Da Maintenance Man

Leyla. She's the only minority left so I voted for her. It was sad to see Kristal go though. WWE needs more diversity in their divas.

But Cena never said he was from the...fuck it. I'm tired of defending Cena all the time by myself. Somebody else do it for a change.

Once he turns heel I bet his workrate will go back up. There's no way in hell he forgot how to do all the shit he busted out in 02-03 when he first debuted.

This has nothing to do with race. John Cena is portrayed as a guy with actual street credibility. As people like Angle and JBL have pointed out, he's a thug. Grew up in the streets. He ain't gonna be no good. The fans are supposed to love this rebellious image, and his rapper gimmick only further establishes the point. Much like 50 Cent or Eminem, John Cena is supposed to be a legitimately tough person who can back up his actions with his rhymes. This is why the video tonight was such an utter failure. Cena's supposed to be a rebellious thug. Then why the hell are we having him rap to us that we need to call our folks? Why are we watching him party it up with his dad? The most hardcore thing in that video was Cena putting his friend in a Boston crab in the park. Yes, sometimes it could be good for a rapper to put out a light video. But considering this is John Cena's SECOND video -- and we're still trying to build up his image for some kind of mainstream credibility -- it did much more bad than good. The fans still want to get behind the rebellious character. But watching Cena rap about his love for his grandparents is anything but. That's the kind of sappy message that the fans are going to eventually turn against. The video was just awful on so many levels. I'm not even going to mention how poor the actual beat was. Just the video and the lyrics are explanation enough. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The only reason why they had Angle & JBL call Cena a "thug" is because it's planted in everybody's mind that rapper = thug & that's just a tired ass stereotype/label. I agree about the part of him being rebellious & that is part of the appeal of his character. Matter of fact, he STILL is being portrayed as rebellious despite whatever was in the music video. Did you not see Raw the past few weeks where Cena's been rebelling against Bischoff? I mean, I know it's just the same ol' top face vs. evil authority figure angle but Cena's rebelliousness (is that a word?) was showcased real well. Espescially when he FUed Bischoff, grabbed the mic & sternly said (right to his face as he laid on his back looking up at the lights) "Welcome to the new Raw bitch!" It's stuff like that that showcases that Cena is STILL the rebellious, take-no-shit guy we all love. The only thing that's holding it back is that he's face so some of the edge is taken off but I mean, WWE watering down characters when they turn face is nothing new at all (see: Victoria, Randy Orton). As far as the video goes I'm guessing they went with that particular song as the second single so Cena would be different as opposed to every other rapper out there. Let's face it, if we got a video of Cena walking down the street with a bunch of black guys behind him wearing bandanas on their faces it'd be no different than a G-Unit video. And I really think that the video was basically an extension of what he said at the beginning of his feud w/ JBL leading into WM21, about how he "takes care of those who take care of him" or something to that effect. That's part of what helped the crowd relate & get behind him. I believe Cena's getting most of his face heat from the fact that Cena doesn't really put himself above anybody & puts over how he cares about his fans, puts himself in their shoes (talking about how he "came from the stands" & whatnot), giving all his fans a collective name, going into the crowd & posing with them, etc. It's those somewhat subtle things that lead to why the fans like Cena so much.

You turned on him in one-half of a year? Damn, most of us had already turned on Cena after last year's Royal Rumble when he said the infamous "WORD MOTHAFRICKIN' LIIIIIIIIIFE!" BTW, that nursery music-sounding (and looking) rap video did suck. I agree. Next week on Raw:"'Dis is real....recognizin' REAL! Ah grew up on da streets!" *Crowd boos Cena over the fact that he came off NOTHING like a "thug" in his "Right Now" music video* <{POST_SNAPBACK}> That's the problem. He never really claimed to be "from the streets"...even when he was heel. He never claimed he was shot, never claimed he slanged dope, doesn't talk about fuckin' bitches, nothing like that. I didn't know that being shot, sellin yay and/or being "hard" was a requirement to be a rapper. And personally, I liked Cena's video. Matched the vibe of the track very well imo. It's supposed to just be a song about kicking back, hangin with your friends/family & enjoying life. The video displayed that well.

Far as the Cena bashing goes...man...just so many labels & stereotypes being thrown around...startin to feel sick... *Leaves thread wishing society will eventually get to the point where what you do will not be critisized based upon the color of your skin*

Hurricane's not bad at all. Have you seen ANY of his WCW work?

Nice list. I'd prolly add a Jak game (most likely Jak 2 or 3) on there but good picks overall.

Batista. He's still kinda green.

I don't like that assumption. I was real young back in 96-97 & grew up not having my own room nor my own TV & due to that I just couldn't watch wrestling (no way my mom would sit through it). Once I moved around 98'-99' I finally got my own room & my own TV & could finally watch wrestling. I'll admit that I didn't really know much about wrestling then (hell, I was a mark back then). As time went on, things like the internet came along for me & it started to open my eyes about the business. I don't think it would be too fair to label someone like me as a "bandwagon jumper" just because I started to watch in 98 considering I really had no means to watch before then. I also believe that the reason why so many people are complaining about the current WWE product is a mixture of the typical smark overanalayzing & the laziness of the WWE creative team. Hardcore fans are just way too difficult to please. I'm not saying that the current product couldn't be any better & it can & should be. Me personally, I don't think we'll ever see another boom period like in 98 again. But it's things like the lack of overanalyzing which have kept my tolerance in check in regards to watching WWE. I'm not a mark but then again I'm not a smark. I guess you can call me a "casuasmark" or something because I don't watch each match & start complaining about how "he didn't apply the armbar" or "he isn't selling enough" or whatever. I don't care about workrate all that much. If I find something remotely entertaining about something then I watch. Simple as that. If I wanted straight wrestling then there's always TNA.

Yeah, it just jumped from 0.01% to 0.05%.

Yea, that and he didn't wanna get injured "screwing around in Orlando", lol...

You're not alone. I kept wondering how old she is though. Didn't wanna have impure, R-Kelly-ish thoughts runnin through my head.

98. He has to eat.

Heh, I doubt Cena will have a pimp cup...he's not a crunk rapper. He has more of a east coast sound to him.

Or Cena can slam his face into the turntables...?

I still don't see anything about Cena being "gangsta". He doesn't come out w/ bulletproof vests on & claim he's been shot 9 times. I'll be glad when the world stops lookin at stuff in black & white.

This is the best option right here.

If Masters was able to take out Big Show w/ the Masterlock it COULD put him over real big but WWE's kinda booked themselves into a corner w/ this. Big Show is portrayed as the biggest & strongest guy on the roster. He just has to break the hold. If Big Show doesn't break it & some other smaller, lower-card guy does it'd make Show look bad & in turn make the whole thing look horribly "fake". But then again, Show doesn't really need the rub of breaking the hold.

I don't know. The last memorable match I remember Carlito having was with Rey Mysterio back on Smackdown after he won the U.S. title. He displayed some nice in-ring skills & pyschology in that match. Now he's...meh. He's pretty good on the mic though.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Orton isn't going away anytime soon, though. Do we really want Christian vs. Orton for a PPV program soon? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What's wrong with Christian vs. Orton? They had a damn good match on Raw a few months back...

*Agreed* When HASN'T she been hot??

Wow, didn't know Cena was nearly 30. I thought he was around Orton & Hassan's age.

It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits.

I see nothing wrong with Cena calling Jericho cheap. I agree with the person earlier who said that Jericho used to be the Undisputed champ & can't really do anything of worth ever since losing (the highlight reel, all the talk of his albums & I'm pretty sure Cena's 1 album outsold all 5 of Jericho's which is pretty damn sad). What importantly bothers me is all the unnecessary Cena bashing. I understand that he's not the best guy in the ring & all but like many others have said, the guy has charisma & I believe that his in-ring spots (5 knuckle shuffle, spinning back suplex, ect) help get the crowd into his matches. The FU looks better now ever since WM 21 when he started to drop down to his ass when slamming them. Props to whomever told Cena to do so. Makes the move look a bit more credible now. As far as Cena's gimmick goes, I really don't get where some of you are coming from. Cena is a "poser" or a "wigger" b/c of his gimmick? Firstly, how is he a poser? He portrays a RAPPER, nothing more. I believe most of the "wigger" (damn I hate that word) comments are coming from people thinking Cena doesn't fulfill some kind of bullshit qualifications of being a rapper. It seems as if to be a rapper nowadays you HAVE to be from the hood and/or the ghetto, have been shot numerous times & slanged rocks (sold drugs). That's BS & it's hurting the hip-hop industry. If people would stop seeing shit in black & white all the time then hip-hop would be better today. Some of you say that Cena comes off goofy or as a dork? Well, who here saw that Jamie Kennedy movie from '04 (don't remember the exact year) ? I think it was called 'Malibu's Most Wanted'. It featured Jamie Kennedy posing as a rapper & most of the humor of the movie came from him immitating hip-hop culture & coming off as a corny white boy. Average racial humor. Now, seeing as how goofy Jamie Kennedy was in that movie can any of you honestly say that Cena is anywhere NEAR Kennedy's level of goofyness that was portrayed in that movie? For me, HELL NO. Anyway, to close this, I don't see how Cena is supposed to be portraying a "thug" or a "gangsta" with his gimmick. He's never came out & claimed he's been shot 9 times or talks about shooting people. I see Cena's character as a take-no shit, hip-hop influenced wrestler. You do NOT have to be from the "hood" or the "ghetto" to be a rapper.