The John Cena poll

[Xero]

I'm sure I'll echo many in this thread, but I respect Cena. I respect everything he does, and have said this for years. He wrestles a full-time scheduel, including house shows and TV every week. All the while he (sometimes) films a movie AND does all his Make a Wish appearances. As well as his PR work. I've said it before and will say it again, he is the absolutely best face of the company they've ever had, when it comes to coming across professional and doing as much as he does for the media.

When it comes down to what I don't like, it all comes down to his gimmick and, honestly, his wrestling. His gimmick is just tired to me, as well as way too immature and not serious at all. Also, no one ever really gets the upper hand on Cena for more than a week or two. That vastly hurts him, and is one thing that has hurt him in the eyes of casual fans and "smart" fans alike.

As for his wrestling, his matches are just too repetitive to me. Yes, you can say that "every wrestler does xyz spot". I'm not talking about the fabled "five moves of doom". It's fun to use it as a joke, but obviously Cena has more than five moves. He's no where near as limited as some claim. But it's more about his lack of selling and especially that his matches are completely formulaic.

How many times have you seen this match with Cena? Cena gets beat down for 1/2 the match, starts to make a comeback, but it's thwarted. He's then beat down again until the finish, when he fires up and does his Five Moves of Doom, all the while completely ignoring any offense that was put on him.

I'm just so tired of his matches being so formulaic. And in terms of his selling, I don't know if Cena's lack of awareness or that he's actually told to go out and work it like that.

I do think Cena could be a lot better than he's allowed to be. It's just that his current gimmick and booking calls for the Superman bullshit.

He also needs to be more serious in promos and other situations. I've seen many times where it's called for and he's just saying stupid shit or completely no-selling the other guy. Which is fine and dandy for once in a while, but it happens too often. I'm not saying get rid of his silly shit, I'm just saying tone it way down and let him be more serious. This, along with changing his Superman bullshit, would go a long way in improving his buyability.

Honestly, I think we'll see another side of Cena once the Rock feud is going full force. WWE knows what they have with that, and they know they can't get away with Cena's usual booking. We'll see a more mature, serious Cena in this program than we've possibly ever seen with Cena. If not, it will take A LOT away from the match, for me at least. If I see the goofy, bordering on TV-Y Cena in the ring cutting promos with Rock it's going to be hard to buy Cena at all in the match.

[XL]

Originally Posted by Xero But it's more about his lack of selling and especially that his matches are completely formulaic. How many times have you seen this match with Cena? Cena gets beat down for 1/2 the match, starts to make a comeback, but it's thwarted. He's then beat down again until the finish, when he fires up and does his Five Moves of Doom, all the while completely ignoring any offense that was put on him. I'm just so tired of his matches being so formulaic. And in terms of his selling, I don't know if Cena's lack of awareness or that he's actually told to go out and work it like that. I do think Cena could be a lot better than he's allowed to be. It's just that his current gimmick and booking calls for the Superman bullshit.

My thoughts exactly.

Surely someone, an agent, a respected veteran, hell, Vince himself should pull him aside and "set him straight". The fact that that hasn't happened (or at least appears not to have) is down to management.

I believe that EVERY issue people take with Cena is fixable but Vince doesn't wanna change anything. If ain't broke, don't fix it. And as far as the kids are concerned, it ain't broke.