Columns - Online World of Wrestling

WRESTLING COLUMNS

John Cena: You Can't See Him
July 4, 2005 by James Rican

I've been a wrestling fan for about six or seven years now and I've seen many unbelievable wrestlers in my lifetime. With that said, I wish to speak my mind about a certain wrestler in my first article for Online World of Wrestling. If you're a fan of John Cena, I would recommend you hit the back button and read another article. This is simply my opinion and how I truly feel about John Cena. This article is to simply to open people's eyes so you can see him.

When I watched RAW at home in my room and I heard John Cena's music fill the arena, I grabbed the remote and for the first time while watching RAW, I changed the channel. I knew what was coming from John Cena, because I watched SmackDown every now and then. I hoped that he would stay on SmackDown because that was where he was getting all the teenage viewers, but don't come to RAW! He has ruined RAW, just like he ruined the WWE Heavyweight Championship with his poor microphone skills and his few wrestling maneuvers.

People are starting to say that he is starting to get bigger than The Rock. Let me tell you, he needs a lot more work on the microphone in order to surpass The Great One. When he starts to make fun of people, it reminds me of being back in elementary school where we called each other "stupid head." Isn't he supposed to be a rapper" Than how come all the cheap insults and poor rhyming skills that are coming out of his mouth" Someone needs to get him the "Rapping Dictionary" and show him what rhymes he could use on his next album, then maybe it would sell more and it would go bronze. I'd rather have Vanilla Ice come back and join up with G-Unit, than to see Cena walk around with the WWE title.

The F-U" What kind of finishing move is that" He has beaten a lot of people with that move and it is simply a standing fireman's carry! That is even worse than The People's Elbow and the Hogan Leg Drop! When you see Cena get in the ring, you know what to expect from him. Here is a list of his moves; punches, kicks, the spinning out powerbomb, 5-knuckle shuffle, shoulder tackle, and then the F-U. Is he even worth the trouble of watching" He only needed to do half of those moves in order to beat JBL at WM 20. That is sad, because JBL should've beaten him and had the WWE Title, instead of Cena doing three moves and winning it.

I understand why the WWE has pushed him to go so far. They needed a white man to become a rapper, because that is what society has become today. Everyone is not being themselves anymore and John Cena is the greatest example. He wasn't poor or living in the ghetto. He says he came from the stands, but he was sitting in the front row. Shelton Benjamin had it four times as worse than John Cena, but you don't see Shelton getting any pity do you" I know it is all planned out for him to be a rapper and do make an album, but he has taken it too far.

by James Rican ..

James Reinheimer wrote:
I can see where you are going with this but i just cant agree with what you said. John Cena's only fault is his wrestling ability. How can you complain about his mic skills. If he didnt have great mic skills then why would they give him a rapper gimmick. It is very different to see John Cena as the WWE Champion and this is probibly because he is nothing like the former champions such as Hogan, Hart or Michaels. But this guy is still only young and is going to get better. The WWE would have known this or else he would have never became Champion.

Anthony from Utah wrote:
YES! YES! YES! YES! thank you so much for writing this column. I dislike John Cena and your article tells all the other fans why. You wrote what I think. There might not be any fans that agree with you and I but they will have to figure out how bad he is someday. You are totally right on his move set and you are totally right on his rapping skills. Bravo! JBL is a wrestling GOD!

Eduver3 wrote:
i agree with you man, cena is hype in every sense of the word.and although im glad batista is on sd! i also think he's overrated but i'll prefer him over cena anyday. wwe needs to stop making wrestlers seem unbeatable against some of the greatest wrestlers i.e batista keeps beating hhh, randy orton (remember when randy orton did his first face turn agaisnt hhh and beat batista twice, then suddenly after wrestlemania 21 batista easily beats orton like he was nothing, hmm), cena keeps beating jbl, hulk hogan beating everyone, and the most annoying of all is goldberg, he beats everyone! his matches are no fun unless he loses. eddie vs. rey is an honorable mention b/c at least rey is a great wrestler but c'mon, does he have to beat eddie everytime"!"! at least give a eddie a win or two in this fued. anyways back to cena, cena is just another of the wwe fads, the bad ones. in other words the one that babyface only fans love and little kids like but fans that actually like wrestling know that anyone can see cena.

Dev Hasan wrote:
Okay, this is just PURE Blind hate. I am like a number one fan of The Rock's and I can tell you right now Cena is the answer to being the next thing from The Rock.

I don't see how he reuined RAW, the night when he debuted on RAW...I remember the crowd's reaction being like crazy. Anyone who otherwise, needs to take their own head up their asses.

John Cena's ring ability compared to JBL....hmmmm let's see!! JBL hasnt been in a one on one match with anyone during his title reign. 90% of his title defenses were all in special matches like Last Ride Match, Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match, etc, etc.

JBL can't wrestle to save his life, he has bigger breasts than Trish Stratus and is a complete bully with his terroising behavour, I don't think I gotta remind you of ECW One Night Stand. As for John Cena, the fan's love him, I went to a Smackdown show and the arena SHAKED and almost blew the roof off when Cena's music hit. The reaction was big like one of Rock's or probley bigger.

Before you start writing these column's I think you should go back and check for fact's and your opinion, for example - John Cena was a rapping and freestylin' before he even joined wrestling, he was doing all of it in high school and college, what have you been reading"

You want to talk about finishing moves...again your talking about JBLwinning, what was JBL going to win by" a clothsline" something every wrestler does and the oppoent never stays down for a 3" F-U is as orignal as this blind hated column of yours and other finishers that got ripped off by other wrestles like Randy ripping off the Diamond Cutter.

Cena's microphone skills.............COME ON - Nobodys in the WWE has better microphone skills than THE ROCK. Nobody. But seeing as The Rock isnt there no-more, it has to be clear that John Cena's microphone skills are second to none. Chris Jericho doesnt get enough microphone time anymore to show his charismatic skills anymore, which is a total shame, because one of his talents were being on the microphone.

And Heyman was right about JBL being WWE Champion for a year because Triple H didnt want to work Tuesdays. I think I ----MIGHT--- have alot of people agreeing with me on this, if Triple H was on Smackdown, JBL's reign wouldent of lasted 2 damn months. Cause he is not a wrestling God, Triple H is a wrestling God, because he is THAT DAMN GOOD...and it's not just a saying.

Want to talk about wrestling skills" John Cena doing 5-6 moves a match....Im sure you never cry when JBL does 3 moves a match right" his flabby tit slaps doesnt count. If you ever watched the WWE in the time where Cena debuted, you would see perfectly that Cena was doing atleast 10-13 even 15 moves a match, he was fighting to earn respect, his match with Brock Lesnar was great and truly showed Cena would be something great in the future.

And for a quick note, he doesnt get enough ring time to actually use up all his ring ability, plus he stopped using his more avarge moves after he injured himself and every single REAL FAN know's that the WWE always make their main eventer cut their moves down once they are in the WWE Title league. - Not everyone in the WWE can wrestle like Chris Benoit, Bret Hart, Chris Jericho and so on, if that was the case, then I'd be sitting here bashing every wrestlers weakness.

All I'd like to see is your fat internet self do what John does every night for 300 days a year with non-stop injurys. Or get infront of the crowd and cut a promo, you'll be be heavy breathin' chokin' on your neck fat and choke as the crowd stand there in a boring snorefest.

And let me quote Paul E. Heyman on this part again. "seeing as you want to shoot cowboy" the reason you piss and moan about John Cena is because your favourite wrestler whichever has-been that is, isnt getting over the fans like Cena is and it eat's you up inside because somebody better is getting a better reaction from the crowd and they have the people in their hands.

Carl H wrote:
I swear i dont even know where to begin. All i got from your article was that you clearly are not a John Cena fan. Which is fine. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. As for myself, I am a John Cena fan. But heres the thing. I've been a fan of him BEFORE his whole rapper gimmick. Back when he was The Prototype in UPW and then in Louisville, KY for Ohio Valley Wrestling. You need to understand that wrestling is a "WORK" Its not 100% up to John Cena as to what moves he may or may not use. You need to send your diatribe to the creative department of the WWE.

John Cena may not currently employ the highest caliber of moves, but it gets the job done as far as pleasing the majority of the fans as well as the higher ups of the Federation. You also claim that too many wrestlers arent "being themselves." Well once again...its not up to the talent...its up to the creative department.

One part i will agree with is that indeed Cena is nowhere near the caliber of The Rock as far as athleticsim and cutting promos are concerned. But also note that The Rock entered the WWE in Fall of 1996 and enjoyed a very long and prosperous tenure. Cena has only been in the Fed for a little over 2 years now. Its too soon to compare.

So in closing, you might want to remember that pro wrestling is a "show" and not get so bent out of shape when an inustice happens in the ring (which is 100% planned by creative) happens. Next thing youre gonna ask is why you cant seem to order some of Simon Dean's Simon System.

Kelly from Florida wrote:
Ok first of all you said that John Cena has the WWE Heavyweight Championship, Well John Cena does not now nor has he ever held the WWE Heavyweight Championship and I don't think he will In the near future. John Cena has the WWE Championship. And you also said that John Cena beat JBL(Justa Big Loser) at Wrestlemania 20, He defeated him at Wrestlemania 21. I disagree with your column. John Cena Is a very good rapper and his Insults are funny, Unlike the so called "Stupid Head", And he Is a good wrestler. But I do however agree that he does need to learn a few more moves. But sense you do not like John Cena or watch his matches how did you know his supposed entire moveset" And John Cena becoming bigger than The Rock" No, He Is not, But I think he will be, And I highly doubt John Cena will walk out on the WWE and the fans like Rocky did, Just to get a "bigger" career. And In my opinion, Yes the FU Is not the most effective move, But nothing Is less effecting than The Peoples Elbow. And I don't think there pushing Cena because of society, I think there doing It because they recognize his talent

Charles P from NY wrote:
I completely agree with your comments on john cena. His "rapper" gimmic is as stale as his moves. WWE can't be serious letting him use tired moves that really couldn't take down a midcarder, much less a top ranked superstar. What really ticks me off is his desecration of the WWE title. He turned a major championship into a spinny toy; I really thought we were all grown up (Ha Ha Ha). I can't believe how many people support him; it really disgusts me to think where WWE is going with it's gimmics. I grew up watching great superstars such as Bret "Hitman" Hart and shawn michaels. I know that wrestling will never go back to the way it was in the early '90s, the golden age of wrestling( My opinion) but to see an adult with a childlike toy around his waist and a bunch of mindless supporters called "fans", I can only say that hopefully the "Chain Gang" will be arrested and we can't see him any more.

SAMEER KAUSHAL wrote:
Hey James Rican , I read ur views on John Cena . I completely agree with you .I feel the same way for John Cena . Which way is WWE going " I fell they would have put the belt on deserving guys like Edge , Christian ,Kane , taker , Angel or even Shanonn Moore Even Simon Dean would have carried it well . But instead Vince chose this Eminem waana be John Cena .The WWE Title is a very prestigeous one and guys like Bret Hart ,Hogan, Micheals ,Taker , Rock , Austin have held it .I agree that Cena has mic skills and has some fanbase but he can not be the flagship of the organisation at least not yet His character is not of championship material . How can thug lead a company whose fane base consists of mainly teenagers and Kids " What Kind of messege goes out there to them " Take a look at him he just only knows 4 moves and his finisher FU is the worst finisher ever What kind of a finisher is this " even a slam or a punch is better than it . .How is it possible that JBL kicked out of the tombstone piledriver and fell victim to FU. Giving a title to a guy like Cena at WrestleMania is ruining WrestleMania s legacy. The worst of all Vince has done is that they have given the legendary belt a new look turning it into a piece of garbage.By doing this Vince has not only mocked the legacy of the title and his father but entire WWE/F as well. Instead of all this Vince literally should have the title flushed down the toilet .

Dev Hasan wrote:
First and foremost, Samerrk adu or whatever your name is. You want to know where the WWE are going with this "gimmick" if you want to know, it's making WWE millions of money. John Cena is the new youngest talent they have and they are going all the way with it.

And his character not being championship material".....the real fan's who are not over the internet and the fans that are around the arena's in the world are the one's who were dying for Cena to win that belt, it was just a matter of time.

John's skills are second to none, like I said before WWE cut's main eventers wrestling abilitys once they get there, unless they can wrestle technical like Bret, Benoit and Jericho.

The belt being a "toy" it was more of the attiude style belt, it suited into Cena's style, I bet you'd be happy if Rico won it and he turned it into a spinning dildo in the middle of the belt, wouldent you" and you'd go to his autograph signing and ask him if you can touch it.

and JBL never kicked out of the Tombstone, what have you been smoking. If he ever did, Im sure it was like 30-40 seconds after a distraction from ringside or something else. He would never kickout clean from the Tombstone like Kane did at WrestleMania 15.

Your all a blinde hated guys, the guys you all menstioned, Austin, Rock, Hogan, Bret, where are they now" they aint there and your mad about it cause someone new who COULDDDDDD get bgiger than them just busted his ass for 3 and half years and won the belt.

I aint dissing Bret, I love Bret, I love Austin, I love Rock and even respect the hell out of Taker. But the time is to move on - Austin is injured - The Rock is in Hollywood - Bret has a career ending injury as well, Taker is just running in there till he can't no-more and Hulk Hogan Want to talk about Hogan, first before I say anything about Hogan, I was and still a Hulkamaniac but his time has past, it isnt 1984 anymore.

His kiddy speeches have gotten boring and pretty easily when The Rock turned heel in 2003 he made Hogan look like a total dumbass on the tron and how he dissed him about the protains and vitamins and everything. His mic skills are the same for over 30 years but you guys never say anything do you" WATCHYA GONNA DO"!!! and he does the clothsline, powerslam, legdrop - and he pinned Andre The Giant in those 3 moves.......that was amazing...when I was 5 years old. John Cena aint a Eminem "wannabe" he was rapping before Eminem even became famous, you retard, go and get facts, and just to talk about how Cena won the belt at WrestleMania XX....he won it at Mania 21 like that girl said up there, you dumbass. Go watch something from the Rock n' Rolla Era and the Attitude Era and nothing from the entertainment era cause you sound like someone who's been watching since 2002.

You just got owned, 3 words for you to read...

Word F'n Life.

Steve (UK) wrote:
Just one note about Cena's mic skills - he appears to be able to illicit a pop out of the fans by making jokes about homophobia or his opponent's interest in scatology. I don't know whether this says more about the writers, Cena or his fans.

Ditto Robertson wrote:
I don't really have a lot to say on this whole issue, but after reading all of this" I have a few statements that need to be said; -1: Yes, I am a Cena fan. -2: If you complain about Cena and don't complain about The Rock" You are a hypocrite. -3: For anyone who thinks Cena grew up on the streets" He did not. He may have been rapping in high school and with friends and stuff, but this doesn't make him a street thug. He went to college and prep school (read in a Cena interview; not a rumor.) -4: Nitpick all you want, but their is nothing to complain about with JBL. -5: The WWE Title belt would NOT fit in a toilet. -6: James Rican, you clearly stated that when John Cena makes fun of people, it is childish. Which is more childish; coward or jabroni" -7: We all know the FU wouldn't hurt, but I hate to remind you; wrestling isn't real, Santa Claus is dead. -8: Dev Hasan: shut up. Stop ripping off Cena's comebacks. -9: Cena can do many more moves, but as brought to attention earlier, it's not up to him. He is told what to do based on crowd reaction. -10: The more you pick away at wrestlers or wrestling in general, the less enjoyable it is. -11: We don't have all the facts; we're not backstage and we don't know exactly what goes on back there. We don't know why everything happens the way it does, but it all happens for a reason. You have the right to complain, but remember; WE ARE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN!

BOBBYQ99999 wrote:
I think John Cena is a good wrestler and he's great on the mic. I don't like his gimmick, I really dislike rap and what I dislike even more is some whitey trying to say he had it bad in his day and trying to rap about it. I won't say I hate John Cena because I was happy to see him on Raw, he is Raw's biggest face now and noone can the crowd behind them like Cena. I know alot of people who hate him and they all have good reasons to. Say what you want about him, he is Raw's most popular star. I guess I stil have mixed feelings about him until I see him around for awhile. His gimmick definetley worked better as a heel but he's so over as a face right now I don't think we'll ever see him heel again. Good column.

SMRich0001 wrote:
Wow, it really is amazing what some people confuse with good spelling, grammar or even how to construct a coherent argument... Sure is refreshing in this day and age of intelligent fans to still read that some of you out there want to make jokes about someone else's sexual orientation or ethnicity. With that attitude you could end up working for Vince or - maybe - even WWE Champion...

"the real fan's who are not over the internet" --- Oh dear...

Anyone who talks about what the "internet fans" think, I feel obliged to point out that most of the Western world uses the internet, so I'm not sure who the term "internet fans" refer to. These days, when so much of ticket information and so on is passed on online, I find it hard to believe there is a true distinction between "internet fans" and the other kind, if another kind exists.

One last thing, Dev. Considering you want people to get their facts straight (i.e. which WrestleMania Cena won the title) you may wish to know that Kane didn't kick out of the Tombstone at WrestleMania 15. That night he was wrestling Triple H. As for the Eminem remark, The Marshall Mathers EP and the hit that launched him, "My Name Is" was released in 2000, long before Cena's rap gimmick appeared on our screens, whatever that has to do with things...

Don't get me wrong, I hope Cena succeeds in becoming the franchise player of the company and enjoys long and multiple title reigns. The one thing the fed needs is an established top babyface, someone who can hold his own with Trips. It's just that... I can't stand him. I can't stand his homophobic rhetoric which shows the World that Cena (and WWE) think that gays should be persecuted and that the best insult for an enemy is to insinuate that they are gay. It wasn't clever when we were at school and it still isn't.

middlemann --MmN-- wrote:
first, the opinions expressed here are mine alone and if i imply otherwise it is in errorl. second, my thoughts and feelings are specific to john cena the wwe character/gimmick and not john cena the person, unless otherwise stated. with that out of the way; my two cents...

1) smackdown vs. raw for cena: i also preferred cena on sd! it does seem like the show is geared towards a younger audience. this is just the feeling i get when watching it, and as such, cena's current character is better suited for it. then why the drafting to raw" well, the only reason i can see is it's business, what else" cena's popularity exploded and the company wanted him on the top show to take advantage of that, and hopefully, build on it. but, i disagree with this thinking. while cena's popularity is great now, i can't see it getting continuing to sky rocket. quite the opposite, in fact. the cena rapper gimmick, as i see it now, is terribly limited in my eyes (more on that later), and for that reason the fans will either turn on him and/or his star gradually fall. the fact that he's on raw now, also makes me believe that this will be exposed sooner rather than later as opposed to sd!, where he could probably stay as he is for a while longer.

2) mic/promo ability, comparisons to the rock: right now, cena's promos are lame and childish - but, this wasn't always the case. when cena first became a rapper (and after he dropped albert) and was a heel, i remember his promos being fresh, edgy and entertaining. i liked cena most during this period and i presume this was when he more input on what he was going to say. ironically, those raps caught some attention and garnered a growing fan following which logically caused the company to decide to turn him face. from almost the moment he won the u.s. title, cena's raps/promos have gotten more 'g-rated' and it only has gotten worse as his popularity has risen and he's won the wwe championship. in my opinion, he just plays to the crowd too much and relys too heavily on the 'you're gay/playground' material. this is one of the reasons why the cena rapper gimmick has gone stale for me and don't find him entertaining. one hope i have for cena now being on raw is a return of some of his old, heel attitude.

i can see why some people might make comparisons between cena and the rock in the arena of the mic, but i must agree that cena, as he is right now, couldn't really compete with the rock (my, how i wish i could see a rock/cena feud just to see the rock cut him up). again, i don't think this is a shortcoming of cena the man, but of cena the gimmick. it's almost as if the cena character is too 'face' and doesn't have the edge that he should or needs. perhaps it'd be better to compare him to a current main eventer to better illustrate the point. how about hhh" arguably, hhh is raw. now i find it hard to see cena competing with hhh on the mic the same he did with jbl for example. it's not only what cena says but how he says it. when batista gets into hhh's face it's dramatic, intense. when i envision cena doing the same thing to hhh, i laugh. it's hard for me to accept that gimmick being taken seriously on hhh's level.

if people are comparing cena to the rock in terms of in-ring/move set, i actually am reminded of the ultimate warrior when i watch cena. i think it's the hype factor and limited number of moves. it's true that when a guy hits the main event level his repetoire is cut down for whatever reason. the best recent example of this was when chris benoit won the world heavyweight championship. i noticed his match quality changed during his reign and for that reason, i almost hope benoit doesn't win the title again. anyway, in regards to cena's limited in-ring style, yes, you can get away with not doing a lot in the ring (past greats have proved this), but where you might run into trouble is when you're in a match against another limited performer. the rock (i am a rock fan) and hogan are two good examples of guys who could put on a good match no matter who they were facing. i don't see this quality in cena, at least not yet. the cena/jbl (who also doesn't do much in the ring either) match at wm21 was brutal to watch and i believe that was the reason why.

3) FU, the finishing move: i'm ok with it. of course, i'd like every finishing move to look cool and powerful and what not, but they are hard to come up with and it's already been proven that moves don't necessarily have to meet and set criteria to be a finisher. i do have a problem with the predictability of cena's matches but that's a by product of what he's able to do in the ring to begin with. would've preferred if cena stuck to a traditional dvd or his protoplex (not the one he does now and sits out of it but what he did in ovw, using his arm to drive the opponent to the mat) but that could just be nitpicking.

final thoughts: i'm quite certain, when someone else wins the wwe belt it will be changed back to the original title belt or something new, but more traditional, will be used. the belt is just part of cena's gimmick right now. i honestly, think cena was made champ sooner than he should have been. i remember telling my brother that cena's got what it takes to be champ, but he'd have to drop the rapper gimmick first. obviously, i was wrong, but for the sake of his career's longevity, i still think cena's got to drop his current character or at least remake it in some way. the rapper thing was fine for the ic/us title level but for main event, i think, you need to have something more...mature (for lack of a better word). perhaps, moving to raw will accelerate the maturing of his on screen character for the better. so, while raw may be less entertaining for me, it may help cena down the road to be on the show now. raw will challenge the cena character to evolve more than if he stayed on smackdown. as of now, the john cena character just doesn't have the depth i'm looking for as a fan.

Dev Hasan wrote:
It was Taker vs Kane at WrestleMania 14! it was a typo geesh. I got that WrestleMania. He did kick out of 2 Tombstone Piledrivers and he couldent kick out of the 3rd.

Triple H vs Kane was when HHH gave him the pedigree on the chair.

I know what your saying about the Eminem thing ( I got all his albums and his DVD ) but what I ment of course was Cena was rapping BEFOREEEEE Eminem was famous. He was rapping and wanting to be a rapper before Eminem was famous, I aint saying he had the gimmick then of course, don't be silly.

As for that girl who told me to shut my mouth, I think you gotta shut your mouth first and learn that I was QUOTING John Cena's stuff not using them. As for the "Jabroni" mark. How is that childish" it would sound dumb if The Rock called someone a jobber - idiot.

As for disliking Cena cause of his rap style cause you don't like rap, that's being a hypocrite, I don't like the things The Hardy Boyz wear and the music they listen to and their whole style but I still like Matt and Jeff. My friend hates rap but he loves Cena and even said they are just fans who are pissed off for Cena's young talent being pushed.

As for Middlemann showing my point on how main eventers moves get cut, it's always the case, Im glad Bret Hart didnt cut his moves, then again...nobody was as incredible and technical in the ring as Hart was...simply the best.

Lastly on Cena's promos, the reason they are so not all that like before was because he said HIMSELF on those talk shows that he used to write them when he was heel and when WWE looked at the stuff he was saying Vince made him water it down and the WWE wrote it, simply as, it aint any of Cena's fault...the only way of him doing all that entertning stuff is he does his OWN stuff.

Zach Hosch wrote:
First thing, The F-u finisher is not original it's a lame version of the death valley driver that Tommy Dreamer used to use, but Tommy would drop guys on weapons and crap. Second Cena was given the title to promote album sales. Vince figured to make more money for the cd give Cena the title and push him to the moon. Cena has wrestling talent as he showed when he debuted againts Angle but I guess WWE tells Cena to put on the worst possible matches but he keeps the title anyway. Marks tell you to respect Cena because he can wrestle but does he show this talent, no therefore when wrestling fans want to see great title matches for guys who actually deserve the title we are forced to watch Cena do an f-u once and win an incredibly boring match. As for his mic talent you could compair it to the Rocks as they both draw, but the true master of the mic Mick Foaly they both can't touch. There you have my opinion Cena should be a mid-carder at best.

Scott Stone wrote:
I'm not going to argue whether or not John Cena is a good wrestler. I've seen better and I've seen worse. But this character of his absolutely cracks me up and until now I couldn't really put my finger on why. Then it dawned on me: John Cena's character is the love child of Vanilla Ice and Eminem. Cena's fans can hate on me for pointing this out if they want to, because I could really care less. But don't think for one minute that this isn't EXACTLY what the WWE braintrust had in mind when creating Cena's gimmick. Oh and by the way, John...Ted DiBiase called...he wants his goofy-looking-title-belt gimmick back.

Ben Vonstein wrote:
I have to say that Cena has certain flaws in his Character but he is still I good champ, My 5 favorite wrestlers right now are Taker, Kane, Edge, Batista and HHH/Benoit, but I still enjoy watching Cena because his matches force a response, that is either disrespect for the man or you get into the comeback.

"Cena has 2 moves". I won't say that Cena shouldn't be ripped for only using 3-5 moves to finish matches but That anger should be targetted at the creative staff at WWE. Cena's matches all follow a general pattern and while watching him you know what will happen but you still watch and when Cena does begin to pull his comeback it is fun and the fans in the stands erupt. Know would I like to see him using more moves and shaking things up a bit, of course and I think that WWE is recognizing that as in recent weeks Cena has been using the STF-U to win matches and I think that is because the WWE is realizing that his character has to expand, so the WWE is trying to fix his in-ring style.

"his Promos are childish". His promos have grown less edge and contained and you should complain but this isn't Cena's fault, hopeful he will revert to writing his own material once he becomes more established and he is able to gain more Sway. And yet I still find him entertaining, the less impressive promos still are fun and again the crowds react to them so change would have to be iniciated (spl") by Cena.

All in all Cena's character is very workable as he has a great connection with the fans and as he grows into the role of CHamp more he will gain more creative control over himself thus expanding his in-ring vocabulary and improving his Promos. Fans shouldn't be bitching this much as Cena isn't done changing and adapting and the WWE will let him change as fans are asking for it, but asking to kill the character is extreme and unproductive.

William Olson wrote:
For someone who hasnt watched wrestling for the longest time you have said in this article everything ive wanted to say thank you james for writing the truth.

wrote:

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