YankeesHoganTripleHFan sent in a question regarding Cena as the true Superman.
Well, I think a lot of WWE no longer receiving negative press is because they're strictly PG. If you don't include the death of wrestlers, then the only reason the WWE received any negative press in the last 15 years is because of the "envelope pushing" that they were doing. Of course, having Cena has a figure head for this whole era is an important thing. A franchise has to have it's break-out star. Happy Days wouldn't have survived without The Fonz, X-Men the film series wouldn't have been as popular without Wolverine, and The Big Bang Theory wouldn't be so popular without it's pathetic writing & canned laughter.
For the record, I love Cena. Sure, his character is a bore, but I could careless. I don't watch Raw or Smackdown, so the only exposure I have to Cena are when he goes out and has consistent ***+ matches with just about everyone he steps in the ring with. Plus he's a true genetic freak in the weight room, and that's a quick way to my respect.
The John Cena question about where he ranks all time got me to thinking...I may actually be the only wrestling fan out there that is pretty much indifferent to Cena. Don't love him, don't hate him. But where you have to give in credit is this...
After the deaths of Guerrero and especially Beniot the WWE's image was in shambles. I was viewing from afar from that point and I really thought the company might die. As the face of the company it was largely on Cena's shoulder's to try and repair that image being it with his on screen character or his work with Make a Wish, and the Troops or whatever. And guess what? To a large degree it's succeeded. I don't hear a lot of negative stories about the WWE anymore. They are featured on sites Grantland, ESPN.com, and Bleacher Report in a mostly positive light. When they had Wrestlemania at Giant Stadium, (I refuse to call it that other name,) the biggest NJ paper had articles in the sports section all week leading up to the event, again mostly positive. Hell the Governor did the voice over for the intro. Like him or not I really think that Cena had a lot to do with that. What say you?
Well, I think a lot of WWE no longer receiving negative press is because they're strictly PG. If you don't include the death of wrestlers, then the only reason the WWE received any negative press in the last 15 years is because of the "envelope pushing" that they were doing. Of course, having Cena has a figure head for this whole era is an important thing. A franchise has to have it's break-out star. Happy Days wouldn't have survived without The Fonz, X-Men the film series wouldn't have been as popular without Wolverine, and The Big Bang Theory wouldn't be so popular without it's pathetic writing & canned laughter.
For the record, I love Cena. Sure, his character is a bore, but I could careless. I don't watch Raw or Smackdown, so the only exposure I have to Cena are when he goes out and has consistent ***+ matches with just about everyone he steps in the ring with. Plus he's a true genetic freak in the weight room, and that's a quick way to my respect.
I think most objective wrestling fans feel the same away about Cena...indifferent mixed with boredom. As YankeesHoganTripleHFan pointed out, he's had a big impact and was a necessity at the time he became a star. He's almost become a necessary evil at this point.
ReplyDeleteI'm also very indifferent to Cena, I respect the hell out of him for what he has done with Make a Wish, troops, etc. He has his moments as a worker when with the right opponent / angle. I still beat the drum that he is in desperate need of a heel turn. Not turning him goes against all wrestling logic. Cena would be freshened up and might actually get cheered when he turned face. I understand little kids like him, but ultimately Dad is usually the one who makes the decision to go to shows, buy the PPV, buy shirts, etc. The Cena heel turn is the one big ace in the hole angle WWE has left. Fans shouldn't be indifferent to the top star, which clearly Cena is.
ReplyDelete"Plus he's a true genetic freak in the weight room, and that's the quickest way to my respect" Caliber as a fellow fitness buff I would love to know your thoughts on Batista, (for the record I loved Batista.)
ReplyDeleteCena is off the charts in weight room. His 2007 DVD showed him incline pressing the 140s like it was nothing, and he could massive weight on the squat rack and still maintain perfect form.
ReplyDeletethree letters as to WHY Cena will never turn to the dark side-NWO
ReplyDeleteI feel the same toward Peyton Manning as I do John Cena. Great guy, super talented, occasionally brilliant, but I like my white-bread a little tangier, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI think it's rather far fetched that he is not on HGH, much like the entire NFL.
ReplyDelete"I could careless"
ReplyDeleteSo much wrong.
I love cena. I've enjoyed him since he came to raw doing the chain gang thing. Theres at least a half dozen guys I like more but he's still great. I'd walk around naked before I'd wear cena clothes but still he's great.
ReplyDeleteAnd cal, the big bang theory line was classic Buddy
y isit dat sooo many posters' are provin to b sooo ilitirite dese dayz?
ReplyDeleteHuked on fonicks werks fer meee..
ReplyDeleteI can do that but I don't wanna...
ReplyDeleteCena is a big reason why I got back into wrestling in 2005. I don't hate him now as much as I'm just incredibly bored with him. He's been The Guy for almost a decade now and I got tired of it all around 2007-2008. They way they portray him now doesn't help matters.
ReplyDeleteI'd say the biggest problem with turning him heel would be they would need to find a replacement in the top babyface/icon/spokesman role going forward, and they haven't established anyone to do that.
ReplyDeleteThe Bleacher Report? They have the worst wrestling 'writers' on the Internet
ReplyDelete" Plus he's a true genetic freak in the weight room." I have to call bullshit on this. Since his anti-Braun twitter photo-posting, there's been many respectable people in the business who've debunked this in the past week alone.
ReplyDeleteBig Bang Theory's laughter isn't all "canned" and that's a real misnomer.
ReplyDeleteBig Bang Theory is shot in front of a live studio audience (given its multicam setup) and most of the audience laughter is genuine. Of course like all shows that go through post production, I'm sure audio is sweetened in some respects, but the laughter is not canned and it's mostly inaccurate for you to say that.
What is your obsession with not liking this show?
Which is funny because Caliber is NOT a genetic freak.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny and Caliber's potshots are starting to get tired.
ReplyDeleteIt's not as well written as Winfeld's PPV reviews and Cucchhjnia"s book reviews.
ReplyDeleteBTW just to point out once again, Caliber thought the nWo were really fighting WCW for real to really take over Nitro WHEN HE WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL.
I personally think the show stinks (just a stereotype filled, safe, trite and dull show), but I still agree with you.
ReplyDeleteIt's not an especially clever bit and the show isn't horrifically bad enough to really justify the jokes.
I mean, if somebody is funny about it, they could make fun of some of my favorite things of all time. But Caliber is like "This match is as bad as tBBT". That's not funny.
Cena shouldn't be compared to Manning; Manning lost for ages and has a sibling hovering over his shoulder that has done more in his few short years in the league that Manning has done in over a decade
ReplyDeleteThe Big Bang Theory wouldn't be so popular without it's pathetic writing & canned laughter.
ReplyDeleteCaliber, your favourite show is Married With Child and you're criticising a show over canned laughter?
I read that as Hulked on Phonics for a minute. Now I really want Hulk Hogan to teach people how to read. This seems like a better use of his time than TNA.
ReplyDeleteBTW, since you pride yourself on critiquing other's writing, you might want to know that the phrase is not " I could careless." It's not even "I could care less." You see, if you don't care at all that John Cena is boring, then you COULDN'T care less. If you COULD care less, it would mean you DO care that John Cena is boring. It's a common mistake idiots make.
ReplyDeleteIf he's not, he will be as he gets older. To keep his "look" and to keep from physically falling to pieces. Cena is not a "big" guy. He's six feet tall, but he looks like he could rip my head off and throw it into the upper deck without breaking a sweat. I don't think HGH is a big deal for wrestlers, so I don't care one way or another.
ReplyDeleteI don't hate Cena at all. He's hard working, has a good attitude, and has decent to good matches all the time for years now. He is stale now, but I don't hate him.
ReplyDeleteMarried With Children is a billion times better than Big Bang Theory.
ReplyDeleteNo one is indifferent to Cena - he routinely gets the biggest or second biggest reactions.
ReplyDeleteI disagree, as Married...With Children hung on for way too long, and became a parody of itself toward the end.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed that line about Big Bang Theory, much more than I have ever enjoyed anything from the show itself. I really loathe it.
ReplyDeleteThere was a great Futurama episode where Leela falls in love with an alien (Alzaar or similar) and they do a short Married . . . With Children parody where Al was sitting on a couch and Leela comes in dressed as Peg and they throw in a bunch innuendos and a horrible canned crowd.
ReplyDeleteJust curious, what's that about, with respect to the latter part of your post?
ReplyDelete