After reading so much over the last couple of months about how so many things were wrong with John Cena, I have to admit that I myself was inevitably drawn into the conception that this man ... then I went to Survivor Series. 20,000 people, at least half of them against Cena, booing the hell out of him, yelling about how much he sucked... myself included. Then, as I looked around the arena, surveyed what exactly was going on, took it all in, and then for a brief millisecond a thought flashed through my mind. I quickly dismissed it, and kept my rooting for Angle strong.

I thought nothing of it, and was pissed that Angle didn't win the belt... until I had an hour and a half drive home which allowed me time to do NOTHING but sit and dissect the half-second feeling I had during the show; to reflect on the entire situation. To do this, I knew one thing was for sure. If I was going to spend 90 minutes mulling over the answers, I first had to ask myself the right questions. Well, folks, 90 minutes is a long time, and I'd like to share with you what I came up with.

I started at the beginning, to give myself a view of the entire picture of what had really happened over the last three years. After all, to dive into something so vast and deeply rooted, one must have all the facts. And the first fact is that when John Cena first debuted, the only thing we knew was that he was a young upstart wrestler, and he put on a few very good matches with two of the best wrestlers in the entire company in Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. Could we have a future star?

Then Halloween arrived and Cena decided to dress up as Vanilla Ice, because he's a fan of hip-hop, he's white, and thought it would be funny, which it most certainly was. But apparently, somebody in booking was actually paying attention that night, and decided that they should tweek it a little, and run with it.

Enter John Cena, heel rapper. Now, we aren't going to dive completely into the schematics (you like that Sforcina?) of it, but we had a guy who came on every week, and cut some raps. Now, while this was certainly a questionable gimmick to go with, the fact was that Cena was just quick and witty enough with his "raps" to get over. But keep in mind, he was getting over as a HEEL. Eventually, the face turn came, and the stage was set for WrestleMania 20, where he would go on to win his first title (U.S.) from the Big Show. This was also around the time that the booking team decided it would be a good idea that they themselves wrote everybody's promo word for word for them, including Cena's raps. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Cena's heel raps were anything amazing, but they were colder, quicker, and had more spunk to them. After the turn, they became bubblegum babyface bullshit. However, despite the fact I personally didn't enjoy them as much, he was still entertaining and more importantly, still very very over.

He spent most of 2004 dropping and regaining the U.S. Title, and, despite being a more entertaining heel, he was getting more and more over as a face; something I have no problems with unless your name is Randy Orton (like most of us, except for Randle, who loves face Orton). And then, the time eventually came when John Cena could no longer be ignored. It was time to put the belt on him.

So, at WrestleMania 21, John Cena defeated the ever-unpopular (that's for another column) JBL to become the WWE Champion. Everybody loved it. Everybody went nuts. All was good in the world... for about two months. April rolled along, the champ is here. May rolled along, the champ is here. June rolled along, the champ is here... sort of. By the time August hit, we were cheering for another man, Chris Jericho; but we'll get to that. By the time the Angle feud rolled around, things had started to change. And by last Sunday, as with much of the shows over the last two months, the message was sent loud and clear: We can't stand you John Cena.

The thing we often forget is that we are here to like or dislike a CHARACTER, not a MAN. When we see Angle, we boo the CHARACTER, but cheer for the MAN. When we booed a heel Rock, we booed the character, but cheered for the man. When we booed a heel Austin, we were booing the character while cheering for the man. Being a good little mark, I'll even point out that when we booed a heel Christian, we booed the character, yet cheered the man. But it seems that when we've booed Cena, we aren't booing the character, we are flat out booing the man.

Which of course brings us to the matter at hand. Asking the right questions. Is it really John Cena we can't stand? Am I being fair to John Cena? Was I wrong in my assessment? Was the entire IWC wrong in its assessment? Were we crucifying the wrong man? Was John Cena becoming the scapegoat for everything that we didn't like about "him"? Was it possible he had been so overexposed and over-marketed that instead of blaming the ones in charge we blamed the one we saw every week on TV?

Finally, the questions had been asked. But now, I needed the answers.

Part A: First we'll start with an easy one. We'd answer if he's good on the mic, but we all know the answer. Yes. We might not always enjoy what we're hearing, but the fact is the man is guaranteed gold with a microphone in his hand. His promo abilities are about the one thing we aren't slinging shit his way about. Moving on.

Part B: Can John Cena wrestle? The common fan would tell you that he is worse inside a squared circle than Hulk Hogan himself, but I beg to differ. Anybody who saw any of his work in OVW knows that this guy can go.

Cook: I can validate that statement.

JT: Thank you, Steve.

Not only did he wrestle well in OVW, but he was impressive in his first few matches on television versus Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho. Now, some would argue that anybody can be made to look good in the ring with those two. I cannot argue that. But I didn't say he looked good. I said he looked impressive. The thing to remember is that through actual wrestling ability, John Cena almost made us BELIEVE he could beat them. Don't think I'm crazy. Don't dismiss me. Honestly, if you saw it, think back to it. Forget everything you know now and think back to those first few matches... Our boy Cena almost pulled off some upsets in convincing fashion. I'll even remind you of the STF hold he used to win Monday night on RAW. Think back, when he was just a young buck trying to make it, all was good in the world. He didn't ask for a gimmick that required a street brawler, thug type fighting style. He AGREED to one. So perhaps the real question is "Should we be booing creative for not letting a talented wrestler do just that... wrestle?"

Part C: Over-marketing. John Cena the man and John Cena the character had no problems going out there every week in a throwback jersey of his choosing and a backwards hat to match. Sure, the CD was his idea, and it's always nice to have your own T-shirt, but surely John Cena had nothing to do with the ridiculous heights marketing has gone with this. Do you honestly think John Cena suggested to somebody to have FIFTY TWO items on Shopzone? That's right, read it again... FIFTY... TWO. John Cena Wuffle Ball set? John Cena Zipper Pull? John Cena Wastebasket? Who the hell is approving these? Think back, when he only had the "Word Life" (wrestlemania-ish) T-shit, Lock Pendant, DVD and CD, all was good in the world. John Cena didn't ask to be plastered all over Shopzone, including his own section entitled "Top John Cena products", and right under it "Additional Cena products". He AGREED to have 874 items created for him. Even then, he probably didn't AGREE because he probably has no say in it whatsoever. So perhaps the real question is "Shouldn't we be booing marketing for going overboard in an attempt to make a fat pile of cash?"

Part D: Over-exposure. John Cena the man and John Cena the character had no problems appearing on television ONCE a week, sometimes twice if promo and match are both required. John Cena didn't ask to be on television five times a week. John Cena didn't ask the production crew to run vignettes of him all the time during recap shows. John Cena didn't ask for "5 questions with the Champ" to be plastered all over WWE.com, or be on CoachCast, or be on ByteThis 6 or 7 times this year, or ....I could go on and on, you get the idea. Think back, when he was only on TV (no wwe.com, no nothing) a few times a week, all was good in the world. John Cena didn't ask for ANY of this. John Cena AGREED to this. He said "you know what, you want me to do this, I'll do it". So perhaps the real question is "Shouldn't we be booing production for ramming this man down our throats at every opportunity possible?"

Part E: Over-booking. John Cena the man and John Cena the character (since WM 20) had no problems losing to guys like Chavo, Dupree, Booker, Kenzo Suzuki, Carlito, Taker, and even Orlando Jordan. Wins and losses are a part of the business, and Cena understands this. John Cena didn't ask to have FOUR losses since winning the belt, three of those being in tag matches, and the other being unclean. John Cena didn't ask to get put over guys like Jordan, Dupree, BOTH Bashams, JBL, Kurt Angle, Jericho, Christian, Tomko, and Carlito. Think back, when he was getting over with the crowd, and it meant he suffered a loss once in a while, all was good with the world. John Cena didn't say "Hey, let's have me win EVERYTHING", including handicap matches against two, three, and even FOUR people. He AGREED to it.

Let me tell you something, John Cena, no matter how popular, has NO pull backstage; has NO pull politically; and has NO pull in terms of booking. Think back. So perhaps the real question is "Shouldn't we be booing booking for turning him into an indestructible super-hero that seemingly NOBODY can beat?"

After proper deliberation, I have determined that the answer to all the questions above marked in bold is a resounding YES. Our problem isn't with John Cena. It's with everything else associated with Cena. The problem? Cena is the only one we see on TV. Well people, get off your high horse, put your boo-birds down, and cut the man some slack.

The fact is, John Cena - the MAN, the wrestler, the character, the whatever - has done nothing but go out there and be a complete company man and do everything that everyone has asked of him. I can no longer fault him for this. I can no longer say that John Cena is the one pissing me off. Especially in a time where we're in a down period, we have to... HAVE TO remember that as the Champion, he is shouldering more of the burden, pressure, and blame than everybody else in the company (sans Batista). I will no longer ignore the fact that he is living his dream, and sometimes, living your dream means doing what "other people" think are right for the "company".

I reviewed everything and realized that for the longest, I may have thought I was booing John Cena, but in reality my subconscious was already booing the people really in charge, and it finally decided to include me.

John Cena the man or John Cena the character won't be taking any more shit from me. John Cena has done nothing to merit it. Now - booking, creative, marking, and management - might be taking some shit from me, but no longer with John Cena unfairly be the scapegoat for the fact he has been over-booked, over-marketed, and over-exposed. The fact is that he is a good wrestler. He is a good character. And he is MOST DEFINITELY good for the company.

So the next time you want to boo the hell out of him, think about who you're really booing, and if Cena is REALLY the man who should be bearing your wrath. If you ask me, no he shouldn't. From now on, until I see something that is really his fault, I'm cutting John Cena a break.







But... this wouldn't be right if I didn't include the fans on this one. So what do you think? Have I gone bananas?, or I have pointed out something that's been in the back of our minds for months but we've ignored it? It's up to you people.