The Cena Problem...(Contains Raw Spoilers)

kronsington

ok, there is no doubt that john cena is one of the most pushed superstars in wwe history and is arguably, whether we like it or not, one of the most successful wwe champions of all time. of course, we all know that despite the fact that he is regarded as the top face in the company, he is pretty much booed by at least half the fans at every event. my question basically is this: what would you do with cena? would you turn him heel and if so, how would you do it? fair enough, he is the top merchandise seller going and is a huge favourite with females/kids, whereas most males of a certain age (over 20) seem to loathe him.. im just asking cos now that the draft is done and they have brought lashley over (and we know vince loves lashley,the black brock lesnar) how will this effect cena's position? and plus we will have hbk and hhh returning and also i cant see how long they will be able to keep kennedy as a heel. so, what do you think they will do with his character or will they do anything? i personally think he's been stale for about 2 years and something needs to be done. i admire him for putting up with the **** he does from fans and still have to be seen as a nice guy etc.. i dont envy the writers for wwe (even if they do make some stupifyingly bad choices for angles, gimmicks etc) in that the fans will always dictate the direction a wrestler will take ultimately.. anyway, lets hear what you think.

or, on a wider topic, what would you do in general if you were a wwe writer/booking agent? who deserves to be pushed? how to get carlito to step up? post all thoughts here!

ShawnRaven

Lashley would probs be turned heel before Cena, they're on to a money maker with Cena, they're not gonna let that slip, at least not yet. He's stale, yes, but so was Hogan but that didn't stop Vince from milking that cash cow for all it was worth. At the end of the day, it's money, it's business, it's generating!

I wouldnt get Carlito to step up to be honest, he's fine where he is. Push Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro on parallel pushes to the top (i'd have sooner Mercury but he f*cked it up again so Nitro will have to do) while slowly building Kennedy and MVP as the next generations main eventers.

VR!

Minto

I'd like to turn Cena heel. I'd prob have him lose the title and blame it on the fans. This would then lead to a feud with Kennedy or maybe Triple H, depending on if he is still face or not.

Mr.Nice Guy

I don't think it matters who they turn heel as in a few short months the top guy will be Vince's precious son-in-law and he shall notch up another title reign before the year is out.

gimmick

Spoilers Ffs.

Double C

I wouldn't call it a problem. I don't see the point of turning him heel yet anyway because as has been said, he's the biggest money maker in WWE. What I would do with him is take the emphasis off him a bit. Lashley is going to be the big babyface for the next year of so, so I can see him getting the title and Cena getting more involved with non title feuds (Orton, HHH, Kennedy etc).
Michaels won't be back for a good while and will probably take on a Undertaker type schedule when he does return. Triple H is the best heel WWE have (at their peak) so I can only see him lasting as a face for a short period, probably for this Orton feud that's being mentioned. I don't know what they will do with Kennedy though. I think he will be heel for a while after his comeback. They had been hinting at a Kennedy Lashley feud prior to Wrestlemania so they might get some mileage out of that.

In conclusion, Cena will be turned heel eventually, but I wouldn't rush into it.

fatal

Double C wrote:

In conclusion, Cena will be turned heel eventually, but I wouldn't rush into it.

Agreed...vince is going to put money before what the audience wants....EVERYTIME!!!I don't see it as a problem in the sense of the word.The WWE has bigger problems at this moment in time that it has to contend with(eg its growing injury list).
Dont expect to see John cena to turn heel anytime soon folks cos I think that you could be waiting quite a while;)

fatal

Double C wrote:

ITriple H is the best heel WWE have (at their peak) so I can only see him lasting as a face for a short period,

Again I would have to agree.No matter what happens,when HHH comes back he will be a face(look what happened when he returned the last time).He has himself said that he prefers the role of a heel.He does a bloody good job of it so im hoping that he will resume where he left off before reforming DX.
If that is the case there is no way that WWE are going to have two main eventers that are heel in HHH and Cena.That is just one more reason why I think that Cena won't be switching anytime soon.
Fozzy has said a few times recently that he is now able to at least put up with Cena as a face and his wrestling skills.I also feel the same way at this moment in time

validreasoning!

validreasoning! wrote:

Lashley would probs be turned heel before Cena, they're on to a money maker with Cena, they're not gonna let that slip, at least not yet. He's stale, yes, but so was Hogan but that didn't stop Vince from milking that cash cow for all it was worth. At the end of the day, it's money, it's business, it's generating!
VR!

Yeah i agree with you on this one. there are a few characters that i would use my creative energy on. Carlito Jeff Hardy, Mat Hardy and Chris Benoit. All these guys are great wrestlers and have a huge following. If half the work they have done with Cena was done with these guys, they would be huge.

You got to remember they ran with this Cena ball when they lost Lesnar. Lesnar could have been bigger then Hogan if he had stayed .

Fozzy

I'd agree with not turning Cena heel yet, but building up other guys as top faces. I don't see them turning Lashley heel before Cena though, because I think that would kill any of Lashley's momentum at the moment. Turning Cena heel would be huge, you can be guaranteed that he'd get some sort of reaction from everyone. The same can't be said of Lashley, at this point I just wouldn't care

If they can build up Lashley and make him credible, or if they put some effort into someone like...I can't think of anyone else who seems likely to be pushed as a main-event level face on Raw...then in a year's time I could see Cena turning heel. If they do a good job with Kennedy as a big time heel then they could turn him face to a big reaction around the same time as Cena

There's plenty of heels for Cena to get through til then though. Booker, Snitsky, Kennedy, Orton, HHH (eventually) and Shawn will be back by next year too. So there's no rush to do anything with him I think, as long as they're selling tickets to the shows and he's getting a reaction they won't take the risk

jongore

I'd leave Cena as is and have him fued with Kennedy, Cena is bringing in the $$$s so they don't want to change him, Kennedy has both the moves and the mic skills to be a credible opponent for Cena.

Moving Lashly is a mistake, he is terrible on the mic and will be overshadowed by many of the top talent on RAW, a year or 2 with ECW would have done him some good.

Gerard.C

Cena should change his character. I'm thinking along the lines of a bad ass guy in black trunks who listens to nobody and drinks alcahol sometimes. Dunno if it would get over though.....

Bounty Hunter

Gerard.C wrote:

Cena should change his character. I'm thinking along the lines of a bad ass guy in black trunks who listens to nobody and drinks alcahol sometimes. Dunno if it would get over though.....

are you serious! what you just said translates into turn Cena into Stone Cold to me.

as most people have said as long as he is bringing in huge cash WWE wont see the point in changing him but when other faces have been built up to near Cena like like face status then turn Cena heel. If done properly Cena's heel turn could be one of the biggest in a long time too

danyosan

Bounty Hunter wrote:

are you serious! what you just said translates into turn Cena into Stone Cold to me.

I think he was having a laugh....

slicus ricus

Gerard.C wrote:

Cena should change his character. I'm thinking along the lines of a bad ass guy in black trunks who listens to nobody and drinks alcahol sometimes. Dunno if it would get over though.....

LMFAO, that's f**king hillarious!

dlofnep

I remember when Cena first came in, slapped Angle across the face and put on a hell of a match. I actually expected something good out of him.. A new-age, stone-cold even. without the beer and what not. But now, they are just trying too hard to make people to like him and the fans don't like that. They like making their own decisions on who to like and who not to. That's why Stone Cold was so successful.

shatners basoon

Maybe instead of alcohol he could take crack with fame going to his head- that i'd like to see!

triple h

I want to see Cena lose, just had to say that first. Anyway, look at this from Cena's point of view for one minute 1)--he is pushed big time by the boss and he knows this--if you were pushed by vince like this, would you want him to stop pushing. and b)--when you are champion it's hard ( i know this)--everyone wants to see you lose your title, like the way most in here would love to see me lose my title.

MikeHoncho

shatners basoon wrote:

Maybe instead of alcohol he could take crack with fame going to his head- that i'd like to see!

I think Jake The Snake Roberts did that gimmick already.

ShawnRaven

dlofnep wrote:

I remember when Cena first came in, slapped Angle across the face and put on a hell of a match. I actually expected something good out of him.. A new-age, stone-cold even. without the beer and what not. But now, they are just trying too hard to make people to like him and the fans don't like that. They like making their own decisions on who to like and who not to. That's why Stone Cold was so successful.

I agree and i disagree here.
I agree the fans like to make their own decisions. Individuality is amazing, maybe with the exception of police lineups, but i wouldn't know anything about that.

Cena bombed before the rapper gimmick because there was no real reason to care about him. Months went by and he was no longer a rookie sensation. He was just plain old John Cena! There was no real reason to take notice of him anymore, until he did the Vanilla Ice impersonation towards the end of the year. Vinny Mac thought it was the funniest thing ever and stuck him with the gimmick.

Cena now, they're not trying too hard. In fact, they're not trying at all. He's a natural money maker. Kids love him, kids have parents in tow, therefore double the ticket price! Kids whine for merch, parents have money, parents buy merch to shut the brats up!

It's the classic 10 year old and the new soccer strip coming out the following year syndrome. He makes money, fact. And Vince is a businessman.

VR!

MikeHoncho

validreasoning! wrote:

I agree and i disagree here.
I agree the fans like to make their own decisions. Individuality is amazing, maybe with the exception of police lineups, but i wouldn't know anything about that.

Cena bombed before the rapper gimmick because there was no real reason to care about him. Months went by and he was no longer a rookie sensation. He was just plain old John Cena! There was no real reason to take notice of him anymore, until he did the Vanilla Ice impersonation towards the end of the year. Vinny Mac thought it was the funniest thing ever and stuck him with the gimmick.

Cena now, they're not trying too hard. In fact, they're not trying at all. He's a natural money maker. Kids love him, kids have parents in tow, therefore double the ticket price! Kids whine for merch, parents have money, parents buy merch to shut the brats up!

It's the classic 10 year old and the new soccer strip coming out the following year syndrome. He makes money, fact. And Vince is a businessman.

VR!

Spot on VR.

Its also important to remember that the Internet Wrestling Fan isnt the average fan. The average fan loves Cena. They dont care about the inner workings of the business or who deserves a "push" etc. To be honest with you I would struggle to think who actually deserves the top babyface spot at the moment. With all the injurys Cena is the only man for that job. I hate HHH as a face so dont want to see him in that spot. Lashley cant cut it. Maybe Kennedy when he gets back but I think they should try and keep him heel to feud with Cena. That would be an awesome feud the tweener face vs the tweener heel knid of thing could be really interesting with all the smarks fully behind Kennedy and all the average joe fans behind Cena.

ShawnRaven

And as flavahaj has pointed out, his matches have nowhere been as mediocre as they have been in previous years. What mainly used to bug me was that every week for weeks on end his music started the f*ckin show. I'm sorry but his intro music is some of the most depressing out there. And the ****ing trumpets are annoying as hell.

HHH is actually quite funny as a face but his niche is definitely as a heel. Although i can see him working a lighter schedule now that he has two patched proverbial tyres. He had to change his style with the extra bulk on one patched tyre in 2002, so god knows what two bogey knees will limit him to.

I think also in time Kennedy will make a great face, he's got the mic skill, if he has wit and cunning as well, it will work. Remember, Rock sucked donkey dick on the mic for his first year too. It's a learning curve him. But he's nowhere near ready for face yet. He's still on the injured list anyway.

VR!