LG
04-09-2013, 05:29 AM
As I'm sure everyone now knows, John Cena is the new WWE champion. While most people expected John Cena to win the WWE Championship match against The Rock at WrestleMania XXIX, many fans are not happy about it.
In fact, even though John Cena has not been WWE champion in about 18 months, if his character does not change, then he will be stale from day one.
Now before people start assuming that Cena needs to turn heel just to be interesting or relevant, that's not what this article is about. While a Cena heel turn would be shocking, amazing and exciting, it simply is not happening.
But pro wrestlers don't have to be corny or hokey to be faces. Edge never was. Batista never was. Stone Cold Steve Austin certainly never was.
But there is no indication that John Cena will even get a little edgy as a face. And actually, that may not be entirely a bad thing. Cena is so stale in his "Super Cena" character that entire arenas have started turning on him. Perhaps when week after week Cena gets booed out of arena after arena, WWE will have to take notice and make a change. It's a nice dream anyway.
Reality is that WWE will likely run Cena as the ultimate face until he retires. Which means that so long as Cena wrestlers for WWE, the hardcore fans that dislike him will be tormented.
But it's still stale. Minutes before this article was published, the live crowd of the IZOD Center chanted "same old sh*t" at John Cena. While that has been the cry of every member of the Internet Wrestling Community for years, an entire arena was chanting it.
Vince McMahon was likely not thrilled.
But Cena's act is stale for more reasons than just the fact that hardcore fans have been tired of him for some time. There are younger wrestlers looking to move up in the company. Wrestlers like Damien Sandow and Ryback are future superstars. But someone like Ryback, who fans are dying to explode for, can not quite reach that superstar status while Cena occupies the top spot.
But when talking about a stale wrestling character, one big aspect of being stale is lacking opponents. For all intents and purposes, Cena has beaten almost everyone he can beat. Earlier Monday night, we saw Ryback put a beatdown on Cena, but other than Ryback, who out there could challenge Cena that has not already?
The "Super Cena" character has essentially buried anyone and everyone Cena has encountered. Perhaps Ryback will be the one to finally take the top spot from Cena, but only time will tell.
Most importantly, though, is predictability. Cena is stale because everyone knows what he brings to the table. He has a limited move set but can put on a good match when paired with another good wrestler. But he wins. Always. So far this year, he has won (including earlier Monday night) 40 out of 41 matches he has been in. That is an absurd winning percentage (97.6 percent).
If Cena survives the nascent Ryback challenge, there is virtually no one to challenge him for his WWE Championship. Only The Rock, who will likely get a rematch at some point, could be reasonably expected to defeat Cena.
Like it or not, Cena is WWE champion. Unless Ryback takes it from him, we can expect more of the same old Cena. The same, stale, boring Cena. If Monday night's crowd was any indication, WWE fans are very restless. WWE would be wise to heed them.
br
In fact, even though John Cena has not been WWE champion in about 18 months, if his character does not change, then he will be stale from day one.
Now before people start assuming that Cena needs to turn heel just to be interesting or relevant, that's not what this article is about. While a Cena heel turn would be shocking, amazing and exciting, it simply is not happening.
But pro wrestlers don't have to be corny or hokey to be faces. Edge never was. Batista never was. Stone Cold Steve Austin certainly never was.
But there is no indication that John Cena will even get a little edgy as a face. And actually, that may not be entirely a bad thing. Cena is so stale in his "Super Cena" character that entire arenas have started turning on him. Perhaps when week after week Cena gets booed out of arena after arena, WWE will have to take notice and make a change. It's a nice dream anyway.
Reality is that WWE will likely run Cena as the ultimate face until he retires. Which means that so long as Cena wrestlers for WWE, the hardcore fans that dislike him will be tormented.
But it's still stale. Minutes before this article was published, the live crowd of the IZOD Center chanted "same old sh*t" at John Cena. While that has been the cry of every member of the Internet Wrestling Community for years, an entire arena was chanting it.
Vince McMahon was likely not thrilled.
But Cena's act is stale for more reasons than just the fact that hardcore fans have been tired of him for some time. There are younger wrestlers looking to move up in the company. Wrestlers like Damien Sandow and Ryback are future superstars. But someone like Ryback, who fans are dying to explode for, can not quite reach that superstar status while Cena occupies the top spot.
But when talking about a stale wrestling character, one big aspect of being stale is lacking opponents. For all intents and purposes, Cena has beaten almost everyone he can beat. Earlier Monday night, we saw Ryback put a beatdown on Cena, but other than Ryback, who out there could challenge Cena that has not already?
The "Super Cena" character has essentially buried anyone and everyone Cena has encountered. Perhaps Ryback will be the one to finally take the top spot from Cena, but only time will tell.
Most importantly, though, is predictability. Cena is stale because everyone knows what he brings to the table. He has a limited move set but can put on a good match when paired with another good wrestler. But he wins. Always. So far this year, he has won (including earlier Monday night) 40 out of 41 matches he has been in. That is an absurd winning percentage (97.6 percent).
If Cena survives the nascent Ryback challenge, there is virtually no one to challenge him for his WWE Championship. Only The Rock, who will likely get a rematch at some point, could be reasonably expected to defeat Cena.
Like it or not, Cena is WWE champion. Unless Ryback takes it from him, we can expect more of the same old Cena. The same, stale, boring Cena. If Monday night's crowd was any indication, WWE fans are very restless. WWE would be wise to heed them.
br