Where does Cena go from here?

[Swiss Ultimate]

If you're reading this before watching Wrestlemania you deserve to have the match spoiled.

Ahem. I was legitimately surprised by this outcome. I was certainly not in the minority that guessed a Rock victory. I actually thought about Rock Bottom and the sheer enjoyment he must have gotten watching it.

I remember watching the finish and thinking that the WWE gave the fans what they wanted to see. The still popular Rock defeating the invincible and much-hated Cena. There were moments where one could see the seeds planted for an eventual heel turn on Cena's part and the match leaves me more than a little confused in terms of the evolution of Cena's character.

On the one hand a Cena win would have been "good for the business" ie. elevating in kayfabe their top guy, however right now their top guy is frequently booed as a face. If he had won what would that have meant for the problem with adult male fans? They'd still hate him, maybe even hate him worse now than before. It seems like Cena winning would have only worked if the match itself had that quality that Rock/Hogan and Austin/Hart had. Even carrying the match on his back, Cena did not win over the fans.

Losing here prompts a change. For the first time in a long time I'm going to be watching Raw tonight. I want to know where we go from here and I can't predict where the WWE creative team is going to take us.

Would like your thoughts and input.

[DAMN iNATOR]

To hell.

[/thread]

[Blakeamus]

I don't really know what they have planned for Cena after the outcome of WM, but I believe we might see a transition towards a lack of confidence in himself. He hasn't won big key matches that was a MUST for him since MITB against CM Punk.

[James Steele]

Honestly, this should begin the slow heel turn. I was hoping if Cena won it would be by not being able to put The Rock away and the fans going nuts for each kickout and making Cena "snap" ala Austin at WMX7 and just beat the fuck out of him with a chair until it makes the fans uncomfortable to watch what is going on. Obviously, with how HHH/Taker went that finish wasn't a viable option but they could have done something where he finally just did something uncomfortably violent in order to beat The Rock. This might be better as they made sure to emphasize "Cena had him beat, but he tried to rub salt in the wounds and got caught."

Cena slowly turning heel could be the way to go because it will "ween" the kiddos/MILFs off of him and maybe stretch it until SummerSlam when he finally full-fledge turns heel. The problem with Cena is that you might just swap the reactions he gets if he is a "cool heel" or "badass heel" as the people who boo him will start cheering him and the kids will boo him. I just wonder what kind of character tweaks can they give Cena where he has no redeemable qualities.

[Rock Bottom]

John Cena is on his way out/down. There really is not much else left to even do with him. He's beaten everybody, been beaten by everybody, feuded with everybody, and bored everybody. Unless they turn him heel, which has been discussed countless times, he has nothing left. John Cena's out of gas.

I'm going to pay more attention to what they'll be doing with CM Punk, Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler.

[Swiss Ultimate]

One thing...I don't think Rock and Cena are done with eachother.

[Tommy Gunn]

You don't really get any bigger an opponent than The Rock, unless Cena faces Taker at WM29, so yeah I agree Cena is on his way down. Cue a summer of passing of the torch matches.

[#BROKEN Hasney]

Mentioned in the 100k replies about how I want Cena to have self-doubt, start questioning himself and choke in the big PPV matches for a while. I think that could freshen up his character if they don't want to turn him.

[Rock Bottom]

I actually thought about Rock Bottom and the sheer enjoyment he must have gotten watching it.

I did all my celebrating weeks before the match by posting random dog shit in the main thread. I am more surprised at how many people did not see it coming than anything else.

On the one hand a Cena win would have been "good for the business" ie. elevating in kayfabe their top guy, however right now their top guy is frequently booed as a face.

A lot of people consider it "smart business" to give Cena the win at Wrestlemania without considering a few things, like what that would do to Cena's character, the fact that The Rock is 10x the star that John Cena is, and the fact that The Rock is not a full-time wrestler.

In contrast to the actual topic, I would like someone to explain to me why it would have been "good business" to job Rock out to Cena last night, and what it could possibly do for the WWE. Cena's fresh again with a big push by beating The Rock. Great! What's next?

Maybe he can take the title from CM Punk, who already beat him last year and is having a great run! Wait, that makes no sense.

Maybe he can go beat The Miz! Oh wait, no one would care.

Alberto Del R- Hmm, no?

Maybe we'll bring The Rock back next year to feud with someone else, like CM Punk? Oh, wait, Rock's already lost to John Cena. Hmmm!

What else is there, really? I'm certainly not against drawing this feud out longer, if they can pull it off. It will be very dangerous to try to build this match again, especially for another year. If it can be done without boring the fuck out of people, and The Rock only popping in when he can make time, as well as John Cena actually even making any more impact in the wrestling business, by all means - give John Cena the victory.

As much as this might scare some people? You might keep an eye out for the Rock actually becoming the WWE champion, and returning to a day where the biggest stars only wrestle a few times a year. I don't really think this will happen very soon, but it might down the road.

Let's think of it this way.

You're Vince McMahon. A mega star from the attitude era, who is now a movie star and only getting more famous comes back to the WWE to do some programs. Are you really thinking of who you're going to job him out to, and putting over John Cena? Or are you thinking of how you could possibly benefit the most from this mega star?

[Lock Jaw]

Posted this in the other thread but...

I would have said that it leads to Cena turning "quasi-heel" and going nuts because he is supposed to be "the man", and he fights day in and day out... and then he goes and gets beat by a guy who hasn't wrestled in nine years.

Pushes him over the edge and he "snaps". Does not become a badass submission machine, though.

Anyways...

That's what I would have said was going to happen. Had Cena not debuted a new T-Shirt. Now he has to stay as he is in order to sell the T-Shirt. So he is probably just gonna come out on RAW, do a cheesy smile, tell some jokes at his own expense, and then say he now respects The Rock.

[MoFo]

He looked devestated on the ramp after the match, like close to tears.

I read that Prince Albert is gonna feud with him but you cant really go from The Rock to Prince Albert :lol:

[Lock Jaw]

Really, the new T-Shirt has RUINED all possibilities. Spoiler T-Shirt.

[Hanso Amore]

The thing here is this...a slow turn might not be the best idea considering his key demos. Kiddies are going to love him unless something major is done, and they dont have the patience or attention span to really stick with a several month long story. Hes pretty much going to have to heel it up in one big swerve, kind of like Rocky did in Toronto.

Show up, insult fans, do heelish things, abandon Hustle Loyalty and Respect and drop his gear.

[Rock Bottom]

I hope/wish they get Lesnar back. You could have Lesnar come drop a duke on The Rock again, and have Cena beat Lesnar.

[itsmeJD]

I think this is a simple answer. Have John Cena come out tonight and be interviewed by Jerry Lawler, only to snap and become a loner submission machine. Isn't this always the answer?

[Jordan]

I hope/wish they get Lesnar back. You could have Lesnar come drop a duke on The Rock again, and have Cena beat Lesnar.

:y:

[BizarroKing]

While the T-Shirt may be a factor in a possible heel turn, i could still see it being done.

With Rocky leaving, continuing the storyline might be troublesome, though there is talk about doing a rematch at Summerslam. Here's how I'd do it...

-Tonight on Raw, have Cena try to cut a promo about last night's loss. He picks up the mic...tries to speak....but then looks sad....and drops the mic, then leaves...
-Lord Tensai debuts at some point and unless they have him feud with Orton instead, Cena is apparently requested to give Tensai a challenge for his debut. Cena gives it his all in the match but apparently the loss at Rocky's hand crippled his confidence and costs him the match.
-Next night on Raw, he loses to someone like, Jack Swagger or even some random jobber, in a fluke. This is his breaking point and makes Cena snap. Following the loss he attacks his foe and basically destroys him, then does likewise to the ref. he does this for a while unless wwe, in storyline, decides to suspend him to keep him off TV to give him a rest.
-Summer comes around, The Rock is visiting and sure enough, John wants a rematch. He points out how he destroyed his foes recently and then after some build-up on the Raws following this, beats The Rock at Summerslam....after that....?

[Mr. Nerfect]

On RAW, John Cena is confirmed to be a part of the 10-Man Tag Team Match in the main event. We get CM Punk, Sheamus, John Cena, Randy Orton & Big Show against Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, The Miz, Kane & Cody Rhodes, or something.

Cena opens the show with an apology. Last night, he needed to win against The Rock to prove that he is "The Man" carrying this generation of performers, but he lost, and he can make excuses but that's never been his style. Last night, he choked -- it's as simple as that. Daniel Bryan comes out and says "You think your loss was a tragedy? I wasn't even ready for my match! The referee should have never rung the bell, therefore I should still be the World Heavyweight Champion. I'm officially announcing my plans to appeal the result of WrestleMania XXVIII, and I hope that the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and the esteemed General Manager of both RAW and SmackDown! takes my appeal into consideration."

Bryan then gets in the ring and gets blitzed by a sudden Cena attack. This is to show that Cena is on edge after Mania, and not about to put up with anyone's shit.

In the main event, we get one of those fun multi-man tag team main events, with Daniel Bryan getting some ring time for a change. Everything is going sweet right up until Cena nails Punk with an Attitude Adjustment out of nowhere. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler have no idea what is going on. Daniel Bryan (the legal man) then crawls into the cover and manages to pin the WWE Champion. Yeah, it's a lot of Daniel Bryan, but I think if he is going to continue to feud with Sheamus, then they'll need to give him some credibility. If you don't want it to be Bryan, give the pin to Cody Rhodes, bouncing back from his Intercontinental Title loss.

Cena reveals the next week that it was nothing personal against Punk. He just needs to remind everyone that he is that guy, and that he should be carrying the WWE Championship since he carries this company on his back. Punk is all "You could have just asked, John." And then we get Punk vs. Cena in Chicago again, with Cena playing a more unpredictable role (not a heel).

[Swiss Ultimate]

BK, I liked it up until "-Summer comes around, The Rock is visiting and sure enough, John wants a rematch. He points out how he destroyed his foes recently and then after some build-up on the Raws following this, beats The Rock at Summerslam....after that....? "

[Tommy Gunn]

John Cena now kind of feels like Hulk Hogan in 1994/95, stale and in desperate need of an nWo type character rebirth.

[Nicky Fives]

I'd rather see him go make movies in Hollywood and have Rock stay.....

[BizarroKing]

BK, I liked it up until "-Summer comes around, The Rock is visiting and sure enough, John wants a rematch. He points out how he destroyed his foes recently and then after some build-up on the Raws following this, beats The Rock at Summerslam....after that....? "

That's where I'm lost. If they continue the feud with Rocky, but if he's not scheduled for a while until say, the summer, then that's where I don't know what direction they're in. Probably just more build-up like they did prior to their mania encounter except with Cena going crazy on some faces and heels now. And once their SS match (if it happens) is over, I want to assume maybe just have a random feud with someone until have WWE has rubber match at Survivor Series if possible to end it once and for all.

And again, The Rock parts are IF WWE wants to keep the feud up and I have a feeling they will.

[Arashi Kage]

I haven't watched RAW in approximately 3 years, lol. I think that I'll actually tune in tonight to see if anything interesting happens.

[ClockShot]

I really can't say. I was running scenarios in my head today to see how they would spin this.

Cena comes out and and begs the kiddies for forgiveness. I'm assuming they're at the AA arena in Miami so Team Bring-It will be out in full force and boo the hell out of him. Somebody, I don't know who, Johnny Ace, Lord Tensai, some other guy comes out to interupt and gives him the "you talked the talk, walked the walk, and still couldn't get the job done" spheel.

The thing I'm having trouble with is what's after this. Only thing I can only see is putting him up against 'Taker at 'Mania 29 for the streak. But what if he calls it a career between now and then? I certainly don't wanna see him in a title hunt, Punk's doing a hell of a job with that right now.

[GD]

http://gifninja.com/animatedgifs/105437/smackdown.gif

[Crimson]

I think it woulda been perfect for him to just go awol after losing last night and pummel Rock down. And today just say he lost it and apologize..but then have it be like a reoccurence.

Idk..it'll be interesting to see. There's no way he is on his way down though wtf

[BizarroKing]

I think it woulda been perfect for him to just go awol after losing last night and pummel Rock down. And today just say he lost it and apologize..but then have it be like a reoccurence.

Idk..it'll be interesting to see. There's no way he is on his way down though wtf

https://twitter.com/#!/WWEInsider/status/186959548144287744

Hmm...

[Rock Bottom]

As much as this might scare some people? You might keep an eye out for the Rock actually becoming the WWE champion, and returning to a day where the biggest stars only wrestle a few times a year. I don't really think this will happen very soon, but it might down the road.

lol

[BizarroKing]

We never considered this?

http://www.sportressofblogitude.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/tna-eliminate-the-hate.jpg

[Rock Bottom]

I love you.

[Shisen Kopf]

Cena should come out and tell the fans that he's had it with the WWE and as he's in Florida he's gonna join a different promotion. The future of rasslin' the OCW! Seriously though jus turn him heel already. It's long overdue and he is as stale now as hogan was in 96.

[Savio]

CENA GOES TO FUCKING LESNAR!

[Rock Bottom]

I have to say that the WWE pushing Cena down everyone's throats for so long is paying them dividends now. Cena is such a fucking heel, and to little kids, he's still a hero. Now that the bulldozers have arrived (Rock and Lesnar), we all get to watch the Cena trollface get torn off of his skull. Fucking amazing.

I think Cena knows this too. Which is why, if it turns out to be this way, and he's on his way down with so much heat, it will completely change my opinion of him. I'm probably going to look back and say that Cena was the biggest heel babyface ever. If Cena had any idea what was going to happen a year, or even months ahead of time with the direction of this whole thing, he played his part so well.

It's just unfortunate for him that his part is being a boring sack of ugly dog shit.

[Fox]

It's a very interesting situation in the WWE right now, which it hasn't been in a long time.

Ever since his reign of supremacy started back at WrestleMania 21, John Cena has always been treated as the unbeatable best. He beat Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge, Big Show - the list goes on and on. John Cena got beat at WrestleMania by The Rock, and then F5'd by Brock Lesnar the very next night. Never has John Cena looked so weak as he does right now.

It's my hope that this brings about some kind of increase of intensity for Cena's character. For too long he's been the smiling, joking, happy go lucky Cena, who comes out and cracks jokes about his opponents with a big grin on his face. I'd love to see him start to realize that he needs to pick his game up and take things more seriously if he wants to be "the guy" in the WWE.

I think he needs to beat The Rock. Rocky got his big win in his home town at WrestleMania, and now Cena needs his win as well. With Rocky stating his desire to go after the WWE Championship one more time, I'd love to see Rock win the title before Summerslam and then have him defend against Cena at the second biggest show of the year. Cena gets his win, the two shake hands on RAW, and Cena gets focused for Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 29.

I don't think they need to turn him heel and make him snap and become a submission machine - they just need to add some intensity and aggression to his character. Getting humiliated by Rock and Lesnar and pushing the idea that Cena isn't as good as the old guard of WWE main eventers would be the perfect way to evolve Cena's character. He has to embrace the hate a little bit in order to be the best.

If they do turn him full on heel, I think this is the time to do it. CM Punk, The Rock and Brock Lesnar can more than make up for the merch sales losses they would experience after a Cena heel turn. Little kids like The Rock and Brock Lesnar, too.

[James Steele]

The only problem is when Cena tries to be "angry", "aggressive", or "intense"...he looks like a fucking idiot:

http://i388.photobucket.com/albums/oo324/Tyrol3/roflbot-3.jpg

http://images5.fanpop.com/image/photos/28700000/Angry-Cena-john-cena-28736848-686-384.jpg

http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/001/517/507/JohnCena10_display_image.jpg?1320349426

http://www.wrestling-match.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/04.jpg

Always has and always will. He can't do anything subtly.

[Swiss Ultimate]

I would enjoy a heel turn where he still gives mouth service to being a good guy, but starts just being unsportsmanlike. It'd be interesting.

Still got no clue what they're planning.

[Mr. C]

The Rock vs. WWE Champion John Cena at WrestleMania 29. Cena gets his win back. I can picture Brock Lesnar destroying Cena, which sets him on the path toward his heel turn after his second consecutive major loss all the way until WrestleMania, where Rock puts Cena over and returns the favor.

[DLVH84]

First The Rock, now Brock Lesnar, who's after that...Bill Goldberg? Bobby Lashley? Batista?

[Lock Jaw]

It's Sting

[owenbrown]

John Cena and WWE Champion should never be used in the same sentence ever again

[Rock Bottom]

John Cena and WWE Champion should never be used in the same sentence ever again

This.

How obvious can it get at this point?

[Swiss Ultimate]

The only way it's worth putting the belt on Cena again is if he's a tweener/face with the fans 100% behind him again. This entire angle has got to result in Cena getting over again.