The New Era

[Guest J-Rock]

First I apologize to Adam (It was TEW instead of EWR). Anyway I 've been away from this forum for about a year and it seems to me that there are alot of Cena Haters out there. If you like him or not, he is the future of WWE. This has been told numerous of times. He's not the best worker, but (some of you will comment on this) he's a decent wrestler. He's perfect for the WWE in many ways. His style: WWE-made, his frame: Vince likes big guys, and his charisma: similar to The Rock. Now by all means he is no Rock, he just plays to the crowd like him. He's even good-looking. All of these factors are marketable, which means you're gonna see alot of him in the future. WWE is bullshit when it comes to real wrestling aside from Benoit, Gurrero, Rey Rey, you know what I mean, but look at the whole picture. Who is selling the posters, merchadise, etc. Cena! Yes, his raps do take away wrestling time, but there entertainment for everyone, not just smarts. I like them. Point blank. Some are crappy, but there's a least one verse that will crack a smile on anyone's face. I know there are alot of you who would like to see wrestling, but I would rather see this than a Holly vs Orlando Jordan quash (c'mon you know we would get this, it is the WWE). The WWE, and I do mean Entertainment, has thrown decent wrestling matches out with very few execeptions. If I want to see wrestling, I'll watch TNA (but they're booking is so fucked up now). The bottom line 5,10,20 years from now people will talk about the white guy who came to the ring and blasted his oppenents verbally and beat their ass for da 3. Vince is bitch, but when it comes to making money, he's a genuis.

 

 

I'm a fan good wrestling matches, but when it comes to da E, I just want to be entertained. I'm also a fan of AJ, Jericho (who should be in TNA), RVD, Booker, Angle, and my BOY Rocky so don't think I'm some mark who does'nt know good workers.

 

Peace Shawty.

[rising up out of the back seat-nuh 0]

1) Cena has been declining in popularity steadily for the last year.

 

2) His is not a main event gimmick.

 

3) He has not shown the skills required to be the next big thing. At the moment he's a two dimensional gimmick relying on cheap pops in both promos and in matches. When he gets more rounded as both a character and in the ring, then we'll talk.

 

4) At the moment Orton, Batista and even Bradshaw are ahead of him as regards most of the reasons you gave in your post.

[Guest Trivia247]

and thanks to the gimmick Cena's is in, the US title now looks like a Stolen Hubcap painted and strapped on a belt..

 

Its Spinnnin man its Spinnin!

[Exslade ZX 0]

How dare you.

 

Orlando is the next big thing in professional wrestling. And I kid you not. Mark my words, Orlando Jordan, will be WWE champion. He'll have some good promos while he's at it too.

 

So in other words, The New Era = Orlando Jordan. Not, John Cena.

 

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

If Cena keeps this "Chain Gang" (horrible name) thing going where he goes into the stands and whatnot, and then adds some more edge to his character and maybe a better finisher, I could see him taking off. The thing with Austin and Hogan was, they were able to rally the fans behind them and Cena gets that to a point. I think that a lot of what he does is forced and manufactured, and the crowd prefers real, so he won't get the level of reaction and devotion that Hogan and Austin got. He needs the right storyline and the right opponent so that "realness" can be brought out - I don't think that's there for him in the WWE right now. A JBL feud could be interesting if they play it right, but the odds of that happening (them playing it right) are astronomical. They'll try the Austin/McMahon routine and it will be moderately successful but not at the level it needs to be.

[Brett Favre 0]

1) Cena has been declining in popularity steadily for the last year.

 

2) His is not a main event gimmick.

 

3) He has not shown the skills required to be the next big thing. At the moment he's a two dimensional gimmick relying on cheap pops in both promos and in matches. When he gets more rounded as both a character and in the ring, then we'll talk.

 

4) At the moment Orton, Batista and even Bradshaw are ahead of him as regards most of the reasons you gave in your post.

1) Cena's still arguably the 3rd most over wrestler in the company (behind The Rock, and The Undertaker)

 

2) Neither is JBL's. I'd rather see Cena with the strap, as a heel though, and see what he can do.

 

3) He has when he's been motivated to do so. The last feud he had that had some steam was the short, very short feud with Eddie Guerrero. They produced a decent match in ring, and a nice spot match in the latino parking lot brawl. Ever since the WWE stopped capitalizing on him, he's become stale, and doesn't seem to want to improve. Stick him with the right opponents, and he will put on a good match. Most of his matches today are against jobbers. All he does is have 2:00 minute squash matches nowadays. It's not going to happen when you put him up against Eddie, Kurt, and even Taker (he's had 2 good matches with him). I myself would like to see him on RAW to work with the Benoit's, HBK's, and HHH's of the world. He's not going to improve wrestling JBL and Carlito Cool.

 

4)Orton and Batista have had the luxury to work with HBK, Benoit, and HHH. They've also hung around with main eventers for a while. Cena's still facing Carlito for some odd reason. He hasn't faced a main eventer since Kurt Angle.

 

He's still the future of the WWE in my eyes, but so far they've blown it, and seem to be milking him instead of elevating him.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Neither is JBL's. I'd rather see Cena with the strap, as a heel though, and see what he can do.

 

You're looking at the wrong perspective. The initial post was saying Cena is the new era, so you compare him to Hogan and Austin, not JBL.

 

I shouldn't be investing this much time in a thread that has "and my BOY Rocky so don't think I'm some mark who does'nt know good workers" as it's lead post.

[Brett Favre 0]

Neither is JBL's. I'd rather see Cena with the strap, as a heel though, and see what he can do.

 

You're looking at the wrong perspective. The initial post was saying Cena is the new era, so you compare him to Hogan and Austin, not JBL.

 

I shouldn't be investing this much time in a thread that has "and my BOY Rocky so don't think I'm some mark who does'nt know good workers" as it's lead post.

...okay well

 

I was replying to Cena's gimmick being what was going to hold him down from becoming a main eventer, and compared him to JBL because he has a gimmick that really isn't a main eventer's gimmick either, yet is main eventing matches as we speak today. That's considered too much favoritism?

[Guest LooneyTune]

Sterling Tit summed up everything I was going to say. Go Tit!

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

But Cenas gimmick is a modern day Genius. Champions don't rhyme. And Main Eventers don't turn their belts into flashy spinny things. JBL's gimmick is more accomodating to ME status than Cena's, cause all he does is act rich - which goes along with being champion. And that's comparing Cena to someone who is widely considered the worst champion in the last 5 years, not to people who actually led the New Eras of the WWE. If you want to make a claim that Cena can lead the way for the WWE to the promised land, you raise the bar, not lower it.

[Brett Favre 0]

But Cenas gimmick is a modern day Genius. Champions don't rhyme. And Main Eventers don't turn their belts into flashy spinny things. JBL's gimmick is more accomodating to ME status than Cena's, cause all he does is act rich - which goes along with being champion. And that's comparing Cena to someone who is widely considered the worst champion in the last 5 years, not to people who actually led the New Eras of the WWE. If you want to make a claim that Cena can lead the way for the WWE to the promised land, you raise the bar, not lower it.

But how can you compare them to Austin and Hogan, when both Austin and Hogan had polar opposite gimmicks? This is a new era, and things have changed since then. You can't make him into a Hogan type of guy. Had Austin used Hogan's gimmick in the late 90's, he would have been eaten alive. And people weren't ready for Austin's gimmick back in Hogan's era. We're in an era where rap is very high mainstream, and throwbacks are the thing. Tons of kids in this day would relate to Cena, like kids who would relate to Hogan back in the 80's.

[zyn081 0]

1) Cena has been declining in popularity steadily for the last year.

 

2) His is not a main event gimmick.

 

3) He has not shown the skills required to be the next big thing. At the moment he's a two dimensional gimmick relying on cheap pops in both promos and in matches. When he gets more rounded as both a character and in the ring, then we'll talk.

 

4) At the moment Orton, Batista and even Bradshaw are ahead of him as regards most of the reasons you gave in your post.

1) Cena's still arguably the 3rd most over wrestler in the company (behind The Rock, and The Undertaker)

 

2) Neither is JBL's. I'd rather see Cena with the strap, as a heel though, and see what he can do.

 

3) He has when he's been motivated to do so. The last feud he had that had some steam was the short, very short feud with Eddie Guerrero. They produced a decent match in ring, and a nice spot match in the latino parking lot brawl. Ever since the WWE stopped capitalizing on him, he's become stale, and doesn't seem to want to improve. Stick him with the right opponents, and he will put on a good match. Most of his matches today are against jobbers. All he does is have 2:00 minute squash matches nowadays. It's not going to happen when you put him up against Eddie, Kurt, and even Taker (he's had 2 good matches with him). I myself would like to see him on RAW to work with the Benoit's, HBK's, and HHH's of the world. He's not going to improve wrestling JBL and Carlito Cool.

 

4)Orton and Batista have had the luxury to work with HBK, Benoit, and HHH. They've also hung around with main eventers for a while. Cena's still facing Carlito for some odd reason. He hasn't faced a main eventer since Kurt Angle.

 

He's still the future of the WWE in my eyes, but so far they've blown it, and seem to be milking him instead of elevating him.

1) Eddy, Jericho, HBK and Batista (at the moment) come before him for sure.

 

2) I think it can be. As Rudo said, he can get the crowd behind him. Unfortunately, I dont see the work ethic required for a long reign im afraid. JBL has acted the arrogant champion perfectly. His gimmick is spot on. He is refreshing. I love to hear him talk. When he was spluttering to Angle saying thats what you do every week was great. He is not that bad a worker either.

 

3) Can we stopping mixing up the rosters already. He can have good matches with a worker. The alternative, good booking maybe????

 

4) Hell burn out soon, since Vince just sees merchandise $$$ and not ME status in him.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

There were common elements which defined Hogan and Austins popularity. Titanic and Gone With the Wind were two successful movies from two very different eras, but both dealt with an ill-fated relationship. Guess what? So did Romeo and Juliet. You shouldn't look at things on face value only. Cena knows the formula (crowd participation, he named his fans (hulkamaniacs), he uses symbols and hand gestures) but he should know that in order to be successful he has to go beyond the formula. He has to take it to the next level. And that's very hard, and sometimes it takes the right feud to get it out of someone.

[zyn081 0]

There were common elements which defined Hogan and Austins popularity. Titanic and Gone With the Wind were two successful movies from two very different eras, but both dealt with an ill-fated relationship. Guess what? So did Romeo and Juliet. You shouldn't look at things on face value only. Cena knows the formula (crowd participation, he named his fans (hulkamaniacs), he uses symbols and hand gestures) but he should know that in order to be successful he has to go beyond the formula. He has to take it to the next level. And that's very hard, and sometimes it takes the right feud to get it out of someone.

Very much agreed. He needs a huge blood feud. But were have the blood feuds of old been? The Hogan-Andre, the Austin-Rock and McMahon? Looking at the SD! roster, RVD and Booker T have lost their hearts, UT wont do it, JBL isnt good enough and TBS is Meh (although he ocassionaly pleasently surprisese you). That leaves Angle and Eddy. Who of the 2 would make the better heel as compared to Cena's face or tweaner (and I think Cena would better play a tweaner similar to Austins, who I dont consider a full blown face as Hogan).

[Guest LooneyTune]

Triple R is schooling everyone here. Cena will be pushed no matter what, so I find it useless to continue the same argument over and over in new topics every few weeks. Some people like him (boo), but the people who actually put up real arguments are the people against him.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The more I think about a JBL/Cena feud, the more I like it. I don't think theres any other feud possibilities out there right now that gets my imagination going more.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Cena > Orton.

 

The End

[Guest uyaljg]

How dare you.

 

Orlando is the next big thing in professional wrestling. And I kid you not. Mark my words, Orlando Jordan, will be WWE champion. He'll have some good promos while he's at it too.

 

So in other words, The New Era = Orlando Jordan. Not, John Cena.

 

He's got 11 mouths to feed!

[Masked Man of Mystery 0]

No, I could actually pop for the RKO because I'm a DDP mark. Cena does his "Death Valley Driver" so poorly I can't help but think how awful it is. And that's all that defines them for me. Both have generic offeneses and average at best mic work(and I'm being generous with Cena because he does appeal to some, he doesn't do anything for me)

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Not really adding to this, I just wanted to put a question:

 

Had Cena never feuded with Lesnar, what would have been the name of his finisher? Cause I think the only reason it got the name F-U was to mock Lesnar's F-5.

[Brett Favre 0]

Not really adding to this, I just wanted to put a question:

 

Had Cena never feuded with Lesnar, what would have been the name of his finisher? Cause I think the only reason it got the name F-U was to mock Lesnar's F-5.

He had the Killswitch. I don't know why he doesn't use it more often. It's almost like a blue thunder/bossman slam, starts off as a backbody drop, and ends up as some type of slam. It wasn't bad, but now he only uses it once every 4 months, and does it very slowly.

 

As for the money feud, I thought they had it with Eddie Guerrero (when he attacked Eddie in his hometown), but it ended way to quickly. It was back then when he was a heel.

[reign 0]

This is the real problem with having the monopolized system that we have today. None of these guys have had time to build anything and as soon as they hit SD! or Raw they're in line for the main event and what's wore is that they know it...they have to! The WWE just doesn't use the talent they have in the right ways and there just doesn't seem to be enough of it to go around either because they focus so much on the Entertainment aspect that EVERYBODY has to have a fucking story so that you rarely have just some matches for the sake of winning so that you move up in the ranks. Raw has just about the right mix of talent. Guys there have enough mic skills,chrisma,ability,psychology that it can be a good show and the younger guys can learn from it. But SD! has nobody. Or when they do have a shot at doing something right they book it all wrong. Cena and Booker shoulda been way better than what we got. I just can't take these guys seriously anymore beacuse Vince doesn't take time with anything. A guy'll be Hulk Hogan one week and then be Koko fuckin' B Ware the next! The best we could hope for right now would be zero changes for one year at least. No more damn heel or face turns except what they've already got on the table, no more STUPID roster changes as it just reminds me that I'm still just watching on company put on two shows every week and no more fucking title changes that further devalue these titles(all twenty of them). I want Cena to catch a fire and be fucking great just like I'd to see Orton be great because I'd love to go through another great wrestling boom but it'll never happen at this rate.

[cabbageboy 0]

Having watched SMDN tonight I have to note that Cena's act is so stale it's not even funny. I think they will eventually put the title on him, but it'll work out much the same as The Truth's title run on TNA's early shows. Which is to say not all that well.

 

Cena won't EVER be close to an Austin or Hogan...about all he could do is appeal to a niche audience a la ECW (namely wiggers and rap fans). One could also argue this same thing against RVD, but at least RVD can do "cocky heel asshole" in addition to "laid back stoner."

 

I mean come on...pushing a rapping wigger to the main event? That'd be like pushing the Road Dogg or something. Hell, at his peak in 1998 or so Roadie was probably just as over as Cena, if not more.

[Guest LooneyTune]

I know I would rather watch the New Age Outlaws in 1998 than Cena battle rapping people, and poorly, might I add. Real rappers would eat him up for lunch, crap him out, and make someone eat it again.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think Shelton Benjamin is the future of the WWE.

 

He does have areas where he could improve on(Cutting a good face promo, he has proven he can cut a good heel promo, but he does need improvement on cutting a face promo) but he still has alot of time.

 

He has already proven he is the better wrestler then the new crop of superstars(Orton, Cena, Batista, etc), and can get the crowd behind him in a match.

 

Charlie Haas is very underrated, and will be a future main eventer.

 

Batista is the next big man, and he will draw alot of money. The WWE has done a great job of building him up as a main eventer, hopefully he will co-main event this years Wrestlemania againest HHH, because thats what it looks like they are building for.

 

Randy Orton is alright, but he's kind of stale. When he was a heel he was on fire, he was turn face too soon. Now I think his character is just burnt out. They need to turn him heel ASAP. He is a main event wrestler tho.

 

John Cena, basically just read what I said about Orton.

[Blade2kxx 0]

Having watched SMDN tonight I have to note that Cena's act is so stale it's not even funny. I think they will eventually put the title on him, but it'll work out much the same as The Truth's title run on TNA's early shows. Which is to say not all that well.

 

Cena won't EVER be close to an Austin or Hogan...about all he could do is appeal to a niche audience a la ECW (namely wiggers and rap fans). One could also argue this same thing against RVD, but at least RVD can do "cocky heel asshole" in addition to "laid back stoner."

 

I mean come on...pushing a rapping wigger to the main event? That'd be like pushing the Road Dogg or something. Hell, at his peak in 1998 or so Roadie was probably just as over as Cena, if not more.

Actually, to try and defend TNA here...

 

The Truth had several things going for him, including being FUCKING ABSURDLY over when he became champion. It wasn't just his gimmick... his presence, his promos, his ringwork, and the fact that he was replacing a boring as anything champion made him over.

 

Killings > Cena, but that's something everyone knows.

 

As far as Cena goes, he needs to turn heel, but everyone knows that. Or at least he could attempt to add heel mannerisms to his repitoire again... I used to be insane for Cena as a heel, but when he turned face, his popularity with me dropped big time.

 

JBL > Cena, but everyone knows that too. At this point, keep JBL champ until SummerSlam because that's how long it'll take to rebuild Cena if they want him to be the guy to take it off of him... Unless HBK jumps.

 

HBK vs. JBL... that might not be a bad match.

[Kardo 0]

The more I think about a JBL/Cena feud, the more I like it. I don't think theres any other feud possibilities out there right now that gets my imagination going more.

Well what do you have in mind? *mark for RRR's booking*

[BrokenTiger 0]

He had the Killswitch. I don't know why he doesn't use it more often. It's almost like a blue thunder/bossman slam, starts off as a backbody drop, and ends up as some type of slam. It wasn't bad, but now he only uses it once every 4 months, and does it very slowly.

Did he perform this move on his first PPV match against Jericho? This was....sometime before his rapper gimmick, and he won after reversing the walls of Jericho. I seem to recall he did a move that resemble a titl-a-whirl-slam or something similar.

 

Back on topic: I would pick Benjamin over Cena as the future. But he's....in his late twenties, right? I hope he reach that next level of superstardom soon. Cena's current version of FU is so lame, even my housemate who's a casual mark can't buy it as a finisher.

[Nighthawk 0]

Shelton Benjamin's black, you know.

[Guest Trivia247]

despite the years he was the Prototype in OVW and then as himself ...sorta in the WWE. He is still relatively new at this. We can't be defining he career as hitting its peak yet in popularity or experience wise. Randy Savage went through his stages going through his Father's Fed, then through Memphis and a few years in the WWF before really hitting his stride.

 

John Cena's material and gimmick stuff may be staling, but that shouldn't be like the twilight of his career. He got plenty of time and energy left to come up with something different if the Rap gimmick sinks. Maybe spend more time learning or doing more wrestling moves.