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WRESTLING COLUMNS

Why John Cena Sucks
August 9, 2006 by Anto G.


Editor's Notes: You may have noticed that there are multiple columns up on the website about the rumored return of Degeration-X. If you read a column (ANY column) and decide to send in feedback, PLEASE be sure to indicate which column you are responding to by typing the TITLE of the column in the subject line. Also, DO NOT FORGET to sign your name. Thanks!


It seems that everybody has an opinion on John Cena these days. The most controversial WWE champion since The Ultimate Warrior, John Cena has been receiving crowd reactions up and down the United States (and other places) what can be best described as an “emotionally mixed reaction”. In a strange twist from the fundamentals of wrestling, babyfaces can be harshly judged on how they can get to the top, there overall wrestling skills and there appearance to the casual wrestling fans. Despite John Cena’s two runs as WWE champion, his accomplishments are not all met with admiration and jubilation. He is booed relentlessly on regular RAW and PPV tapings by roughly half the crowd whom are part of a major build of the WWE fan base, 18-34 demographic males. I am going into detail about why this problem has occurred and explain to pro-Cena and casual fans to why it happened in the first place.

Repertoire: This is the biggest fault of Cena. During all of his matches on RAW, he makes a face comeback (a la Hulk Hogan) and does so with punches, shoulder tackles, spinout power bomb, 5-Knuckle Shuffle, F-U and the more recent STFU in that precise order. His move set is small and tirelessly predictable. His punches are horrendously fake, his hip tosses are woeful, the 5-Knuckle Shuffle is a piss-poor People’s Elbow, the F-U is an embarrassment of a finisher (he drops him from a standing fireman’s carry instead of the original Death Valley Driver) and is not a convincing finisher especially in a roster of the pedigree, downward spiral, tombstone piledriver, sweet chin music etc, and the STFU is an embarrassment of a submission finisher (only in real Bushido Wrestling and MMA is this truly a devastating move) where top wrestlers can routinely escape the Ankle Lock, Figure 4 Leg Lock and the Walls of Jericho but top-tier wrestlers like Edge and Triple H almost always are doomed to submit is a real insult to shooter experts. Other than that he uses unfamiliar moves at times to shape it up.

Gimmick: Another big problem when relating to the casual fan in WWE is that his gimmick quite frankly sucks. The shameful thing about this is that on SmackDown!, his gimmick was actually not bad and kind of fresh. His rapper persona was never seen before and his wide arrange of merchandise was selling like hotcakes after he turned face after a successful heel run. What happened? Well his move to the big leagues, RAW, lead to his presence known on a weekly basis and gimmick was altered to suit the live crowd to relate to the current audience of a new Stone Cold packaged in a different way to sell him hard to kids and young girls. The problem was that in most eyes he was seen as a childish representation of a WWE champion. His gimmick polarises the main male audience who simply can’t relate to someone who wears short jeans, trainers and kiddie-orientated merchandise as ring attire and be over as a street fighter when he comes across as a guy who looks like a dressed-up 9 year old. This doesn’t help as the 18-34 male demographic audience is the main WWE audience. It also doesn’t make him look at all like a menacing tough-guy rapper who doesn’t rap, who’s white and smiles and says nice things, it can’t get over as a dominant champion not to mention having him a spinning world belt that doesn’t make him look serious and brings the look of the company down as well. Who’s idea was that?

Workrate/Matches: As mentioned before his comeback routine is the same old s**t and against more experienced WWE wrestlers; Edge, Triple H, JBL, Angle, Jericho, Shawn Michaels etc, he gets carried by the veterans to passable and decent matches on RAW and PPV. The opponent(s) do most of the work in the ring and Cena’s minimal effort combined with his typical comeback, how can fans rally to that? The Attitude Era has been gone for over 5 years now and the anti-hero shtick is long gone, Stone Cold, The Rock, even comeback wins perfected by Hulk Hogan is only accepted by a legend like Hulk himself and even then some people like myself don’t buy in to this good character, poor wrestling champions that WWE insist you must be because of the success of these men in the past. Cena got protected by WWE by carefully editing his matches on SmackDown! to enhance his skills and putting him in matches like hardcore, cage and triple threats to hide his weaknesses against more polished veterans but on the live show on Raw, his poor matches and lousy workrate was exposed. He does few things right and most simple things wrong (He forgot to sell the “stabbing injury” in the Cena/Carlito Feud and twice forgot to sell the ankle injury sustained by Angle in the build up to their title match) and it doesn’t help his cause that he got a massive push so quick, due to the success of his gimmick, ahead of legit and proven contenders over time like Edge and Booker T. Just when it seemed that Creative made the right move by relinquishing the belt to Edge in their spontaneous match after the Elimination Chamber and then make Cena regain it mere weeks later despite the fact that ratings were at it’s most stable in years and that a WWE veteran who won virtually all the belts multiple times and proven himself to ascend to the top-tier and then be treated like a transitional champion to a no-talent is what made the hardcore WWE fans irate ( and also dumbfounded by the decision). The sad thing is that if you unearth someone who has charisma and is over with the fans then it is inevitable that he will rise to the top despite in-ring talent and proven stars being above you at (or near) the top in the WWE

What is the WWE going to do about it? Well it’s hard to say as they deserve to take pretty much the blame for the whole fiasco that has ascended. Creative has pushed and promoted Cena so hard as a babyface that a heel turn seems unlikely any time soon and if it did happen it would obviously lead to a descend in merchandise and ticket sales from younger fans and female fans who attend WWE shows just to see him. The things I would do is obviously refresh his gimmick somewhat to make him more of a believable tough-guy, a heel turn would strengthen this by turning against the boo-boys and giving a f**k you to them would garner some heat and finally a shape up to his repertoire by adding more power moves to suit his large frame like a side slam, spine buster, Manhattan drop, power slam, etc. as he doesn’t look like a technical master. WWE’s biggest mistake (and they won’t admit to it) is that Cena wasn’t ready to control the reigns of the big show, RAW, so soon after his draft pick and was shown to an uncontrollable live crowd that his in-ring skills suck and that the fact that he was booked in almost against-the-odds matches month after month and succeeding every time was being forced down the mouths of irate fans and despised Cena constantly having the spotlight when he clearly didn’t deserve it. It lead to a backlash and only until he lost the title were most of the boos were gone. This led to such a reaction that some fans don’t entirely know why they hate Cena but do it anyway because there is something they dislike about him so people are constantly “jumping on the bandwagon”. From what I know, John Cena is a nice person, who acts his gimmick in his real life and in retrospect’s doesn’t serve the stick he gets. Unfortunately when you backlash something of this magnitude, you tend to take it out on the product as it’s the only way you can get WWE to listen to your outcries, and leads to a very unbalanced environment for Cena and management.

Well that is everything I could think of in my very first column in OWW. Hope you liked it and feel free to send your replies, either positive, neutral or negative, for me on OWW to analyze and hopefully you can read a new one very soon.

by Anto G. ..


Jonathan Preston wrote:
I disagree with you on his moves set. The only thing he needs to do is change the variety up a bit. If you've been watching lately, he actually brought back an old move that he used to do which was the "Throwback". That was the reverse flipping neckbreaker. That's a good move. The 5 finger knuckle shuffle is just a version of the People's elbow. Hey, its not a good move but was "the Most Electrifying Move in Sports Entertainment" The People's Elbow a good move? Absolutely not!! Now, I will agree that the F U is a terrible finisher. A standing Fireman's Carry Takeover, yeah that has lame all over it. However, the STFU is a good submission finisher. Bottom line, John Cena is starting to get a little bit more respect from the fans lately. I think the fans just wanted a new champion. I mean with the exception of the 2 weeks he didn't have the belt in January, he was the title holder for over a year. He needs to take a backseat for a bit and let the crowd get on his side again and then get the belt back...
Seth Shaw wrote:
i agree with everything you said. cena does suck as a wrestler cause of his onorthodox style, i might not be a edge-head but edge should be champ but the story writers will probly give the title back to cena at summerslam
Joe Tobin wrote:
Woo hoo, another smark with yet another article bashing John Cena. Edge has the belt, what more do you want? Sure Cena gets cheers and boos but recently the cheers have been drowning out the boos (at least they have been on TV anyway) and people like to see him wrestle. To be honest I find Edge's current gimmick more annoying than Cena's has ever been. Instead of overanalysing the product why not just sit back and enjoy it? Cena has had some good and bad matches, so have a lot of wrestlers. The champ is the face of the company and doesn't necessarily have to be the most technical or the most death defying - charisma and decent promos count for a lot nowadays. Maybe Cena's push to RAW was premature and if he stayed on Smackdown! he may be more over with the fans. You have to give him credit though - he uses the heat and admiration of the fans to his advantage to gain either more cheers or boos and that is a sign of a great leader. Its all about the fans after all. By the way I'm a 28 year old man. Guess that means I'm one of the few in the 'demographic' who can see some of the positive instead of the negative.
Stephen Y wrote:
Hey, I totally agree with this article. I have been predicting his matches for weeks (the moves he does). In his match against Viscera this week, I told my friends the moves, but then he only did the FU, which makes him look even worse. I never have liked and probably never will coz he sucks. Doall Cena fans hate Edge, coz Edge is actually entertaining. This fued paralells with Orton-Hogan, where Orton is the entertaining one but still gets booed, while Hogan does the same crappy unrealistic comeback, and gets the win, while boring the fans to death. Cena and DX SUCK!
John Nocero wrote:
John Cena has a marvelous look. Many would kill to be half as ripped, with a hint of his abs or arms. He moves merchandise. When given the chance on the stick to use his deadpanned delivery and just be himself, he is quite amusing. Cena has amazing charisma, but focusing on the Cena mega-push within the past year gives us a better idea where fan backlash began concerning his wrestling abilities. You are correct in saying his troubles began when he got drafted to RAW, but Cena was booked to look like a p*ssy in feuds with both Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle. It seemed that WWE Creative, under the guise of GM Eric Bischoff, put him in situations where he looked surprisingly weak for a world champion. He couldn’t possibly win facing unbeatable odds each week, but managed to eek out some miraculous victory by the skin of his teeth. What that did was weaken him as both a wrestler and champion in the fan’s eyes. Ass kicking champions do just that on their own. Cena didn’t.

During his feud with Angle, the E resorted to having your Olympic hero pull cheap heat by mocking the troops in order to offset the negative reactions Cena was getting in arenas across the country. Now Cena can get the combo to any hottie’s crap locker in the 16-22 demographic, but male wrestling fans also began to see Cena’s formulaic wrestling style in the ring against a true wrestler and viewed him as a mockery, a sham. At this time, the E should have played off this negative crowd reaction in Cena’s favor, by giving him a bit of edginess in his promos and some of his meanness back. But Cena was “nice,” and shoved down the fans’ throats in an attempt to appeal to hip-hop kids. And the majority of the wrestling community turned on him.

Think back to the promos for the WM 22 title match. HHH tore him apart, telling him, and the fans, Cena wasn’t in his league. Quite frankly, Cena didn’t say anything to stand up to him, other than HHH has beaten the best, and that he would not back down. Weak booking again.

I contend that Cena is showing signs of getting his edge back. Face it, one thing we all can identify with is anger, even those of us holier than thou. Fans understand now how Cena could be pissed that he got ripped off in losing the title, because all of us have been cheated out of a promotion at work or had a girlfriend stolen. As a result, we relate to the character and fan reactions have improved.

And we are also seeing a more mature Cena. Remember when Batista looked like a deer in the headlights in Hammerstein Ballroom during his ECW title match with the Big Show a couple weeks ago? Cena had his shirt thrown back in his face when he defended there June 11; Hell, he even looked up in the rafters and saw a sign that read “If Cena Wins, We Riot.” He stood out in a hostile environment and gave a dramatic performance, something that Batista didn’t or wasn’t capable of.

Bottom line: Cena is Hulk Hogan ’06. Vince likes the character and will protect him. Instead of delivering canned rap sonnets, Cena actually appears more at ease on the mic. He will win the title at SummerSlam and I hope has enough top tier heels that can carry him to good matches. Cena knows his limitations as a worker and doesn’t try to do more than he can but he still has room to improve and I am sure Cena knows this. If he churns out quality, entertaining matches, whether you tune in or buy a ticket to see him win or get his ass kicked, the character is succeeding.

Remember, people chanted “Die Rocky Die” until Mr. Maivia morphed into The People’s Champion, the 90’s version of Ric Flair. Today, The Rock is spoken of with reverence, rather than discourse. Let’s give John Cena that same allowance.
Tim B. wrote:
Very good column, well written and to the point. A lot of people just badmouth Cena without giving any real reason for it, but you gave very good in depth analysis and even soom possible solutions. Hope to read more columns from you soon.
Craig Ferguson. wrote:
Yes you are completly correct John Cena does suck. His matchs have become so repetitive that its like watching a buch of re-runs all taped together. You just know you hate a guy when you can tell exactly what hes going to next. As for a heel turn i welcome it with open arms as it would mean that something would **change**. Having said that i have to say that Cena vs Tripple HHH at wrestlemania was one of the greatest matchs of all time because of Cena and the crowd reaction he got. So its a double edged sword fans love to boo Cena because were ment to like him and because he tries to make people like him we resent him even more. Its all in good fun. So the thing just to round it off is he needs to change it up fresh heel look improve his moveset and loose the 5 knuckle shuffle ( proberly not going to happen ...i hate it with a passion) and hes good to go. Change is the key. repetitive is not.
Jon Rosaler wrote:
For the record, this is a counter column to the 'Why John Cena DOESN't Suck' column several months ago. I know there will be many people who agree with you, but I ain't one of them. What more does Cena have to prove to fans like you? Cena's move sets was not the only reason why he got booed, it was because of his long boring title reigns.Oh, and NEWSFLASH, Cena has been doing a few different moves and if you hadn't noticed, WWE is actually letting him do the Throwback again, along with a few several moves like bouncing off the rope pins (despite not doing it succesully). So, before you give us a reason to why he sucks, look at his recent matches with Matt Striker and Viscera to tell us off.
RYAN KABIR wrote:
Awesome article. I really enjoyed reading this as its clear how thoroughly and accurately you’ve analysed this issue with Cena. A heel turn is inevitable and overdue to be honest but that won’t be done until after his movie The Marine is released and subsequently gone from the theatres. In the mean time I could still imagine Creative to try and freshen things up for him. He could remain a face whilst backlashing against the fans perhaps? This whole “I’m a good guy but I’m a chain gangsta with such high morals and no matter how much the fans hurt my feeling I will keep trying” is getting very boring. West newbury Mass is not a gangsta place, he is not good at rapping but I used to enjoy his entrance disses simply cuz its something a 3rd grader would come up with. Something needs to be done about him and setting him up with midcard jobbers for now is not the answer. He needs a MAJOR character makeover.
Diogo wrote:
To this article I have got a few things to say. First of all, I despise the way every one trashes the F-U. The only reason the Death Valley Driver is not used is because it drops people on the neck instead of flat on their backs like the F-U so It was modified not to injure the wrestler. Also every wrestler has a sequence they follow in matches (i.e. Shawn Micheals uses a bodyslam, elbow drop, sweet chin music sequence very frequently when he is set to win that's just how wrestling works. Finally, If you haven't noticed Cena no longer really has a gimmick. All he is, is a guy with ambition, drive and a passion to give out punishment. And really in this day and age people are more receptive to new things like shorts and t-shirts as wrestling gear and the "Male" fans who aren't are still stuck in the beer guzzling, falling of cell mentality of the attitude era. In closing, Cena is not Harley race of Ric flair or Ricky Steamboat because anyone hardley ever is but he has one things that no gimmick can give him- Passion.
Gus D. wrote:
A Cena heel turn would be the most logical thing to do right now in my opinion. As much I as liked Cena as a face on SD!, He was ALOT better as a heel. The only problem with him turning heel is preteen girls and little kids would probably so dissapponinted that there hero turned heel, they would stop bying his t-shirts, hats, wristbands and stop cheering him becuase hes the "bad guy". I would personally cheer my brians out if he would tell the crowd "F*ck you" or something he did in 2002-2003. Thats the Cena I want to see. Good column!
Dartagan67 wrote:
You know & not for nothin; but this Cena haters columns are getting very repetitive & tired!! Don't u have anything to write about??!! I mean this is the way I see it; Cena's character is a blue collar, nothin to fancy street brawler. His style is no different from JBL, Stone Cold, or anyone who has a simliar style from either past or present. The WWE feels it has to cover every demographic they can. I notice the only one complaining is the guys who so insecure with themselves its not funny. You know the kind of couch potatoe, out of shape, the last time they went to the gym was at high school type of guys. Hating on someone you wish u could be!!!

If you really wanna talk about someone; how about Brock Lesnar. Here's a guy who could have been the NEXT BIG THING in the WWE. He had the look, the skill & the charisma but only one problem. When he got his push it his success got to his head afterwards; & unfortunely whining about being on the road. Wanna know what he did after his match with Goldberg; he took his ball & GONE HOME!! That's right I said it & I didn't stuttered neither. John on the other hand as much success he has so far; he remains HUMBLE & WELL RESPECTED among his peers & vets alike. He never demanded a whole lot or gotten a big head about it.

As far as skills go in John's recent matches he's slowly going back to the Cena of old ( with the throwback move & then some). What about Edge he used to do the Edgucator & the Edgecutioner a while back; now he just does a simple spear move. Also Edge's moveset are just as average as Cena's. What's up with that you so-called wrestling experts: how ya'll missed that?? All in all John Cena's cool in my book cuz he's entertaining & reminds me of urban version of Stone Cold. To all you Cena-haters with these lame columns JUST GET OVER YOURSELVES & write about someone else for a change.
Rio Fisher wrote:
I completely agree with this article and it is truly a breath of fresh air from someone who can truly appreciate good wrestling and actually can understand why John Cena isn't at a main-event level and probably will never be if he doesn't seriously put his head in the game and try to improve.

His main weakness is his selling, selling makes a match, not only making your opponent look good, but it makes the match all that more exciting. It also helps moves that otherwise would look unrealistic, seem real. John Cena's selling is very sloppy a good example of this was his match with RVD, RVD who is truly a great inside the ropes couldn't even carry Cena to a good match, after Cena refused to properly sell any chairshots or even balance himself on the ropes.

I was one of the people at New Year's Revolution sitting five rows back, booing my heart out because I'm tired of just having whatever the 'E wants us to like shoved down our throats while watching guys who have given blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention are terribly over job to this freakshow week after week.

Since then, booing John Cena has become a cliche in which the marks make comments that this criticism is unfounded and silly.

But it's not... and ultimately the only hope we have to ever seeing a product that we can truly enjoy is by continuing to not accept those "golden boys" who are routinely shoved down our throats.
Jim wrote:
I have been a wrestling fan since a very young age and have watched it religiously since then. I never miss it. I keep up with rumors, backstage happenings and all of that online every week. I have read about a million articles on coutless websites on why John Cena is so bad. Every week I think the same thing.... why do people think this? I am in the demographic WWE shoots for. I am a 22 year old male, and I am a very big John Cena fan. This leads me to wonder why I like him and so few others do. I don't see what many others see. I do see that Cena has a very limited move set, and this is everyone's largest argument, but to me the most unjustified. There are very few wrestlers this day in age that don't have a limited move set. Look at the greats, Shawn Michaels, his matches are so predictable, a flying forearm, a nip up, an elbow drop, a few inverted atomic drops, sweet chin music. Triple H, a running knee lift, a body slam, a spine buster, a pedigree. Why don't people hate on them? I am not saying that people are not entitled to their opinion because there are people I hate that everyone else likes (Rey Mysterio for example). I am just saying that if people are going to rip on Cena for things maybe they should back it with other examples than his limited move set because he is fitting right in with everyone else in the WWE.
Paul McCarthy wrote:
I agree that cena stinks and i definitely agree that what has happened to the title being a spinner has completely crapped all over its history. I think they have pushed him too quickly and made legends look rubbish in doing so.
Brenda wrote:
Ya know I couldn't figure out why I had gotten so bored with John Cena's matches until I read your column. I knew that I was getting bored with the "Let's beat up John Cena Show" where everyone would just come out of the back and beat the crap out of him. I never bought the street punk scenario. You can't be a street punk when your from a town of less than 5000 people. He just keeps doing the same stupid moves he always has. Thank God that WWE has brought back Degeneration-X to liven things up again. I didn't get to see DX when they were first on as I wasn't into wrestling then so seeing them now is a treat for me. I find DX mildly entertaining. The movie "The Marine" that is coming out in October just looks like more of the same tired crap that WWE movies are known for.
Justin Flynt wrote:
I agree the reason fans are booing Cena . His gimmick was cool and got people over being an anti-hero but now has become a Hogan kid friendly type character with predictable finishes. He also got pushed too quickly and constantly putting over established stars like Triple H, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Edge, and Christian. The fans resent Cena for holding down deserving main event stars like Booker T, Chris Benoit, RVD, Shelton Benjamin, and Matt Hardy who are also better wrestlers. Male fans already resent him but as long as women and kids under 6 love him with merchandise selling Vince and the WWE creative team is going to keep pushing him down our throats which is going to suck.
[I didn't sign my name, again] wrote:
I do not hate cena as a wrestler I just have a problem with his moveset there are plenty of moves he has abandoned namely the throwback (a flipping reverse facebuster) and the fisherman suplex he used on a basis.Also I agreed that the spinner belt should put to the side but the fact that is disrespecting the legacy of the title is plain stupid. No one said any thing about Steve Austin's "Smoking Skulls" title but when some one puts diamonds and a spinner on it nerds get offended.and crap in their hogan under tights.also STOP BASHING CENA IT GETS MORE TIRED THAN HIS MOVESET!!! STUPID!!
SW wrote:
We can talk all the trash in the world about certain wrestlers we don't like... But let us all take a minute here, and think.

Who's selling PVP's? Who's Moving Merchandise? Who's creating great crowd partcipation? Who's creating interest in storylines? Who's bringing in the ratings? Who do the general public want to see?

It's John Cena, and it's simple as that. The guys is popular in the eyes of the casual fans! Seriously... People who love him go to the shows to see him, and those who hate him, will watch to see him get beaten.

And to all Cena's credit... The guy is a hard worker. You can tell that in every match he tries his best. His wrestling isn't all that bad. The one thing that stands out about Cena is his wrestling psychology. He did an outstanding job at the ECW One Night Stand match against RVD. He worked that crowd like a chess match. Don't anyone try to say that RVD was carrying anyone in that match, that match was all Cena. From there, he keeps on improving, his matches have gotten more varied, and his mic work has started to become more natural. Cena is only 29 years old, so he's still young and will still improve greatly, more than I can say for a guy like Batista. Sure the Cena has some rough spots here and there, but what wrestler out there doesn't.

As for this article, Sorry this is down right wrestler bashing and a little unfair. You mentioned parts in the article where improvements could be made, but this article competely ignored any fact of any progression in Cena's career which is a form of wrestler bashing. Also ignoring anything good about Cena in the first place, like his great physical appearence, or his high level of charisma. Even you said yourself that Cena probably doesn't deserve the critisms he recieves, so I don't know why you didn't point out good things about Cena. Finally, if you really want the WWE to change something... Change the Channel or Don't Give a reaction, cause when people are booing, WWE see's it as fan's partcipating, and they are going to give the spot light to a person that fans react too.
Ben wrote:
I TOTALLY agree with what you said in this article. I don't understand how when someone huge like Viscera or Big Show are dominating the entire match, Cena can make some stupid comeback at the worst time, and then he is able to win the match by pulling of some crappy move just by picking them up and dropping them. I don't mind the fans being amazed at Cena's strength, being able to pick up Viscera and the Big Show, but how can he win a match with one crappy move over such a powerful wrestler that dominated the entire match?
Ed Madill wrote: Enough with the Cena bashing.

Wah wah wah. His moveset is limited. So was the Rock's, so is Nash, so is former internet darling's Bautista's. The STFU is 100 times more credible as a finisher than the Rock Bottom or some lame powerbomb (which used to be a credible finisher before jobbers started using it mid-match)

The fact is hes got charisma to spare. His promo with Maria about a month ago was GOLD. And any Cena Basher here knows it. Hes got a great look and good mike skills. The only reason 'smarks" hate him is because "marks" love him.

He showed great charisma and poise at ECW ONS in the most hostile of environments. Sure the "wigger" persona is a little played but hes shown signs of breaking free of it lately.

Chicks and kids love him and hes not going away anytime soon. So use your CZW and ROH tee-shirts to wipe away your tears and LIVE WITH IT. (For the record I love both those promotions but they are a totally different animal than the 'E')
Darthanian wrote:
"This is the biggest fault of Cena. During all of his matches on RAW, he makes a face comeback (a la Hulk Hogan) and does so with punches, shoulder tackles, spinout power bomb, 5-Knuckle Shuffle, F-U and the more recent STFU in that precise order."

You just described every Shawn Michaels match, except his go like this - he hits a flying forearm, does a kip-up, hits an elbow off the top rope, then nails the sweet chin music. Funny though, the IWC creams themselves over him all the time.

Look, your argument is tired and really has no point to it. If you're looking for someone who is a great wrestler, why are you watching the WWE? When in WWWF/WWF/WWE history has the company ever been about putting out 5-star wrestling matches? Their primary goal is making money - and if that means putting bad workers like Hulk Hogan, Andre The Giant, John Cena and The Undertaker on TV then that is exactly what you'll do.

It's a pointless argument really, if you want entertainment watch WWE, if you want a good wrestling match watch Ring of Honor or TNA. That's how things have always been and how things will always be.
Brian L. wrote:
I would have to disagree with you. Now I do agree that some times the F U is barely acceptable, and those times are when he barely drops them off his shoulders, however there are times when Cena drives his opponent into the mat. It's not fancy, or even particularly dangerous... which I would like to see more of. Also the S.T.F.U. is a good submission. Submissions have been getting a bad rap lately as being boring, and moves from the past like "The Million Dollar Dream" and "The Cobra Clutch" wouldn't fly in todays wrestling which is truly a shame. The reason I say it is a good finisher is because it grounds the opponent and allows Cena to really put some torque on his opponents necks. I am not a Cena fan per say, however I am impressed by his strength and, (I know I'm gonna get heat for this), his mic skills. His rant about the "samoan that thinks he's a bulldozer" was a classic. That's my two cents, and this kind of debate is what makes wrestling great; wrestling's like a smorg, if you don't like the beef then try the pork.
Connor Flack wrote:
man, why u people all hatin on cena? i think he should be WWE champion. Dont diss him just cause he acts or talks different or dont diss him because he trys to be a little differnent than the other roster guys. and if ur not down with that in the words of cena : IF YA WANT SOME, COME GET SOME!
Russ wrote:
It was a good column, but it seems to me that every know it all '18-35' Male fan does have a different opinion about John Cena. You might be right about his lack of moves, and his very 'cookie cutter' finishes, but maybe, Just maybe, All these Anti-Cena Smarks should just sit back and enjoy what they are getting. Because they seem to only want to Cheer for the BAd Guys. While I like some of the Heels, I also like the Faces. I dont boo them because they are Faces. It just so happens Edge is my favorite Wrestler, but that doesnt mean I hate John Cena. I have taken a liking to him since the Royal Rumble, when he started adding a move to his arsenal every now and then, keeping it a bit fresh, and then at ECW One Night Stand, I became a Cena fan. They were giving him so much S**T and for what? Putting on a show for Them? I have heard people say the ECW fans are unique, but as of late, they just seem to be Anti-anything not ECW or ROH Quality stuff.

Personally, I think the Big Show is a great addition for ECW, because it is a Heel who not only is busting his ass off for the fans, but he is taking what I feel is legit heat, and using it. Cena and Big Show may not be a RVD or a Kurt Angle, but ask yourself: Would Big Show need to grapple an opponent on the Mat to get a win? Hell No, He would just pound on them with those Giant Hand Chops. Cena wouldnt need to put on Benoit V Angle to beat an opponent, he would just use his punches etc. Besides, the Rock to me was nothing Special. He had charisma, YEs. But he seemed to say the same thing over and over and over again. And the Rock Bottom, he more 'Credible' Finisher, would be less effective than the FU!! Please, dont just hate Cena because he is a Face. How can Wrestlers win, when Jerks cheer for the Heels and Boo the Faces. The same people complain about Crappy Storylines and stuff, well news flash - They are the reason. How can you book a good feud when the crowd cant fully support one man? Not easily.

And for those who say the FU isnt credible, I know it isnt. But look at other Finshers used in the Company. Rey Mysterio= 619, Shawn Michaels = Super Kick (Doesnt Stevie Richards get heat for doing the same move?) Randy Orton = RKO (Dont say it is good, its a poor Stunner) Hogan = Leg Drop, Rock = Peoples Elbow. As you can see, allot of the top superstars in the WWE have had basic finishers. People wouldnt mark out while Hogan set up his opponent for the Super Back FLip Brain Buster Suplex through the table. While it would be amazing too see, The leg drop, in all its Crappiness, gets the crowd rilled up, and makes them cheer Hogan, and want to buy his Yellow and Red Merchindise and buy the PPVs. Long Story Short, If you want 25 Minute matches of pure greatness, check out Ring Of Honour or other places, WWE has two hours a week, and usually, their PPVs come off good, if not great (-Khali - He SUCKS)
Kyle Gurrent wrote:
I liked your points but I think you and the cena lovers and haters are missing the boat on why cena is not liked by all. I stated previously that the reason cena is not liked like the rock was, is because his gimmick and lack of natural born charisma. But I think it's time to admit I was wrong, MAINLY because I just got done watching some old Austin 3:16 footage and have come to find that while cena does not have the adult humor that Jericho and rock had and can only use toilet humor, he is a lot better on the mic than Austin was, yet the fans loved him to death anyway. But why? Most people would say it was because Austin had a good storyline to put him over. WRONG, what I have come to realize is that it was the rock who put him and everyone else over, just listen to me............

Let’s take a look back and see what was going on back in the attitude days. Okay, first of all we had a 6 foot 4, 250 pound ripped boss (Vince), We had a ministry faction lead by a guy in mascara (undertaker), We had a guy in a red mask claiming he was burned but had no burn marks on his arm (Kane), We had a guy pulling a sock out of his crotch sticking it in peoples mouth saying ''have a nice day'' after he did it (Mick Foley). We had a guy who used to formally bow in front of the audience suddenly calling himself a bad ass rebel(triple h), And we had a 6 foot 3, 230 pound ripped women named chyna, and a beer smashing, psycho, kicking his bosses ass yet never seemed to get fired, stone cold steve austin. And then you had the rock, who was just a normal guy who wore million dollar shirts and thousand dollar glasses (okay he wasn't that normal), who joked on a daily bases on how insane these characters were (and rightfully so).

If there was no one there to just express how crazy the wwf was back then, the audience wouldn’t have bought it or the wrestlers for a second. If they just let there top characters like stone cold, run wild kicking his bosses ass with no acknowledgment towards it (acting like it was just a normal day at work) the wwf would have seemed completely stupid! And that is what the wwe lacks, a straight edge main eventer describing how insane the current characters and storylines are. I mean we have two 40 year old men rebelling against a business that one of them is already married into, we have a psycho screaming, shaggy look a like, running around with his (strangely swollen faced girlfriend?) lita, a rapping wrestler who dresses like a 10 year old, and a Caribbean guy with a afro and a Hawaiian shirt, spitting apples in peoples faces. Granted, 2006 wwe is just as insane as 1998 wwf but what it lacks is an on screen, main eventing character, that has no stupid gimmick, and will acknowledge how insane these main eventing characters are. And by doing so, they will be putting them over in the process.
Darth Nodnal wrote:
Personally I am sick of hearing both arguments. The one's who say Cena Sucks Site his limited moveset. The one's who defend him say that Shawn Michaels and HHH have a predictable moveset as well. That is a load of crap. My 6 y/o son loves John Cena to daeth, so I decided to download some of his matches when he first won the WWE Title from JBL. When I watched the match this is what I saw. Twenty-Five minutes of JBL kicking Cena's ass, and then then Cena (Hulked -up) and won the match with 5 moves. While Michael's and HHH's finishes may be predictable at least they perform various moves during the course of the match. I do believe that given time and more experience Cena could be great. He was pushed to fast and it was a little unbelievable. He defaeted Jericho, Angle ,and HHH to retain his title and all 3 defenses looked the same. Cena took a mighty beat-down, was out wrestled, and then pulled out 5 moves to win. Iam glad that he did not beat Edge at SummerSlam. If he had he would have been a 3-time champion in under 2 years,while there are other guys who actually desrve some sort of push (Carlito). Does anyone remember him. He beat Cena in his debut ti win the U.S Title. Then Carlito defeated WWE Champion John Cena on his (Cena's) Raw debut.
Proscdog wrote:
i totally agree with this article, john cena cannot wrestle, he knows four or five moves and has no true wrestling ability. It is hard to hide that on a live show, what makes a great champion is they could have a match with a mop and it would be a match of the year candidate, like the funks, or Harley race or flair. I think cena not even good enough to be in the IC title race, he is either an opening match or dark match caliber wrestler. i cant remember any match that he has had that his opponents have not carried him throughout the whole match. his finishers are a joke, the fu is fireman's carry and should not even get a one count. then he pretends to be a hard-core gangster but on wwe confidential they showed his upscale rich white neighborhood that he came from. he is about as hard-core as a limp D**k. like when he had his matches with sabu there is no way he could beat sabu. i have seen sabu get blown up, lit on fire, electrocuted, stabbed, and still kick out but cena is going to beat with the fustf, please what a joke
Zac Moate wrote:
Hey mate Cena is one of my three all time faves but i liked the article. i think that some of his matches are a bit repetitive but i really couldn't care less. his gimmick should have stayed as heel because it really suited him. or he could try and pull off some more excitng moves in order to sustain his babyface status.
Zuhaib Khan wrote:
I agree with Jon Rosaler, what more does cena have to do? ok maybe his title reign went on too long but i definately dont think it was boring. i thibnk his move set is good and he changes bits from time to time. everyone seems to forget that cena only does what hes told to do. you're right Anto G when you said some fans dont know why they hate john cena and because they dont know they have to become personal, which is wrong. In closing no-one can say John Cena sucks because WWE is entertainment.
Anto G. (Original Author) wrote:
Ok I have to defend myself here, first don't bother stereotyping me as I don;t fall into that catergory. I am not a ROH geek wrestling fan so again don't bother. As for Cena bashing, this isn't nessicarily a Cena bashing column, I did state what WWE should do to correct this as it is their fault, not Cena. My point was why he isn't accepted as a champion (although he isn't at the moment) and expain this in detail. Why do some of you bother replying? The STFU is a lame finisher, he puts no pressure on the hold. I'll put ny hands up and state that I should have stated that he has a good look, charisma and is a huge draw and does put bulk into his power moves but the small things like selling he is abysmal at. That "why John Cena doesn't suck" column only states his good points and neglects to mention that he is poor overall. He did a good job under pressure at ONS though. His gimmick is a sham as he says he is a thus froma smal town and he comes from a big house and it's where they are all from. Bull. Why do I assume that some saw the first line and though I knew nothing? Some didn't read the whole column as I did state othewr things as well. I have ended the debate he sucks get over it and move on there's no need to see another Cena column now that I have proved my point. He is getting less boos because he is no longer champ that's why.
Clint wrote:
low expections? Because his weak Angle's Slam was a joke. People dogged the F-U but atleast it requires flipping a human body, not a half turn and drop. Also, we now know Kurt is a great WWE/TNA wrestler but even the WWF, at the time, told Kurt to hold back earlier in his career. Does no-one remember his embrassing loss to Tazz? The "not good enough to wrestle after blowing chucks at Wrestlemania" Tazz? Simply put, they would not have made it to this level if they couldn't wrestle. Even the Immortal Hulk Hogan had less moves than Cena, and the only time he was boo-ed was when he was a heel. Hogan's mic skills never came close to The Rock's, his wrestling skills were way worse than Cena's could ever faulter to and sold his moves about as good as Mae Young did during her return stints after 2003, but he was still never hated unless the WWF/WCW wanted him to be. People hate Cena because he appears to be acting like something he's not. Well those same haters need to be told that Umaga is really Jamal with face paint.

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