John Cena is bigger than The Rock and Stone Cold

[Murtz]

Not opinions of my own, but of someone who has been watching wrestling for 20 odd years. He said that Cena is bigger than Stone Cold and The Rock purely because of how he has been head and shoulders above the rest at the top of the WWE for over 6 years now, and at only 34, he's got plenty more years ahead of him. Its in those years where we might find out if he can be bigger than Hogan.

 

The likes of Stone Cold and The Rock only spent a few years at the top, but the general opinion is that they were better in those few years than Cena has been in the last 6.

 

So my question is, is 'Better' always 'Bigger'? And, do you guys think that the only reason The Rock and Stone Cold were deemed to be 'better' than Cena was because of the bookers and amount of quality talent they had to work with?

 

Discuss!

[Maverick]

Longetivity doesn't= bigger. I think Austin, The Rock, Hogan etc connected with the fans in a way that Cena hasn't done, although he's undoubtedly loved by some he's just not on there level.

[HeavyT]

I think you're getting your words mixed up, longer doesn't necessarily mean bigger. Stone Cold and the Rock could have stayed at the top longer if they had wanted. Cena has stayed at the top for longer for a number of reasons, no other wrestler has shown to have as much mass appeal and none have been elevated to his status. Rock and Austin were huge, everyone knows who they are. If I asked my brother if he knew who John Cena was, he wouldnt have a clue. But he would remember Tatanka. Being part of a boom period and being at the top is better than being at the top when an industry is on the slide. Regardless of how long you were there.

[Tommy Atkins]

Cena is bigger than Rock or Austin in the same way that Hogan was bigger than Bruno. WWE has expanded greatly since the Attitude era. It might be less popular in it's core markets but Cena is known in far more parts of the world than Austin or Rock were as wrestlers.

[HeavyT]

Cena is bigger than Rock or Austin in the same way that Hogan was bigger than Bruno. WWE has expanded greatly since the Attitude era. It might be less popular in it's core markets but Cena is known in far more parts of the world than Austin or Rock were as wrestlers.

I didn't realise wrestling was expanding so much across the world this past decade or so. I still say, worldwide, Austin and Rocky are more known. I would have thought it was a no brainer.

[Carbomb]

If we're talking overall, he's clearly not bigger than The Rock. Austin, not sure. I wouldn't say Hogan is definitively bigger than Austin or Rock, either, so it's difficult to tell.

 

In terms of wrestling, I'd say he's more Warrior/Savage/Goldberg level - not quite the absolute top. It takes a lot more to get where the Holy Trinity are.

[The Miz]

If Cena was "bigger" then why is the business in a slump still? Austin and the Rock were what made the WWE so massive in the late 90's. And as was said above, the lack of ability to make other stars means Cena is still shoved down our throats, and he is as popular as he is because it is a PG product, aimed at the Kids. If Cena was such a big draw how come he isn't attracting all of those extra fans Rock and Austin attracted to make the WWE such a huge success in the 90's?

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Rock, Cena and Austin probably drew more money than Hogan. But tickets for The Beatles gigs for about 2 quid in the 60s and Westlifes are

[Duke]

But I would say, for Cena to sell that amount of shit that he sells and be at a level where he is so important they wont turn him heel, in the current climate its pretty outstanding

To be fair though, he's miles behind both hogan and austin in terms of merch sales. Meltzer gave the figures the other week, Austin's best year was 13 mill, Hogans was 8 and Cena's is 5. Fuck knows what Rocks was, presumably less than Cena.

[Magnum]

I can only really go on visibility in Western culture, because in terms of the WWE's global expansion it's not really a fair comparison, and I don't have enough awareness of that area to comment on it anyway. Purely from personal observation though, I don't think Cena is 'bigger' because he hasn't crossed over into the mainstream in the way Austin or Rock did. Neither his name nor face is as recognisable to non-fans as Austin, Rock, or Hogan were in their prime - even with the benefit of WWE-produced multi-media vehicles like his CD and films, promotional outlets which weren't really available to Rock and Austin (who carried enough name value in pop culture to get offered spin-offs in 'legit' TV, film and music anyway).

 

It's also important to remember that Austin and Rock, at their peaks, had to compete with every legitimate 'star' that Cena has had to for that top spot - HHH, Undertaker, Michaels, Jericho - as well as the likes of Bret, Mick Foley, Brock Lesnar, the nWo and Goldberg (as well as Sting, as I'd take the competition for their spot as top man in wrestling to include WCW wrestlers, when that company was a genuine rival). By contrast, Cena has led a charmed life in terms of the competition he's had for his spot on top, although there's also the counterpoint that he's had more of a burden to shoulder on his own in that respect.

 

I also think that in terms of the wrestling audience alone, Cena has only ever really appealed widely to one specific demographic - kids. Austin and Rock, at their peak, were almost universally popular with the wrestling audience. Even Hogan eventually drew in the disaffected teens and adult market when he launched the nWo. Cena, though, has always been a polarising figure, and not always in a 'so controversial, you have to tune in' way - for all the money he brings in through merchandise, I reckon his omnipresence at the top has played a part in alienating a fair portion of fans up until recently.

[bono]

Nobody will ever be as big and famous as hogan.hogan is a bigger name then the wwe or even pro wrestling.

 

When hogan became a star he put pro wrestling on the worldwide map. Wrestling is already there now its already huge it dosent need a massive star like hogan to make it popular its a brand and will live on regardless whos topping the card.

[Duke]

Nobody will ever be as big and famous as hogan.hogan is a bigger name then the wwe or even pro wrestling.

 

When hogan became a star he put pro wrestling on the worldwide map. Wrestling is already there now its already huge it dosent need a massive star like hogan to make it popular its a brand and will live on regardless whos topping the card.

So's Dwayne Johnson.

[Magnum]

But I would say, for Cena to sell that amount of shit that he sells and be at a level where he is so important they wont turn him heel, in the current climate its pretty outstanding. It shouldnt be scoffed at. You have to start opening up the old debate of whether the Rock would have been as big a star had it not been for Austin's initial rise in 97/98. If you put Cena in the Attitude era and put the Rock in that period of late 2003 (when Cena first began to rise) I wonder how both mens career would have turned out.

 

The thing with that, though, is we know The Rock can appeal to kids. We don't know, outside of the short period he spent as a heel rapper, that Cena would have the same ability to really catch on for any extended period of time with an older audience. Playing the role he has been during most of his spell on top, he'd have been eaten alive by Attitude era fans, so I suppose it would depend on his versatility.

[King Pitcos]

After six years as The Man, Cena's definitely up there. It's a four-man top tier now, but within that tier, I'd put Cena behind the other three. He canes Rock and Austin in a marathon, but doesn't even get near them in a sprint. Although saying that, isn't WrestleMania 23 the most-bought wrestling pay-per-view? It can't have all been because of Donald Trump and Bobby Lashley. Regardless, Hogan was the don in my childhood and Rock and Austin were the main men in my teens. Cena can't really compare to the nostalgia of that for me.

[jimufctna24]

After six years as The Man, Cena's definitely up there. It's a four-man top tier now, but within that tier, I'd put Cena behind the other three. He canes Rock and Austin in a marathon, but doesn't even get near them in a sprint. Although saying that, isn't WrestleMania 23 the most-bought wrestling pay-per-view? It can't have all been because of Donald Trump and Bobby Lashley. Regardless, Hogan was the don in my childhood and Rock and Austin were the main men in my teens. Cena can't really compare to the nostalgia of that for me.

Wrestlemania 17 I believe had more buys domestically.

 

23 had more worldwide buys due to the fact that markets like the UK didnt charge on PPV back in 2001, plus as a whole in 2007 more homes worldwide had more access to PPV than in 2001 and before that.