John Cena

[Guest jester]

Ok, I know the guy has made all of two appearances so far, but I like what I see of him so far. I think with a slow careful build they could get him really over.

 

Right now he's kind of playing the respectful rookie, but he doesn't take any shit. If that's the direction they keep going in, I think he'll make an interesting character. Not in your face disrespectful like Austin was, more like "Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you and we'll get along fine." The beauty of this approach is that he doesn't have to win all the time to maintain it. Just show him as going out, giving his all, and not backing down from a challenge, even if it means getting the stuffing knocked out of him.

 

Any, just my take on him.

 

jester

[Guest Shaved Bear]

a competitive jobber is still a jobber

[Guest Invader3k]

I missed Smackdown last night, due to it being the 4th and all...plus I always seem to forget to tape Smackdown, which doesn't seem to be a problem for RAW...anyway, I digress...

 

From his match last week with Kurt Angle, I think he's a a really good young wrestler who could really be something special eventually. And you're right, if they keep building his character like they are, they should be pretty successful with him.

 

Now if they could just find something similar to do with Randy Orton...

[Guest cabbageboy]

Ah, I see someone lifted my "competitive jobber" line from the SMDN thread....heh.

[Guest Austin3164life]

For some reason I don't see him as being a "competitive jobber". They'll need to elevate more stars as time passes, and I wouldn't be suprised if Cena ends up with a title down the road.......

[Guest jester]

For some reason I don't see him as being a "competitive jobber". They'll need to elevate more stars as time passes, and I wouldn't be suprised if Cena ends up with a title down the road.......

Yeah, I hope he can be more than a competitive jobber or JTTS. If he can keep being entertaining and get over, I hope he does get a belt. I just hope the push doesn't go too quickly. I know they need new stars, but you can't just toss him in front of the audience and say "Here's the new top guy. Cheer him."

 

jester

[Guest Mr Monday Night]

Right now he's kind of playing the respectful rookie, but he doesn't take any shit. If that's the direction they keep going in, I think he'll make an interesting character. Not in your face disrespectful like Austin was, more like "Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you and we'll get along fine." The beauty of this approach is that he doesn't have to win all the time to maintain it. Just show him as going out, giving his all, and not backing down from a challenge, even if it means getting the stuffing knocked out of him.

I think Cena has some potential, but what is his gimmick right now? He just bitch slaps people. He did it to Angle, he did it to Jericho. I mean, it isn't even a manly slap, its like a WWF No Mercy 64 women's slap. Plus, the fact that he's holding up so well with these well known stars isn't helping. He needs to climb the ladder before fighting people like Jericho.

[Guest Shaved Bear]

Ah, I see someone lifted my "competitive jobber" line from the SMDN thread....heh.

sooooo you were the one that said that...

[Guest Creepy Crawl]

I liked him from his first match . If they give him a good push and get a big name to job to him here in the near future to make a name for himself I can definately see him as a legitimate title contender . I just have one thing to ask ........ never wear those green trunks again ! Whats the deal with all the new talents wearing those goofy as biker spandex shorts ? Lets see you got Maven , Orton , Chris Nowitski , and now Cena , please give the guys something better than that , daisy dukes just come to mind every time I see those things .

[Guest TheSoleSurvivor]

I personally liked Cena from a first viewing as well....but apparently, we have yet to see one of his greatest strengths on WWE Tv, his promo skillz. BUT....remember that Cena debuted against Angle.....who is probably the most well-rounded performer the WWF has ever seen. We'll see how he does, but he'll probably need some wins soon to get over. But I can easily see the guy going places.

[Guest Downhome]

The man called Cena will have a title before this year is out, more than likely the IC title. Thy are obviously builiding him up to be a major star. Just give him time, and he'll get there, mark my words!

[Guest TheSoleSurvivor]

I wondered how long it would till we saw you in this thread Downhome

[Guest Downhome]

I wondered how long it would till we saw you in this thread Downhome

Well perhaps I should stick around in here then. This could get pretty interesting, bwahahahaha...

 

...with all Stena talk aside, I truly do see "it" in Cena. He has that feel that he's just going to be something huge one day. Not now, and not next month, but sometime soon he will be a huge, break out, top baby face, champion.

 

Now, if he ever came out in a Sting gimmick, I would mark out like a 10 year old bitch watching GI Joe after he got home from Summer camp being deprived for all those weeks.

[Guest jester]

I just have one thing to ask ........ never wear those green trunks again !

Yeah, Jericho was right to make fun of those trunks. They're awful. It looks like he got them on sale at the OVW garage sale.

 

jester

[Guest Vyce]

Now, if he ever came out in a Sting gimmick, I would mark out like a 10 year old bitch

 

If he came out dressed as Sting, and just did a) the Stinger Splash, B) the Stinger howl, and c) the Scorpion Deathlock, not only would I mark so hard I would go into mild cardiac arrest, I would never say anything bad about the WWE EVER again.

 

Or maybe I'd just get all excited and promise to not say anything bad about the WWE for, oh, the rest of that day. One of the two.

 

I'd still love it, though.

[Guest thebigjig]

All this talk of Sting is depressing me... it reminds me more and more of how much I miss the guy

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Eh, I'm happy he's retired instead of Vince using him as a door matt to get out all his Ruthless Aggresion on whenever he feels like sticking it to Jim Crockett again. There'll always be the memories of Sting/Flair, Sting/Muta and Sting/Vader to turn to in times of darkness, and we'll always be able to tell the Sting Born Again Story whenever we need a good laugh. Besides, Cena is practically a living breathing reincarnation of the Stinger so hopefully the legacy will love on, even without the face paint.

 

God, I'm such a dork...

[Guest Spicy McHaggis]

I just have one thing to ask ........ never wear those green trunks again !

Yeah, Jericho was right to make fun of those trunks. They're awful. It looks like he got them on sale at the OVW garage sale.

 

jester

They were in Boston... Cena is from Boston... Home of the Celtics... get it?

 

By the way, I think this guy's going to be awesome. I like the way they are building him up. A close loss to one of the best stars in the company, Angle. Cheated out of a win against the first ever undisputed champion, Jericho. Now all they have to do is start putting him over midcarders and he will be in a great spot.

[Guest godthedog]

know what i like most about this push? competition. brock's push is based on dominance. dominance doesn't do a great job of selling tickets, because you know already know the guy's going to win. that's why the warrior never drew a dime on his own in his life, he was never willing to make anybody look good. with competition, there's actually some suspense as to who could win the match. jericho & angle, in their matches with cena, made a very good job of making it look like either man in the match could win. as lance storm said, you don't have to win to get a push. a high-profile loss in a good match can do more for your career (see: michaels, shawn) than a string of meaningless victories.

[Guest RickyChosyu]

know what i like most about this push? competition. brock's push is based on dominance. dominance doesn't do a great job of selling tickets, because you know already know the guy's going to win. that's why the warrior never drew a dime on his own in his life, he was never willing to make anybody look good. with competition, there's actually some suspense as to who could win the match. jericho & angle, in their matches with cena, made a very good job of making it look like either man in the match could win. as lance storm said, you don't have to win to get a push. a high-profile loss in a good match can do more for your career (see: michaels, shawn) than a string of meaningless victories.

See also: Austin, Steve.

 

You're right. However, the dominance thing can be done well if his competition gets increasingly dificult and he has to try harder and harder to beat them. That can be compelling, and it makes his opponents look good because each comes closer to beating him than the one before, and if done right, it can have the fans asking "how much higher up the ladder will he get? will he ever stop climbing it?" and such. Lesnar isn't really there yet, but they're trying.

 

Still, the approach with Cena is much better, methinks.

[Guest Nezbyte]

Cena is my fav rookie, he's not too big and buff plus hes not too small. Well rounded, and he's SUPPOSED to be a top 5 mic worker, y'know.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I don't like John Cena.

 

I don't know for some odd alien reason, there's just something I don't like about him. Maybe it was the whole Jericho scenario.. Or maybe it's just that they're bringing in all these "new stars" from OVW, when I think the problem wasn't them, but the old guys perched at the top not putting anyone over. They didn't have to bring in anyone more than Brock and Rico, but then they brought in Randy Orton (who I dub the "Create-A-Wrestler" because that's what he looks like..The Create-A-Wrestler model from any wrestling video game you get. And also because he has nothing itnerestign about him.), John Cena, Leviathan...AUGH!!! ENOUGH!

 

Can't the WWF see that they probably didn't even NEED Brock or Rico, since they still are using dead weight like Hardcore Holly and Rikishi? I was about to include Test in there, but they found an entertaining role for him in Team Canada, so there might still be salavation. Either they get rid of the dead weight then bring the new guys in, or make this dead weight mean something.

 

And then not only when Cena came down, weighing in all these freakin newbies down to the point where I don't even care anymore, but then he goes against two guys who should be in the main event and both who have had terribly booked title runs as transitionary champions, and were made to look even weaker and fartehr away from the main event by losign to a rookie, while also making it look like they're "Main eventers putting over a new guy" at the same time.

 

Amazing how the WWF works. Freakin amazing.

[Guest Wild_Orchid]

I just have one thing to ask ........ never wear those green trunks again !

Yeah, Jericho was right to make fun of those trunks. They're awful. It looks like he got them on sale at the OVW garage sale.

 

jester

So I see you've forgotten about the those hideous skin-tight zebra print spandex pants Jericho wore to the ring a few months ago. Not to mention that he himself has worn green tights to the ring numerous times.

[Guest dreamer420]

from what i have seen of him he is good. of course he was in the ring with jericho and angle so we'll see how he does against say, mark henry. he does show a lot of potential though.

[Guest Downhome]

from what i have seen of him he is good. of course he was in the ring with jericho and angle so we'll see how he does against say, mark henry. he does show a lot of potential though.

Well, if he does get in there against Mark Henry, I wouldn't really hold anything against Cena for what comes of it. I mean, it IS Mark Henry after all. Even Jericho couldn't carry that chump to a "good" match. Personally, I see no reason for him to be on TV, but hey, that's just me.

[Guest Wild_Orchid]

Interesting note from the Ross Report for this week...

 

 

"I assume that much like we have read about Lesnar getting too much too soon, etc., etc. etc., we will soon be hearing the same stuff about John Cena very soon. "

 

Unfortunately JR...we're already are hearing the same stuff about Cena.

[Guest TheyCallMeMark]

I hate Cena.

 

That stupid vignette with Jericho made me hate him. Come on, it looked to me like Cena was PMSing and slapped his boyfriend. And then what the fuck was Jericho doing? Humping the fucking floor? All that groaning and convulsions really gave me the creeps.

 

PH33R JOHN CENA'S BITCHSLAP OF RUTHLESS AGRESSION!

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Seeing as how Lesnar has sucked since his great debut, I think it's only fair to wait until Cena starts to suck before making comparisons.

[Guest NoCalMike]

I think Cena is pretty good, but my problem with his situation, is there are a few wrestlers that have already paid a year or so of "dues" that should be the ones getting the "respect" handshakes from UT, and having hard fought matches with Angle.......Storm comes to mind.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

I think Cena is pretty good, but my problem with his situation, is there are a few wrestlers that have already paid a year or so of "dues" that should be the ones getting the "respect" handshakes from UT, and having hard fought matches with Angle.......Storm comes to mind.

I understand what you're saying, but I once read something by somebody, I can't remember who or where it was. I want to say Scott Keith, but I don't think it was him.

 

Anyway, the premise is that sometimes guys are just so damn good and phenomenal that they don't have and shouldn't have to pay dues. The comparison was drawn to baseball players like Ken Griffey Jr. who, if you'll remember, back before he got injured every week in Cincinatti, was tearing up the league as a Seattle Mariner from like the age of 20. Guys like him and A-Rod were just so f'n amazing that it would be RETARDED to make them "pay their dues" when they are ready already at age 20 (or whenever they started) and could be making big money for themselves and for their organization.

 

The buzz about John Cena suggests to me that he could be one of those guys, much like Sting was back in the day, a ready made total package ready for superstardom straight out of the factory. If the buzz is accurate, then he SHOULD be wrestling the big boys right now.

 

THINK: John Cena vs Kurt Angle and vs Chris Jericho. Are the matches good from a "wrestling" standpoint? Yes. Are they fun to watch? Yes. Is is good television? Yes. Are you eager to see what happens to John Cena next or what he'll do next? I sure as hell am, and you should be too.

 

Guys like John Cena should not warm the bench for a year to "pay their dues" just out of "respect" to some old fart who has inferior skills but has "been up with the big club longer." Maybe it's not fair, but since when is life fair anyway? Look, we've all done our share of bitching about guys getting world title reigns because they're "respected in the locker room" or as a reward for years of long service, and so many of us have contended that guys should be getting belts and pushes based on how good they are RIGHT NOW, not how good they used to be or how long they've been around. So why is it "good" for seniority to trump talent in the midcard and among newcomers if it's "not good" for it to happen at the world title level?

 

Hell yes I want Lance Storm to get pushed and be involved because I think he's absolutely f'n great and they have been slow to use him properly and give him what his talent merits. But see, that's the point; he should get a push because his talent/overness/potential for overness merits it, not because he's got a year seniority edge over the new guys.

 

And John Cena should be getting pushed right now, because his talent merits it. If it doesn't, we'll soon find out, but from what I've seen, methinks it does. Fuck dues, fuck locker room respect, it's about generating fan interest and drawing money. And if John Cena can do that RIGHT NOW (and he's sure as hell generating interest in this fan, I'll tell you that much) then he should be getting pushed and wrestling and nearly beating Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho RIGHT NOW.

 

Because he's That Damn Good, and that's all that matters.