The Shimmy 4.16.06: The John Cena Report Card
Posted by Andy Clark on 04.16.2006
Don't like Cena? Here's your chance to weigh in!
What up, homies? Welcome back to Cena Central here at Los Shimmy. This week I decided to do a little reader participation, or at least set it up. You see, everyone seems to harp on WWE Champion John Cena's wresting ability, or lack thereof depending on your point of view. I think that a lot of Cena's body of work has been forgotten, or perhaps just overlooked. Therefore, I figured I'd take a look back at all of John Cena's PPV matches, where we can all agree one should bring their A-game, and give him a grade. I'll give pluses and minuses for A's, B's, and C's since there is a difference between what an A match would be or an A+, but I figured that a D or F performance would pretty much stand alone. I encourage feedback and your own grades, and I'll provide an easy cut and paste form at the end of my report card for you to send to me. Next week I'll print you're reader report cards and we'll see just what kind of a grade Cena gets.
John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (Vengeance 2002)
At this point and time Cena was still pretty green, had no gimmick, and wore hideous ring gear. He was also a darling superstar of the IWC, who everyone wanted to give a push to. After coming off a really good showing against Kurt Angle, Cena's efforts here were decent but not spectacular.
My Grade: B
2003 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 2003)
This was John Cena's first big match with the rapper gimmick, but at this point he was still a midcarder. While his rap on his way to the ring was entertaining, he really wasn't much of a factor in the match except to be one of the men that Shawn Michaels beat up when he returned.
My Grade: N/A
WWE Title Match: Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (Backlash 2003)
Cena got his first big opportunity here as he won a No. 1 Contender's Tournament to get here, racking up wins against Eddie Guerrero, Undertaker, and Chris Benoit. The victory over Eddie was significant for him, the Undertaker match was a tainted win, but the match with Benoit was quite solid. Unfortunately Cena couldn't carry his tournament momentum with him into this match and what could have been a pretty high profile affair ended up coming off rather flat.
My Grade: C
Six Man Tag Team Match: John Cena, Chuck Palumbo & Johnny Stamboli vs. Chris Benoit, Rhyno & Brian Kendrick (Judgment Day 2003)
Cena got to carry on his mini-feud with Chris Benoit here, but this match was mostly about him and Spanky. This was an entertaining tag match with five competent performers and Chuck Palumbo, who did his best work in tag matches anyhow, but there wasn't much of an individual showcase here. From a workrate perspective this was one of the better matches on the card, but still not much more than a hot opener.
My Grade: B
John Cena vs. Undertaker (Vengeance 2003)
This was John Cena's biggest match to date, with a good build and even a slight possibility of a win over the Deadman. Cena gave a strong showing during this match, and has always matched up well with Undertaker. One of the lesser main events on SmackDown's first brand only PPV, this match delivered.
My Grade: A
John Cena vs. Kurt Angle (No Mercy 2003)
After taking a hiatus from PPV appearances, Cena came back with this gem. No doubt the best match of the night, this is the match I like to point to when I disagree with those that say that Cena can't wrestle. This was a phenomenal match, and even though many will say Angle carried Cena, the Doctor of Thuganomics more than pulled his weight in this one. Take note, this match is my Ch-Check It Out match of the week, so find a copy of this match and see if I'm lying.
My Grade: A+
Ten Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, John Cena, Hardcore Holly & JBL vs. Brock Lesnar, Big Show, A-Train, Matt Morgan & Nathan Jones (Survivor Series 2003)
This match was not great by any stretch of the imagination, as the eliminations were way too rapid at the beginning. The key thing here though is that this was the launching pad for Chris Benoit and John Cena as featured guys. I believe this was the first time we'd seen Cena FU the Big Show and it was an impressive feat.
My Grade: B
2004 Royal Rumble Match (Royal Rumble 2004)
Cena got to act like a hot prospect in this match, continuing his feud with Big Show and hanging in there until the final six competitors. Cena was never thought to be a legitimate winner of this match but it served to get him more over as a face heading into WrestleMania.
My Grade: B-
No. 1 Contender, Triple Threat Match: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena vs. Big Show (No Way Out 2004)
Heading into WrestleMania XX this match helped give the rub to Cena and stall the inevitable clash with Big Show. Everyone knew that Kurt Angle would be walking away with this one and while some people call this a mediocre Triple Threat Match, I find it to be a very solid outing.
My Grade: B-
United States Title Match: Big Show vs. John Cena (WrestleMania XX)
Not many people have been able to get a five star classic out of the Big Show, and this was no different. The key here though was putting together an entertaining match and get the crowd involved, something Cena did quite well. Add in a creative finish and another great show of strength and we have ourselves a hot WrestleMania opener.
My Grade: B
United States Title Match: John Cena vs. Rene Dupree (Judgment Day 2004)
I will admit, I was excited about this match as I thought it was a fresh match up between two young up-and-comers. Ever since Dupree's failed singles run in the summer of 2004 I haven't seen much upside to him, and if there was ever a need for a carry job it was here. In my opinion Cena did his part, and Dupree wasn't that bad, but this match was still lacking.
My Grade: C
United States Title, Fatal Four-Way Elimination Match: John Cena vs. Booker T vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Rene Dupree (Great American Bash 2004)
I may be a tad biased as I saw this match live, but I thought this was a really fun match. Booker T and RVD had a good chemistry together, and Cena and RVD's interaction was surprisingly good as well. Dupree actually made up for his act at Judgment Day, and this match provided a respectable B- showing.
My Grade: B-
United States Title, Match 1 of a Best of Five Series: Booker T vs. John Cena (SummerSlam 2004)
This was a feud that I though would be very good, but it actually made me hate "Best Of" Series. Both men seemed pretty uninspired for most of this matches and this one didn't have enough meat to be able to tell a good story.
My Grade: C-
United States Title, Match 5 of a Best of Five Series: Booker T vs. John Cena (No Mercy 2004)
In my opinion this was the best match of their series. Perhaps it was the sense of intrigue that not actually knowing the winner brought it, but both men stepped up their games if only slightly. Had some of their other matches had this much fire then perhaps this series wouldn't have flopped.
My Grade: B
Eight Man Tag Team Elimination Match: Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, Rob Van Dam & John Cena vs. Kurt Angle, Mark Jindrak, Luther Reigns & Carlito (Survivor Series 2004)
There wasn't much use of Cena in this match other than for him to come back an extract revenge on an injured Carlito, and there really wasn't all that much to this match at all.
My Grade: N/A
United States Title, Street Fight: John Cena vs. Jesus (Armageddon 2004)
Can we say "Squash?"
My Grade: N/A
2005 Royal Rumble Match (2005 Royal Rumble)
This was Cena's real main event opportunity. True, he came out with more of his "pound and ground" offense, but he had the crowd in the palm of his hand and put up about as good of a performance as one can entering late into the Royal Rumble.
My Grade: B
No. 1 Contender Tournament Finals: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle (No Way Out 2005)
A lot of people actually like this match better than I do. While this was certainly a good match I didn't quite think it was as good as many claimed and was nowhere near their match at No Mercy. Still, Cena had one solid effort left in him before WrestleMania.
My Grade: B-
WWE Title Match: JBL vs. John Cena (WrestleMania 21)
I'm not going to try and rationalize this one. Some people claim that time constraints killed this match, and while that may be true, it wasn't exactly thrilled television for the short time it was on anyway. I loved the build to this match but this was one of Cena's poorest PPV efforts.
My Grade: D
WWE Title, I Quit Match: John Cena vs. JBL (Judgment Day 2005)
This is what WrestleMania should have been. This is one of my favorite matches just because it is so brutal. I called this match the third best WWE match of 2005 in my year end countdown, and I stand by that ranking. While Cena wasn't showing his technical prowess in this match, he was putting on a damn fine show.
My Grade: A+
WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: John Cena vs. Christian vs. Chris Jericho (Vengeance 2005)
The Champ followed up on his great showing at Judgment Day with another great showing at Vengeance. This was a fast paced, seat of your pants Triple Threat Match and all three men contributed greatly. WWE was even considering putting this match on their "History of the WWE Title" DVD.
My Grade: A+
WWE Title Match: John Cena vs. Chris Jericho (SummerSlam 2005)
With a crowd response that would be a precursor to things to come, Cena and Jericho went out there and put on one hell of a show. Many people attribute this match's success to Jericho trying to look good on the way out, and that very well have might have been the case. However, if John Cena is as bad as some people would have you believe, even Chris Jericho's best efforts wouldn't save this match.
My Grade: A-
WWE Title Match: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle (Unforgiven 2005)
In all honesty I don't remember much about this match, which probably isn't a good thing. I do know that the finish left a bad taste in my mouth and I was disappointed that Angle and Cena couldn't recapture some of the magic from their previous meetings for this very boring feud.
My Grade: C-
WWE Title, Triple Threat Match: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels (Taboo Tuesday 2005)
This was the saving grace of the Cena-Angle feud and what a saving grace it was. Following up Triple H-Ric Flair in a Cage wasn't going to be easy, but two ring generals like HBK and Angle, plus the Master of the Triple Threat Match, John Cena, put on one hell of a performance.
My Grade: A+
WWE Title Match: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle; Guest Referee: Daivari (Survivor Series 2005)
Of their singles matches this past fall this was probably their best one except for the whole "evil referee" deal kind of bogged things down at the beginning. The match would eventually pick up and while it wasn't that great it still wasn't on the level of Tomko-Richards.
My Grade: C
WWE Title, Elimination Chamber Match: John Cena vs. Carlito vs. Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kane vs. Kurt Angle (New Year's Revolution 2006)
Going into this match everyone was a bit concerned about the participants involved. It was great to see Kurt Angle eliminated first and I think Carlito and Chris Masters really stole the show. Cena played his role perfectly, though, and when he needed to be on he was on.
My Grade: B
WWE Title Match: John Cena vs. Edge (New Year's Revolution 2006)
I think it would take you longer to read this column than to watch this match.
My Grade: N/A
WWE Title Match: Edge vs. John Cena (Royal Rumble 2006)
This match is hard to judge for me. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as it probably could have been. Let's go with a bit above average for the grading.
My Grade: B-
WWE Title Match: John Cena vs. Triple H (WrestleMania 22)
And now to John Cena's most recent PPV endeavor. No doubt this match was made by the crowd, but Triple H and Cena did their damnedest to keep the crowd hot. This match got way more crap for lack of workrate than it deserves, and given the epic nature of the match, this gets a bit more consideration.
My Grade: B
So there you have it, my grades for all of John Cena's PPV matches. Please, send in your own report cards and I'll print them next week. To make things easier on yourselves, copy and paste this form and just add your own comments. See, I'm looking out for ya.
Vengeance 02:
Royal Rumble 03:
Backlash 03:
Judgment Day 03:
Vengeance 03:
No Mercy 03:
Survivor Series 03:
Royal Rumble 04:
No Way Out 04:
WrestleMania XX:
Judgment Day 04:
Great American Bash 04:
SummerSlam 04:
No Mercy 04:
Survivor Series 04:
Armageddon 04:
Royal Rumble 05:
No Way Out 05:
WrestleMania 21:
Judgment Day 05:
Vengeance 05:
SummerSlam 05:
Unforgiven 05:
Taboo Tuesday 05:
Survivor Series 05:
New Year's Revolution 06:
New Year's Revolution 06:
Royal Rumble 06:
WrestleMania 22:
A Reason For Bullet Points
I didn't catch most of Raw except for the most important part: Vince at Church. It's a shame we're in a short PPV months because I'd be curious to see where else these skits go. You know, some people think that God will be represented by a wrestler at Backlash, so I decided to offer a few suggestions.
Mick Foley- Foley is God
Hulk Hogan- Probably thinks he's God
Ultimate Warrior- I'm pretty sure he's God of something
JBL- A Wrestling…GAWD
Jamie Noble- Jamie "By God" Noble
Samoa Joe- The IWC thinks he's God
Tremendous Tom Lawrence- He's God around here
Triple H- The King of Kings
Jesus- Carlito's old running buddy
Matt Hardy- Hey, he will not die, right?
Giant Gonzales- Imagine him in an airbrushed God suit
The Great Khali- Oh wait, I just mentioned him
Eugene- Suddenly healed by God
Brock Lesnar- Because people say God "hates fags" too
Muhammad Hassan- Because that would be all kinds of cool
Christopher Daniels- Talent on loan from God
Chavo Guerrero- His new gimmick as God
Al Snow
By the way, here's something for those attending Backlash. Since God is going to be there, doesn't that make the arena a house of worship? And as such, can't your ticket purchases be considered donations to a house of worship, and therefore be tax deductible? Try explaining that one to your tax preparer.
I am intrigued by this sit-down interview with Chavo Guerrero on Monday. I have some concerns that there may be so distancing from Eddie, but as long as its not a flat out heel turn on Eddie I'll be OK with it. Chavo really does need to be able to distance himself from Eddie's memory if he ever wants to get his own career back, and if WWE can do that delicately it would probably be the best thing for Chavo.
I loved the first Thursday Impact, and it really made me seriously consider ordering Lockdown next week. When I first heard that they'd be joining Joe-Daniels in progress I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. Boy was I wrong, it was freakin' genius! It was a kick ass match to boot. I'm disappointed Daniels isn't champ anymore, but Joe needs to still be undefeated and I think Joe vs. Sabu for the X-Division Title in the SIX SIDES OF STEEL will be a major selling point.
Why do Team 3D have to run down Canada? It doesn't make any sense. There isn't a huge difference in Canadians and Americans and they practically make up the same fan base, it just doesn't make sense.
Wait, the winners at Lockdown get their national anthem played? Doesn't Team Canada get their national anthem played when they come to the ring?
Sting's team looks pretty good and I think Lethal Lockdown will be a cool match at the PPV. Damn WWE for having two PPVs in April.
OK, so let me get this straight. Finlay beats the hell out of Matt Hardy after the bell and the ref reverses the decision. Animal beats the hell out of Matt Hardy after the bell and the ref reverses the decision. Kurt Angle beats the hell out of Randy Orton after the bell and the ref still lets Angle win? Man, everyone must hate Orton. Either that or Matt Hardy's a pussy.
OK WWE, take my advice: Never, ever, ever, ever let Khalli Gonzales speak again. You know what he reminded me on the mic? Animal from the Muppets. I don't think that's the intimidating reaction they wanted. Unless of course you're scared of Muppets, right Bayani?
I'm excited that the King of the Ring tournament is back, but it feels sort of empty with only SmackDown participating. I know some people will say its better for it to be brand exclusive, but I think the King of the Ring should be represented by both brands. Here's hoping that after Backlash Raw adds its half to the brackets and the Raw winner and SmackDown winner can meet at the July Saturday Night's Main Event.
OK, I'm starting to really get stoked about ECW One Night Stand II. Between RVD getting his title shot, an Eddie Guerrero Tribute Match between Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko, and the shear curiosity factor of seeing Terry Funk, this is a must see. I'm still not sure how they'll effectively do a third installment, but maybe with the return of KOTR they have a plan for post-ECW summer PPVs.
Andy! Andy! At Last You Have Some Feedback!
My boy Sean Garmer hits me up:
Thanks for giving us that report on Wrestlemania it was cool that you got to go that is a dream of mine one day to go to a Wrestlemania. Anyway, I have to say I feel for you with the Mysterio thing because I was at David's to see it and everyone there except me was against Mysterio for their own reasons, and then all hell broke lose when he won because I was cheering and everyone else was pissed. It was bad though Angle made both Orton and Rey tap and then its sort of this anti-climactic win for Rey. Oh well its over but good to know u had fun. This Triple Threat for Backlash might be good only if we kinda didn't know who's winning. I guess it will just be a sweet thing for RVD. Well man i'm out, don't worry I'm here for your support.
Carlito rules either way.
Thanks for the support, man. WrestleMania is an amazing experience and I recommend it to any that have the chance. It does suck with the Rey haters. I actually have a lot less respect for them then I do the Cena haters, at least the Cena haters make some sense. I don't think the Triple Threat Match is as predictable as everyone thinks. I mean everyone thought that Triple H would win at Mania and he didn't. Remember, all three men could walk into One Night Stand as major heels.
Munros wants to correct me:
Eddie never main evented Wrestlemania
For all intents and purposes you are right, my friend. Eddie was never in the final match at Mania and I normally hate when people call matches that weren't at the end the main event (a la Savage-Flair at WM VIII). But since the brand extension each brand has their own main event, and Eddie was in his brand's main event at WrestleMania, that's why I referred to it as such.
Paul Kelley asks about WrestleMania Travel Packages:
Great column on your experience at WrestleMania. Sounds like you had an awesome time. I thought the show was great and a big FU to all those that are hating on it.
I live in Dallas, so I obviously went to WM 17 in Houston. It was incredible and I will never forgot it. I've wanted to go every year since then, but it seems to stay as far away from Texas as possible. This year was probably the closest it's been since then, so I should have tried to make it happen.
From reading your column, it sounds like you did the travel package through WWE. I was wondering if that is the case, if you recommend it, what you get with it and if you stayed at the same hotel as the superstars. Our new Cowboys stadium will be open in 2009, so I'm hoping that will bring the Grandaddy of them all to Big D.
First of all, congrats on seeing X7. I do believe that Texas will see a WrestleMania soon, or at the very least some Southwestern city. I did indeed take a travel package through WWE and I highly recommend it. You get your tickets to Mania, the Hall of Fame, the Bruch, and the exclusive autograph session, plus free goodies and three nights at a nice hotel for a very good price. The convenience of having everything set up for you (and you get pretty choice seating based on my two experiences) is very nice. You don't stay in the hotel with the wrestlers, and starting this year no one that wasn't with WWE was even allowed in the superstars' hotel, based off of some incidences last year in LA. Anyhow, if you decided to head to WrestleMania I highly recommend the travel package. It's the only way I'd go.
411 Music's Justin Swift was also at WrestleMania and had the following to say:
just to clear somethin out, I booed for cena because i'm a HHH fan and have been for a long long time , i do find cena entertaining he does do good promos, and i lean more to the heels anyways
Have no fear, Justin; I have no issue with people that actually just like Triple H, more power to them. My big complaints were people who just outright hated Cena for God knows what reasons.
Scott Duarte adds his thoughts on the WrestleMania crowd:
I've never replied to a column before. I've been reading internet
wrestlingsites for years, but this is my first reply. I was at wrestlemania as well,I was acutally staying at the Sofitel as well, so I guess we both got thetravel package. Anyways about the whole John Cena thing. I am not a JohnCena fan, I was when he had his edge, but he's lost that. The five knuckle shuffle is more ridiculous than the peolple's elbow and the worm combined. I dont like John Cena because Im a Smark, in fact I hate smarks with every inch of my being. But I think the dueling crowd response is what made his match so great. The crowd fighting eachother with opposing chants ("Lets Go Cena", "Cena Sucks") made for an awesome atmosphere. I dont like Cena but he gets true emotion from the crowd at both ends. During the sequence when they were exchagning punches and the crowd was going "boo" "yeah" was unreal. It had a Hogan vs. Rock feel. Now this is where Cena ticked me off. HHH ackowledged that the crowd was cheering for him, playing up to them and doing the DX chop. But not Cena. He still did the
incredibly stupid shoe pumping up, he should have never done that. If only he flipped off the crowd or something once I would have gained respect for him. HHH knew and was able to change in regards to crowd reaction, Cena could not. Now I know that the Internet hates HHH, but the guy had been out of the title race for awhile and putting over everybody. I was even a HHH hater for awhile, but I have enjoyed him lately. I dont think they should turn Cena heel. Keep him the way he is and continue to let the crowd battle it out because it makes for an awesome atmosphere.
First of all, thanks for letting me be the one to take your writing in virginity. To be honest with you, Scott, I've come down on my opinion of that crowd since last week. My knee jerk reaction was "How dare you turn like this" and then just got pissed off. But you're right; the fan reaction made that match. In retrospect I'm glad the crowd turned on Cena as it made the match that much better. I do have to disagree with you on your point on Cena not heeling it up during the match. First, Cena did have a pretty vocal minority of fans. Second, a perhaps most important, a large portion of Cena's fanbase are kids. Unlike Hogan-Rock where Rock could heel it up against his older fan, if Cena were to turn on his child fans during one match, it's possibly he could lose them. In the end I agree with you that they shouldn't turn Cena as this tweener role (at least in terms of fan support) allows for some intriguing match ups.
Well that about does it for me, everyone. Have a happy Easter and don't forget to submit your grades for the John Cena Report Card. Until next time, don't die. Clark…out.
