it, despite the fact that he's meant to be a face. If you don't think he does some of the things he does just to irritate the detractors, then you're not paying attention.
Whether you like, love, tolerate or dislike The (former) Champ, he is Here to stay and as long as he's making money he'll be at the top. The more you fight it, the worse it's likely to get.
That's the lot from me this week. I know I said this last week, but next week I really am hoping to do a round table. My thanks to Ryan Byers for his help with this column, and of course to all of you for reading. Until next time…
Cena is this generation's face. Whether the IWC (about 10% of the fanbase) care about him or not, the real fans decide (about 90% of the fanbase to WWE).
Posted By: JUSTINW (Guest) on October 07, 2009 at 11:44 PM
Because it bears repeating countless times...
You can't turn Cena good because all the so-called "smarks" will then start cheering him again. Since Vince does not believe in a bad guy that gets huge positive crowd reactions (from the simple cases like original Doink, Ken Kennedy and MVP to the obvious ones like Undertaker, Austin, and Rock).
Cena only turned good because the crowd started to really get behind him despite him being one of the top bad guys on the roster. Vince immediately turned him and before long, watered him down. Flip that, and turn him bad now, the "too cool for the room" contingent will have him preaching "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" and giving solider salutes inside of 2 months.
Not even sure who to blame on this one. Vince for not understanding that the wrestling business changed (and made him a billionaire) because of the idea of a "shades of gray" or the fans who pretty much do the opposite of what Vince wants them to do because of spite.
Posted By: Brad B (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:02 AM
I think it is fair to say Cena is the most polarizing superstar in WWE history. Despite being essentially the Number 1 guy in the company (except for maaaaybe Triple H) and getting the loudest reactions of most of the superstars, his reactions are always decidedly mixed to the point where it's like he's permanently playing a hero babyface to half the crowd and a monster heel to the other. And this happens almost everywhere. He gets booed consistently. But he's also almost constantly cheered by his very loyal fanbase. Every time he wins it is guaranteed to send the crowd home happy AND very angry. I don't think, at this point, saying he is "mostly hated" or "mostly loved" can accurately describe his status.
Posted By: Sev (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:06 AM
can't believe I read the whole thing...
Posted By: ICON (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:10 AM
"a growing segment of the WWE audience who have given up caring about the entire Raw product, and part of that is down to the continued dominance of "Super Cena". Instead of paying to see him lose or shifting to his camp, they are shifting off the show altogether."
Heh, I'm one of those guys. And hearing that the SuperCena suddenly lost to his long-time bitch, Randy Orton, somehow doesn't entice me any more. In fact he could go on losing to everybody from HHH to Jimmy Wang Yang to those guys on ECW whose names I don't remember, because they'll be gone or repackaged in a year anyway, and I still wouldn't care.
Posted By: Guest#7314 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:11 AM
Where are these figures you reference Justin W? They seem about 20% accurate. And how does using the internet make one not a real fan? Please expand on your incredible insights.
Posted By: Will (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:00 AM
I have not heard as mnay boo's as of late
Posted By: Guest#0420 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:38 AM
I had forgotten how amazing the visual of the ECW Arena crowd repeatedly throwing back Cena's shirt way. Seriously, can you think of ANY other event where the second a wrestler throws something into the crowd, it isn't immeaditely fought over and claimed? Let alone thrown back three or four times?! That's some heat...
Posted By: Yeah (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:15 AM
I'm really enjoying these last 2 columns man. Great, thorough writing.
Another point about turning him heel, is that at least part of the IWC would change their stance on him and begin cheering him. He will never be 100% on either side. To that effect, no wrestler will ever be universally liked/hated again. Even x-pac had fans.
Posted By: Les Bakker (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:30 AM
I usually like this column, but I'm not keen on this one. I agree to an extent that he is sometimes intentionally polarised, for example RVD and HHH matches in 2006, but WWE did everything to make Cena liked by everyone. It wasn't until 2007 when some of the smart wrestling fans started to like him after a string of MOTY performances.
As for Hogan and Austin choosing not to wrestle. There's a difference: Austin was a very technical wrestler prior to the Owen Hart accident. Hogan, though, definitely chose not to wrestle.
Posted By: Guest#0942 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 06:43 AM
I am not a huge Cena fan, but if I had my own company, I would want a Cena working for me. It is all about the money, not what a handful of us think about Cena.
Posted By: T-Mac (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:19 AM
The worst thing a wrestler can do is get no reaction...Cena has no problem with that. The reaction is what makes money and thats the main thing to Vince. I'm not a Cena fan, in fact, Raw annoys me in general because its Deja Vu every sodding week. However, the fact remains, Cena is making shitloads of cash for the company and himself...fair play.
Posted By: Guest#0661 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 08:49 AM
Guest #7314, couldn't agree with u more.
Posted By: Guest#5746 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 08:52 AM
Cena himself named his finisher the F-U in a rap directed at brock lesnar.
"Your finisher's the F-5? Well mine's the F-U!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8Y88vrH68M
Posted By: Guest#0808 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 09:47 AM
Having Orton beat Cena at HIAC allows WWE to extend the best feud Cena has going for (at least) one more PPV. The win-or-leave-RAW stipulation even keeps down the resentment of those tired of Cena-Orton.
Say Cena had won at HIAC, given the no-more-rematches-for-Orton stipulation. Who on RAW would we want to see him against? HHH? HBK? Dibiase? Rhodes? Mark Henry? MVP? Big Show?
Cena vs. Punk something I think we want to see.
Posted By: John Bragg (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Cena is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, far as I'm concerned. I've been a fan for about 15 years now, and I'm 26. So, I'm certainly no kid. I'm an adult who recognizes a true pro when he sees one.
Cena ALWAYS delivers in the main-event. Sure, he may do better in gimmick matches than regular wrestling, but who cares? He was great in Cena/Shawn-3 this year, had a great match with Edge in the LMS, as well as his I Quit. He jobbed out of the chamber in like, 2 minutes.
Would Hogan have EVER done that? No. Stone Cold? No. Shawn in his prime? Hunter? Batista? No. no. no. He does what's best for the business.
Ever catch him with 'roids? Nope.
Drugs? Nope.
Ever miss a show? Nope.
Ever hear ANYONE complain about him backstage? Nope.
I don't know why these smarks complain about his "workrate". You're all jackoffs who couldn't wrestle a match better than Hogan/Warrior 2 if your life depended on it. You were all jocking him when he was on his rise. Shit ain't changed. You're just being "cool".
He always delivers. He always will.
-Caliber
scrublife.wordpress.com - Evolution of the Ladder Match, Why I Hate America, and we rock Jason Takes Manhattan. Dig it!
Posted By: Caliber (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Cena right now could turn and be a bigger heel then The Rock. If he played off that he was "SuperCena," he would start in the same ballpark as The Rock started in.
Posted By: Tony (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:08 AM
I went back and watched that entire match with RVD.
Cena was such a great heel in that match. His mannerisms, putting his feet on the ropes, taking the FU Cena sign and punching rvd's face with it.
If Cena and McMahon get their wish and Cena faces Rock at Wrestlemania, it will be the exact opposite of the rock-hogan match.
Rocky will play the heel the entire way up to the match, Cena will be shoved and pushed as the megaface, but I will bet the house, the farm, three kids, and the dog that nobody and I mean NOBODY boos Rocky at wrestlemania.
Cena will have no choice but to play the heel, and he does it so well that it's a shame he makes so much money for vinny mac and company and we will likely never see him as a heel until his demographic grows up and gets tired of his schtick like we did with Hogan.
Posted By: JT (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Because it bears repeating countless times...
You can't turn Cena good because all the so-called "smarks" will then start cheering him again. Posted By: Brad B (Guest)
Uhhh, Cena is a good guy, dude.
Posted By: Duh! (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:15 AM
I think Cena is a clown, and he tries to act too much like the Rock! Send him to Smackdown, and let Randy Orton continue to due his thing on Raw.
Posted By: gibb (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:40 AM
Of course they're intentionally making the "smart" portion of the audience hate him. Look at the One Night Stand clip you posted, he simply picks up his shirt, and throws it to another side. Now, he couldn't have expected them to throw it back into the ring, but he didn't miss a beat in taking advantage of another opportunity to show his squeaky clean good guy behavior.
And why? Ever notice that as the haters boo, the kids and women cheer louder, which further feeds the hatred, which, in turn, feeds the love. By polarizing the audience, they're pushing them further towards the extremes of "Love" and "Hate." And the more the kids love Cena, the more they have to have his merchandise.
That's right kiddos, your booing is putting more money in Vince's pockets.
Personally, I love John Cena. I think he has a great mind for the business, along with an understanding of match psychology. He seems to always know when to do what. Sure, I wish creative wouldn't handcuff him in his matches and promos (watch his OVW stuff, it's not because he cannot wrestle), but I think he's a great talent all the same.
But hey, haters gonna hate.
"Yowza!"
Posted By: W. Axl Rose (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Wow, this article was written by someone who "thinks" they know the business. The business of pro wrestling is MONEY! John Cena's move set has been limited because of WWE/Vince. If Cena keeps his move set simple, he's less inclined to be injured. Examples of other WWE superstars with a limited move set are Hogan, Rock, Austin and HHH. You see a pattern here. All these guys were top guys. Their move set was limited to protect them because they were Vince's top money men. Guys like Bret Hart, Angle and Benoit had technical wrestler gimmicks, so therefore their vast move set was going to be showcased. Vince is all about the money. That's why Cena will remain his boy despite the smarks' reaction to him in arenas. Vince doesn't care about them. He cares about the PG crowd who are buying Cena's merch.
Cena's Thug gimmick was NOT the plan all along. That was Cena finally convincing Vince to let him run with it. Try to remember, if you see something on WWE TV, it went through Vince first. Also, the spinner belt was once again approved my Vince. And guess what? Those spinner belts sure did sell more than your average replica belt. The Bottom Line is that people either want to see Cena get beat up or save the day. And the ones who want to see him save the day are spending a shitload of money on his merch. Money is all Vince cares about. That's why WWE expends more energy on marketing their merch than on the "creative" end of their product. What sucks is that there's no WCW around for Vince to actually have to think outside the box and give fans something they haven't seen before.
Posted By: dude11767 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:12 PM
I'd really like to see Cena team with Orton and for the pair of them to sit in that middle ground of being neither heel nor face, simply them against anyone on the roster whenever they choose. One week they come off face, the next they come off heel. They are the two guys who really polarize the audience and putting them together would just soup those reactions right up. Once Orton splits from Legacy it would be the wisest thing to do, create a new two man powertrip. Perhaps post WM, summer of 2010, give them the unified tag titles, each a world title, whoever dethroned them, say Morrison, would get a major rub from it.
Posted By: Guest#2586 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:13 PM
I've got to disagree with your statement that the boos don't bother Cena. There have been several times, mostly at smarky-crowd PPVs, where the boos have far outweighed the cheers, and you can just see the look of frustration on his face. Don't be fooled - of course Cena wants to be the next Rock, holding 100% of the crowd in the palm of his hand.
I think at this point the ONLY hope Cena has of getting over with the smarks is to turn heel. This of course will never happen, at least not until they can get someone else to hold the position of Super Babyface.
Posted By: Zipper (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:14 PM
I have to disagree about Hogan being "universally loved"-- though certainly he didn't have the mixed reaction Cena gets. But every time they did the "Hogan's friend turns on him" some people always went with the friend-- this was especially true with Savage.
Posted By: M:-X (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:15 PM
why is it amazing that he's done that in seven years? thats all Austin even wrestled in the WWE, and not far off Hogan's first WWE run.
Posted By: S Dot (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:31 PM
..the FU is supposed to be a Death Valley Driver?!?!
Posted By: Karatgold24 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:48 PM
The 10% IWC, 90% casual ratio of fans is a relic from the Attitude Era, when ratings were higher. I forget who, but someone noteworthy said it, and it has stuck as "fact" ever since. Nowadays, with many of the Attitude fans grown up and gone from wrestling, the IWC probably makes up a much larger than 10% portion of the audience. I'd guess more around %20-25.
Posted By: MDK (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:01 PM
Instead of playing it safe, istory has always shown that taking risks pays off way more divdends.
We had squaky clean babyface Hogan turn heel and join the NWO, which practically revitalized WCW and jumpstatrted new interest in the product.
When WWE started to shift to the
Attitude era and pushed Austin as a foul-mouthed, rebellious antihero, they also saw huge cash signs.
I think this is really hitting at a deeper current here: the changing tides of perception and the role the Internet has played in it. As fans grew more aware of the business' inner workings and treated it less like a real thing and more like a critique of theater, we've become suspicious of Cena's character, knowing how it TRULY operates and the mechanisms of what it's about.
Also, the public has generally become more educcated. With the 21st century breakdown in binary condiions (good/evil, black/white, etc.), some people feel more a need to disagree, dissent, and rebel to what is the popular norm. Thus, people try to assert their coolness by hating Cena.
What makes fans hate him is, ironically, how hard WWE tries to push him to appeal to everyone as a family-friendly babyface. The more you push him down our throats, ala Rock's initial blue chipper phase, the more fans catch a whiff of this fake corporate PR marketing bs and boo him.
However, if Cena were turned heel, then smart fans would start cheering him again, which would cause Vince to turn him face, which would lead to smarks booing him again. It's a catch-22, fed by Vince's old-timey ignorance about the dynamics of how the business really works and the IWC's snobby need to be hipsters and stand out.
Posted By: lilwayne1 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:06 PM
I think One Night Stand 96 was not really a fair, or even typical reaction for Cena. There you had the champion going against an ECW icon, in a venue that ECW utilized quite a bit in the end of its run. Of course Cena was going to get booed--and I think they all expected it.
A more typical turning on Cena was at WM22, where they booked Cena as the clear face, HHH as the clear heel, and yet the crowd was still 70% for HHH, which JR tried to attribute to the Chicago fans liking more traditional wrestlers. Cena did win over some of the crowd in the end by putting on a very good match, which shows just how good he can be.
Posted By: Michael L (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:13 PM
"Because it bears repeating countless times...
You can't turn Cena good because all the so-called "smarks" will then start cheering him again. Posted By: Brad B (Guest)
Uhhh, Cena is a good guy, dude.
Posted By: Duh! (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 11:15 AM"
My bad on the mistype. But I think everybody gets the general idea.
And Zipper, you would lose that bet. 100% of the crowd wouldn't support Rocky. The kiddies from the PG FOR KIDZ~!~ initiative have possibly never heard of The Rock - pro wrestler and only know Cena as their hero. Racists won't root Rock over Cena (sadly, there's more than you think at an average WWE show). And I'm sure the women will be split too.
This fallacy of Rock being the most popular wrestler of all time when he wasn't even the most popular wrestler of his era is starting to get to be a bit much. I wish these comments sections were around in 2002-2003 when all the IWC did was shit all over his stale & tired act.
Posted By: Brad B (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Cannot wait for CENA to turn bad and TEAR UP all the IWC favs. I don't mean just pin them I mean rip them a new one. Punk, Miz, Jericho, Samoa Joe, Beer Money, end the Undertakers WM streak while retiring him, then beating up RVD and putting him in the STFU outside while he burns down his comic store.
oh and 21 Rounds was better than Die Hard 2, 3 and 4.
Stephanie's Cleavage was OUTSTANDING in that clip, I miss them.
Posted By: Cena Rules (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:15 PM
does anyone else agree that its a possibilty that WWE adds a "cheer track" to cenas theme music? it seems to kick in when the main part of music plays, around 10 seconds into it.
Posted By: Lord G (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 02:41 PM
The apathy aspect is spot on.
I refuse to watch RAW or PPVs via legitimate means. Instead, I do what a lot of people do and download the torrent, so I can still watch when I want, fast forward the usual crap, but not miss anything in the highly, highly unlikely anything interesting happens on Raw.
This isn't because I want to illegally procure wrestling, it's a matter of principle. I have the option to watch legitimately, but choose not to.
See, if the alleged 10% of the fanbase who are make up the IWC who are unhappy did this, the WWE would soon notice the 10% drop in ratings.
You don't miss out, so when the WWE takes step to rectify the situation by improving it's product, then you can tune in again legitimately and cause an upturn in viewers, thereby confirming to Vince you now like the product.
It's not difficult, but apparently, unity amongst the disgruntled it.
Posted By: The Truth of it All (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 03:24 PM
I don't like John Cena. I never have, and I never will. And it's not that I want to see him lose, it's that I really don't want to see him at all. It’s nothing personal – by all accounts he is professional, friendly, and hard-working.
So, while he’s a great guy, he’s a LOUSY wrestler. And I’m only talking about bell-to-bell, because that’s what I like in wrestling. Good wrestlers all have at least one of the following qualities: grace (think HBK) or snap (think Arn Anderson – ferocity.) A very small minority have both (Angle.) Cena has neither. It’s not that his move set is limited by WWE creative; it’s that he just doesn’t have “it” in the ring. And yes, I HAVE seen his OVW stuff. Cornette’s commentary could make ANYONE watchable, and I think maybe that’s why some people think Cena was better then.
Why do I resent Cena? Because Vince doesn’t care about bell-to-bell – the above quoted wish to “get rid of the wrestling part of his shows if he could.” Cena’s got “the look.” VKM values image over talent. In the internet era, we see a little more of the corporate stuff behind wrestling than we did before, and we resent it when we feel like we’re being “talked down to.” Why isn’t Jericho – the BEST wrestler on WWE’s payroll – in main events? Because he’s too short. Period. THAT’s why I resent Cena. He’s the embodiment of pushing image over talent because Vince thinks that’s what we want. Or that he’ll TELL us what we want. And I really do think that if they pushed Jericho the way they push Cena they would sell just as much merch. Or if they gave Nick Nemeth a better gimmick than “Dolph Ziggler.” Or if they eventually let Miz into the main event. Or if they ever gave Shelton a freaking chance.
That’s why I record Raw and fast-forward through the Cena parts, NOT because I think hating on him makes me “cool.”
Posted By: Slappy (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 03:29 PM
Fantastic work. Overall, you put together enough together for plenty of sides of the Cena argument. While I'm not a huge Cena fan anymore (I do own a throwback WordLife t-shirt), I typically enjoy him more than Orton. I don't particularly mind the way he's booked, because I know what's coming when he wrestles. Sometimes, I convince myself otherwise, but I know what the end result will be. My main problem with Cena? I just wish they would find a tone for him in interviews that is consistant. One week he's the goofy, jokey Cena, the next he's incredibly intense. Hell, he even goes back and forth within interviews sometimes. Guys like The Rock and Stone Cold never did that. They had their role, and they played it. They would have fun, engaging promos, and were intense and had their eyes on the prize. A lot of problem is what is written for Cena. He just does his job. But, they need to make him funny, so people like him, and intense, so people know he's a bad ass.
Posted By: AGM (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 03:45 PM
can't believe I read the whole thing...
Posted By: ICON (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 12:10 AM
HAHA! I certainly didn't!
Posted By: Ron Fuller (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 03:47 PM
I think the “smarky” portion of the IWC and wrestling fans in general are not fully aware of their own environment. We had the “Rock n’ Wrestling/Hulkamania Era”, the “New Generation/Hart & HBK Era”, The “Attitude/Austin Era” and The “World Heavyweight/Triple H Era”.
Now we have the “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect/Cena Era” – of all the eras, which do you think are 1) the most marketable and 2) caters to Vince McMahon’s ego – meaning what he wants the public to percieve his company as?
There’s nothing wrong with being “Rock”, and nothing wrong with having “Attitude”. In the 80’s Vince “Hustled” (or swindled, depending on your POV) his way to the top of the mountain in pro wrestling. We all know what it means to show “Loyalty” towards the McMahons (ask HHH, HBK or The Undertaker, for example) and we ALL KNOW what happens to those who don’t “Respect” the McMahon name and legacy.
I also think that there is a *gasp* long-term plan ahead. How old were the majority of us when Hulkamania was “running wild”? I’ll tell you my age: I was 9…NINE YEARS OLD when Hogan bodyslammed Andre. Most of my friends who were WWF marks were around the same age. We were around 17-19 when he turned heel and went nWo.
John Cena’s bodyslam moment for those who worship the ground he walks on was WrestleMania 22. Could you imagine being a 9/10 year old kid cheering John Cena, while all the adults (or older people in general) are booing the ever-loving shit outta him while facing Triple H? Could you imagine the feeling of impending doom and heartbreak knowing that it’s pretty much elementary for your hero to fall because everyone around you says it’s gonna happen (especially with the condescending “I know better than you” attitude)? We all have a rebellious streak in us. We all want to be on the side that proves another wrong. What kind of vindication do you think those kids felt watching John Cena making the MIGHTY TRIPLE H TAP OUT. It may not mean much to you, or me, or us – since we’re so jaded in our more mature years, but how much do you think it meant to THEM? Some of those kids are HOOKED FOR LIFE from that moment and John Cena will be their flagbearer.
How crushed and shocked do you think they will be when that 9 year old watches RAW one day when he’s 17 or 18 and see John Cena shit-talking the fans?
“OMG! He was my hero!”
“OMG! How could he do this!”
“OMG, he’s…so…COOL NOW!”
Déjà vu? Yeah. I’m not stupid, and neither should you. This is the most obvious, far-reaching long-term strategy I think Vince has ever implimented – and man, it’s gonna work like GANGBUSTERS when it happens.
Posted By: The 8th Samurai (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 04:25 PM
For fairness, I'll admit that I'm one of those Cena haters....I'd like to point out that if Cena wrestled The Rock at Wrestlemania, The Rock would be overhelmingly cheered over Cena, because I have to assume that Wrestlemania is the most smark filled event of the year. Thousands of people fly in from all over the world to see 'Mania...most of them are surely smarks, who else would spend that much to go to a wrestling event??
Posted By: Smo (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 05:06 PM
I'd be very surprised if the ratio isn't at least 50/50 IWC to other fans by now. Face it, who doesn't have access to the internet now? WWE itself tries to emphasize using the internet. There also really aren't all that many different wrestling websites around anymore either, so you'd figure most people stumble onto this site after awhile, either through word of mouth or while searching for results somehow.
I agree that at least Cena doesn't book his own angles or play politics, or at least, that's what the accepted view is now. I remember back in 2000 or so everyone said the same thing about HHH, but if you read Bret Hart's book it's obvious that even by 97 HHH had the book and was wielding political power. Hell, he's the one who came up with the idea of storyline marrying Steph, probably realizing he could seduce her and marry her for real. People always swore HHH wasn't responsible though for all those angles and wins, when we know better now. Why is it so farfetched to believe Cena decides his losses too?
I'm on the apathy boat though. I don't bother booing Cena at all, I just don't bother watching. I was getting back into it with CM Punk, since he was kind of fresh and did good promo work. But he went and lost again, so screw him. The NFL is back on, the WWE should really have stepped up its game, but instead is content to go for the status quo and the same, tired old wrestlers in the same tired old angles.
I'm rooting for Turner to buy TNA and put it on TNT. Hopefully it gets run better than it is, but at least we'd have another wrestling option. A real one. To be honest though wrestling probably will not improve, Vince's contracts are too good now and he is really vicious with legal threats, on top of his usual assholeitude. I don't know how anybody can like this guy.
Posted By: Guest#2282 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 05:10 PM
That Cryme Tyme and Cena segment is a perfect example of why Raw was awesome was awesome last year. Relatively kid-friendly wrestling with enough edge and unexpected craziness to keep the older audience around.
Why they didn't continue that and instead decided to overdo every main event feud left left BEFORE elevating anyone is beyond me.
Posted By: Big Lantern Ghost (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 05:26 PM
cena......still sucks!
Posted By: bob (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 05:37 PM
Lance Storm looks like he walked off the set of "Milk" in that pic.
Posted By: Tezak (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 06:04 PM
Why fix something that ain't broken? Because whatever his formula is right now has made him the #1 face of the WWE.
Posted By: Guest#7606 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:11 PM
My current dislike of Cena is all based on the Super Cena booking, which is the same reason I stopped liking Hogan when I realised how un-interesting his Hulking Up routine was. I think if the WWE humanized Cena a little more and stopped having his matches end with the F-U, STFU from nowhere combo, I really wouldn't have any problems with him being champion.
I don't understand the limited moveset complaint that everyone has with him though. Cena probably has one of the larger movesets in WWE. He frequently uses the following:
The FU
The STFU
The Fisherman Suplex
The Throwback
The Five Knuckle Shuffle
Top Rope Rocker Dropper
Protoplex
Sit-Out Hip Toss
Flying Shoulderblock
And those are just his singature moves. Could someone please exlain to me how that constitutes a limited moveset, when most wrestlers only use a couple of distinct moves outside of their finisher. I know Cena's arsenal could use fome freshening, but I think he is unfairly singled out as one dimensional when he has clearly tried to incorporate a variety of attacks into his regular routine.
Posted By: B.O.B (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:13 PM
Lansdell is back! Kudos to you, Sir. Great read, great column.
Posted By: FistsMcPain (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:52 PM
My current dislike of Cena is all based on the Super Cena booking, which is the same reason I stopped liking Hogan when I realised how un-interesting his Hulking Up routine was. I think if the WWE humanized Cena a little more and stopped having his matches end with the F-U, STFU from nowhere combo, I really wouldn't have any problems with him being champion.
I don't understand the limited moveset complaint that everyone has with him though. Cena probably has one of the larger movesets in WWE. He frequently uses the following:
The FU
The STFU
The Fisherman Suplex
The Throwback
The Five Knuckle Shuffle
Top Rope Rocker Dropper
Protoplex
Sit-Out Hip Toss
Flying Shoulderblock
And those are just his singature moves. Could someone please exlain to me how that constitutes a limited moveset, when most wrestlers only use a couple of distinct moves outside of their finisher. I know Cena's arsenal could use fome freshening, but I think he is unfairly singled out as one dimensional when he has clearly tried to incorporate a variety of attacks into his regular routine.
Posted By: B.O.B (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 07:13 PM
Because other than that he brawls and clotheslines. He might occasionally use the throw back or a suplex, but that's about it. It's limited compared to most.. Even the Big Show seems to be able to pull out more moves than Cena. Just saying.
Posted By: Guest#6942 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 08:02 PM
edge proved how awesome he can be. how many heels has cena feuded with ans was till booed?
edge has been and continues to be the only heel to get cena cheered by everyone. that is why they feuded for almost a year.
Posted By: rey (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 08:44 PM
There are a couple of flaws in your article but overall I really did enjoy it.
I believe your last point kind of deflated the previous one. Apathy is reason why Cena should be turned. Take your same Hogan example. The guy could do no wrong but after a decade on top fans stopped caring about him. They moved on to Bret Hart and Co. Cena can stay a face and maintain his mixed reaction. That's all well and good. But do you honestly think it'll last forever? The little kids who cheer for John now are going to become jaded teenagers sooner rather than later. The 60% at best that you mention will drop off fast as it did for Hogan.
Yes, turning Cena now will definitely lose some revenue in the now but it'll also help preserve Cena in the long run. If he regains an edge those soon to be tweens will have an interesting. unique piece of Cena that will increase his shelf life in the long run.
Also, I really disliked your stereotypical (even if it was tongue-in-cheek) explanation for why the IWC hates Cena and why they and the rest of the fans boo/cheer. You put it much too simply and didn't allow for any gray area. There are people out there who boo Cena simply because they've never found him to be that interesting either in the ring or on the mic. It's not as cut and dry older smarks vs. younger marks.
Finally, you should have mentioned New Year's Revolution 2006. The Cena backlash there was legendary and it even included Angle talking about making Jesus tap out and the fans would still cheer him against Cena. It was an amazing night all around as it pertained to Cena.
Posted By: Ron Mexico (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 09:46 PM
I barely pay attention to RAW, so I don't really get too bothered by Cenas booking. I've NEVER been a fan of his simply because I've never liked his gimmicks, wrestling style, persona, etc.
I think we IWC people are the ones who remember/enjoyed when WWE didnt try to cater to a certain group of fans. Its all about money now, which has dampened the product.
It was funny as hell though watchin HIAC and listening to the outright clear cheers Orton got in destroying Cena.
Posted By: CL (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 09:58 PM
That's right kiddos, your booing is putting more money in Vince's pockets
_____________
Buying the ticket, buying the merch but how is booing putting money in his pocket? Do I pay to boo now?
Posted By: Guest#0493 (Guest) on October 08, 2009 at 10:25 PM
One MAJOR incident that turned the "smark" community (at least within my circle of friends) was when RAW aired that music video for John Cena's "Day in the Life" song from his album. It's kinda hard to cheer for a guy that was practically living a perfect life. More importantly, the whole thing made him look like a puss.
Posted By: Anthony (Guest) on October 09, 2009 at 02:53 AM
I love the argument that only 10% of the fanbase doesn't like Cena, because it's made by those who are completely deaf and don't hear nearly half of the arena booing him.
As far as the "people who hate Cena will pay money to see him lose" theory goes, I'm calling major BS. Buyrates are down and Cena's in the main event. Live attendance is down and Cena's in the main event. Ratings are down and Cena's in the main event. While Cena is their major cash cow right now because of his appeal to, like Lansdell said, children and families, older fans are turning to MMA, old tapes of shows, and other promotions. There's not enough of them turning to TNA or RoH (due to the former being so mind-numbing it hurts, and the latter being available to only a select few on TV) for it to matter right now, but it might one day.
My problem with Cena has been stated already in this article. I find his matches boring due to his limited moveset, and I also think that the way he performs those moves is slapdash and ruins my suspension of disbelief. I tune out during his promo's because they yearn for the intensity he had as a heel back in '03 but use Disney Channel-safe language so as to not anger the parents of little children (while, in the next segment, DX are telling people to perform oral sex on them). And the booking of him is the WORST part, because nobody - NOBODY - should be booked as Superman in this day and age. Winning streaks and a dominant presence are one thing, but being virtually unstoppable while simultaneously burying any opposition not named HHH or Orton (and that's primarily due to those men's talent in regaining their heat afterwards) is another, and it's the wrong thing to do if you want to move the product forward.
Posted By: AndrewCrow (Guest) on October 15, 2009 at 08:25 AM
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