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In Defense of John Cena Poopy Promos

Hey Scott,

Just a quick thought, Cena (or by extension WWE booking) gets a lot of heat for being very flippant about challenges and losing and not booking main events seriously. I agree for the most part.

HOWEVER, considering this is a weekly show we're talking about, wouldn't treating main events that way every time have eventually gotten monotonous?  To wit, HHH. No one could every accuse him of not treating every title match like it was Clash of the Titans and that led to the classic, "I, uhhhhhhh, am, uhhhhhhhh, the Game,uhhhh" promos that got insanely boring, in part, because, for the most part, everyone knew HHH was winning one way or the other.

Obviously, Cena has the same problem. We know how Cena vs. X, for the most part, is going to turn out. Argue about the merit of Super Cena at another time, but the writers know Vince wants Cena to win, so Cena wins, so everyone knows Cena's going to win. So why not keep the dial at 6 or 7 until it's time for 11? If given a Strawman choice between constant Super Serious and constant Super Cena, I imagine most people are likely to pick the later. In any event, Cena has the capability to turn on the heat when it's important. So why not keep things light until it's time to get heavy?

Thanks

​The problem is that he never does get heavy.  And he's shrugged off some of the biggest potential money-drawing angles ever, like the Brock match in 2012 and the Nexus angle, just to name two.  It's great that he has the ability to pull out a money promo when he needs to, but he rarely does and it makes it all the more frustrating when you want to like him but just can't because his primary method of building up a big grudge match is to show badly photoshopped baby pictures or something equally silly.  ​

Comments

  1. John, if you don't have anything clever to say, don't say anything at all.

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  2. What bugs me is that John is an intelligent guy but still does these things. He has earned the right to say no to shitty (no pun intended) promo material but he rarely does.

    If he showed the fire that he's displayed during this Owens angle with his other programs over the years, he wouldn't be so hated.

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  3. Well to be fair, considering the lack of selling, lack of emphasis on the matches themselves, and how everyone kicks out of finishers now like they barely mean anything, it seems the matches aren't really that serious anymore either, so why bother?

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  4. The "30 Pics Of Alison Brie At Her Finest" article linked to below the comments is a great piece, I thoroughly recommend it.

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  5. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:12 AM

    MAN! I don't have that!

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  6. here ya go! http://www.pbh2.com/entertainment/hot-alison-brie-pictures/#1

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  7. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:17 AM

    TATR for the win!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:21 AM

    She really is quite exquisite.

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  9. In Cena's defense, JBL was poopy.

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  10. AverageJoeEverymanJune 19, 2015 at 7:28 AM

    I always have "30 Cheerleader Wardrobe Malfunctions that Made us GASP". The use of "gasp" makes me chuckle for some reason.

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  11. Just got this email:

    I am Mrs. Fatimah Hassan, a Muslim. I have picked your email address for an
    inheritance of $250 million dollars. Please contact me for more details via email:
    fatimahhassan@foxmail.com, if interested.



    Yep. Getting right on that.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:32 AM

    The links I have this time around:
    China and Russia Could Start $100 Trillion Collapse (CIA Intel Warns)
    #1 Reason for a Big Belly
    This is What The Cast of WKRP In Cincinnati Looks Like Today
    New Probiotic Fat Burner Takes GNC By Storm

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  13. Stranger In The AlpsJune 19, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    When we had the finish to Cena-Rock ONCEINALIFETIME, Cena sat on the floor all sullen and despondent over his big loss. Cena could have sold that for MONTHS as an angle leading to Cena-Rock TWICEINALIFETIME.


    It lasted 24 hours, because Brock came out the next night and destroyed him. Cena could have sold EVERYTHING about The Rock loss by you know....LOSING TO LESNAR and spiralling down from there. It pretty much writes itself. But unfortunately, we never get organic growth out of angles these days.

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  14. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    Create an email address with the name of DougieHoss and send a reply with the EXACT SAME WORDING, see if you get a response.

    ReplyDelete
  15. AverageJoeEverymanJune 19, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    I believe the same things that determine the ads we get here are also the things that signed me up for Latinkitchen and Latina.com emails. Which is crazy because my search history will certainly show I prefer busty red-heads.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Stranger In The AlpsJune 19, 2015 at 7:33 AM

    Dude, that's $250 million dollars! Only BOTS ever see that kind of money.


    What are you waiting for?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:34 AM

    But still, Cena had to make up for his down year at the following Mania by beating the Rock. Redemption Song!

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  18. Cena is playing to an elderly man with a puerile sense of humor. The people who pay for the show are irrelevant. Audience of one, pal.

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  19. I always Get Life Insurance Agents Hate This Trick with some of the hottest women in the world in the pictures. Those women who trick life insurance agents are amazing

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  20. Stranger In The AlpsJune 19, 2015 at 7:35 AM

    Oh yeah, that's right. 2012 was Cena's worst year ever. It must have been syphilis because he was still winning matches.

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  21. Extant1979 - Extreme SuperstarJune 19, 2015 at 7:36 AM

    Have Marv do it?

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  22. He DID lose to Big Johnny on PPV. Not a good month for him.

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  23. Wardrobe malfunctions...thank you, Janet Jackson, for that insipid phrase.

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  24. Triple H's promos weren't boring because we knew he was winning; they were boring because he had to fill 20-minute interview slots while being a combination of naturally longwinded and not particularly vicious towards the faces. Most of his promos consisted of daring people to try to take his spot/title/whatever, but he never really spent enough time telling the face WHY they weren't good enough to do that. The funny thing is that he's gotten much better at that long after his fulltime days, but he does a little too much of the line-blurring, Reality Era stuff for my tastes. Conditions the fans the wrong way.
    Anyway, Cena's best at being a moral authority and idealist, so there's no reason he shouldn't be that as much as possible. Him defaulting to stupid jokes might make the kiddies laugh, but he's so good at telling a heel exactly why they're wrong and how he's going to prove it to them at the next PPV. He's never been as good at being a smartass as Rock or Michaels or even Triple H, but they seem to want their top faces to be imperturbable class clowns.

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  25. I suspect that if he's read this, he's already on it.

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  26. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonJune 19, 2015 at 7:37 AM

    "....but he never really spent enough time telling the face WHY they weren't good enough to do that."


    Booker T disagrees.

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  27. Also, there was more than one recipient to this email.


    huh.


    I suspect possible shenanigans.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonJune 19, 2015 at 7:37 AM

    You TOO?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  29. Charismatic eNegro Jef VinsonJune 19, 2015 at 7:38 AM

    If it was $250 million dollars in ice cream would you do it?

    ReplyDelete
  30. I'll take flippant Cena not seeming to care over intense Angle where every match is the most important match ever.

    Rockstar Spud. High School Gym. Gate of 30.

    Angle will treat it as more important than the medals.

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  31. Hah! I had just edited my post about that, too. Man, that looks bad for him.

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  32. Aye, I think that's just lazy TNA writing. But Angle is such a fucking bore. He went through a period of putting his career on the line seemingly every week too. Guy's such a drama queen.

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  33. Pfft. Like anyone would ever give that up.

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  34. But a great day for People Power.

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  35. Joey Jo-Jo Junior ShabbadooJune 19, 2015 at 8:03 AM

    Should I be amazed that someone will actually fall for this, or just sad?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Joey Jo-Jo Junior ShabbadooJune 19, 2015 at 8:04 AM

    The pictures and headlines in those ads are usually ridiculously awful.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Cena usually looks like he's on autopilot though, like he just punches a clock on the way to the ring, and then heads home. He comes across as dorky, redundant and indifferent. However, he showed some fired during that owens interaction which is nice. He busts it out every once in a while, but it's rare.

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  38. Disqus ads are pretty terrible and they take forever to pay out as well. They've been promising newer and better stuff and sending surveys like crazy, but I have to yet to see anything different.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Things I like about Cena:

    How offended he is by the idea of Money in the Bank. The idea that someone would cash in on an already beaten opponent really pisses him off for some reason. You can count on a "Screaming Cena" promo as soon as the subject is brought up.

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  40. Brock in 2012 was a one off, and the build to that match was fucking awesome with the blood and the pull apart. Cena has brought the goods in this Owens feud on the stick and more importantly in the ring.

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  41. "The problem is that he never does get heavy."

    I feel that's a huge understatement. as pointed out by MrTuesdayNight, he even got more "serious" just recently against Owens.

    afair the buildup to the 2012 match against Brock was pretty serious, so was the one to the SummerSlam match. the programs/matches with Punk, The Rock or Bryan also come to mind. wasn't he even pretty "non-goofy" in his feud against Bray Wyatt? (as bad as the booking may have had been)

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  42. Oh, Cena gets heavy. It's just that his idea of heavy is YELLING REALLY LOUD AND MAKING LOTS OF HAND GESTURES SO YOU KNOW JUST. HOW. MUCH. THIS. MEANS. TO. HIM.

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  43. AnInternetToughGuyJune 19, 2015 at 10:13 AM

    they should really delve into that a little more to give him a little more character. I mean...he lost his first world championship after an elimination chamber against the first money in the bank winner. So yeah, it stings his pride. But the writers suck and everyone's mostly one dimensional.

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  44. AnInternetToughGuyJune 19, 2015 at 10:16 AM

    didn't he actually lose quite a bit in 2008?

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  45. Doesn't that make it an overstatement?

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  46. He was of raw this week: he sold an attack!!!

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  47. He's like Michael Caine: WHEN IT GETS LOUDLY IT GETS VERY LOUD INDEED

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  48. How many times has Angle been "in the best shape of my life"?

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  49. I saw a lot of emotion in his post elimination chamber promo and it may have been his best ever.

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  50. And when Cena had the briefcase himself, he didn't do an on-the-spot cash, but rather gave Punk a week's notice before cashing in on the 1000th episode of Raw.

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  51. I think he also gave a big promo about what a bitch move it is to cash in on the spot before he gave Punk notice too.

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  52. Oprah NoodlemantraJune 20, 2015 at 8:51 AM

    As many as Tito Ortiz... then when he loses it's a bad knee or some shit as an excuse.

    ReplyDelete

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