Quote:
Originally Posted by Heyman
In my opinion, the BIGGEST thing that the WWE has going for them, is how the fans react to John Cena when he faces high profile opponents in big match atmospheres.
Think about it:
-Wrestlemania 22: John Cena vs. Triple H
-ECW One Night Stand 2006: John Cena vs. RVD
-Wrestlemania 23: John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels
Even when John Cena fought Jericho a few times in 2005, Cena was garnering HUGE crowd reactions (and yes - I realize that even though Cena was supposed to be a face, he was getting SPECTACULAR boo's!). This is the part where I will disagree with lots of people:
While most people will be disturbed at how much negativity surrounds Cena in high profile matches (because he's supposed to be a face), I think it's great.....far and away the BEST thing the WWE has going for them right now.
And for this reason, I think the WWE should continue to shove Cena down the fans' throats. Have Cena get into feuds with the likes of Undertaker, Batista, Triple H, Austin, Hogan, and The Rock. Now obviously - Cena should job in a few of these matches (to prevent predictability), but ultimately....Cena should ALWAYS win the last match in his respective feuds with them.
I don't know how long it would take Cena to feud with all of the aforementioned men (1 year? 1.5 years?). Assuming that Cena has gone over ALL of these guys, THEN you can have guys from the new era (i.e. Kennedy, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, etc.) feuding against Cena (by that time, these guys might be ready for the main-event level).
The main point I want to make, is that the WWE should milk Cena for all he's worth. Having Cena face crap opponents like Khali and Umaga won't do it. Cena's the WWE's meal ticket. Give him high profile opponents, and let him go over all in the end. The fans can react however they want.
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But isn't this kind of a lazy mindset? "Let's keep shoving Cena down the fans' throats because they boo the shit out of him when he's in main events, but at least they're reacting somehow"?
What about his boring, uninteresting promos filled with lame jokes? What about his lack of a good work rate and the predictability of his matches, pretty much from start to end?
And I don't think it was just the "big match" atmosphere that got people so into his matches with Triple H, RVD and HBK. I think it was the fact that everyone wanted to see him drop the belt; they wanted to see him lose. Sure he's drawing some kind of reaction from the fans because they're booing him constantly, but it's the wrong kind of heat for your #1 babyface.
Guys like Stone Cold, The Rock, Mick Foley and, at a time, Chris Jericho, never had this problem. They cut interesting and entertaining promos, their feuds were something of note, and the matches still had "big match" atmospheres around them because they were so over.
I think the question is, should WWE keep pushing Cena because he IS their only reaction-drawer, or should WWE focus on pushing other superstars (i.e. CM Punk) who seem to be getting natural face pops, AS FACES. I think the answer is clear, but the WWE has dug such a deep, dark hole with John Cena as their posterboy, it's really going to be a strugggle to get out.