John Cena; actually BETTER than white bread!

[d-d-d-dAz]

So, we're a week away from presumably the biggest win of his career (and, probably, then a serious run as THE man again) and I thought it'd be a good time to discuss just how bloody brilliant John Cena is.

 

Seriously.

 

He hasn't got the same level of adoration from as broad an audience as Austin did, he isn't as culturally relevant as Hogan was, nor is he the crossover superstar that The Rock is. That said, I'd argue he's as good (if not better on some levels) as all of them and belongs on that same level, on wrestlings Mt Rushmore.

 

He makes everything he's in seem absolutely massive, proper big time. It seems that everyone and anyone that has flew close to the main event sun in the last 8 years have had their big, career defining feud with John Cena. Unlike Rock/Austin, you can't pick one guy who brings the best out in John or vice versa, he has incredible ability to make everything seem that important, and drag magic out of nothing.

 

And, for years, people would say 'oh, the matches with Umaga were so good because Umagas actually a great worker and carried Cena'; 'oh, his feud with Edge is so great because of how ground shakingly brilliant Edge is'; 'he pulled a great match out of Khali? Well, erm, it was actually Flair on stilts in a mask'

 

It was so fucking tiresome.

 

You can make the argument that JBL, Edge and CM Punk all had their greatest moments with him and the common denominator is Cena. He had great matches with Umaga and made it seem like he wasn't dropping down a level to face him. His feuds with Triple H and Rock have felt genuinely huge, like they belonged up there with the greatest, most important rivalries of all time. He grabbed a great match out of Khali. His feud with Batista genuinely felt like the culmination of an era. He made Wade Barrett seem, for a little while, like he was a bonafide main event star after only a couple of months on the roster.

 

He wrestles anyone and everyone and always raises them up, and doesn't get dragged down to their level. He's given the rub to more people than a veteran hooker.

 

His work schedule is insane, and he actually seems a genuinely good guy. He'd be my make-a-wish.

 

So, either pick a particular match and tell us all why you love it so much or just wax lyrical about how great he is. Because he is.

 

He's great.

 

As we appear to be leaning towards making this a review thread, in celebration of a great man, I'll stick the picks in here.

 

Forrest vs. Sabu Vengeance 2006

Pitcos his entire feud with Randy Orton

Up Chuck vs. Great Khali One Night Stand 2007

[Forrest]

I'm torn on this thread. I don't know whether I want SpiritOfTheForest to find this thread and spout his spastic nonsense about how Cena has been carried to every good match he's ever had to make me laugh, or whether I want him to pass it by and not fart this sensible discussion up with it. SOTF, you may be a good friend, but you're still a nongo.

 

We really need a Cena match review thread like the Triple H one we have already.

[d-d-d-dAz]

That's a belting idea.

 

This should be that thread.

 

If people want to pick matches to review, ill happily collate the picks in the first post. Im not sure what id like to review, theres so many great matches. leaning towards his match with Angle at NWO, but I'll have to think.

 

We should review matches in slices of white bread out of ten, as opposed to miserable Bret's.

[Arch Stanton]

Why white bread?

[Forrest]

Because Cena's better than it?

 

I say we stick with Brets.

 

I nominate Cena vs. Sabu - Vengeance 2006.

[d-d-d-dAz]

Because wholeweat gives me the shits.

 

Also, To reinforce the title of the thread.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I nominate every match he ever had with Randy Orton and I want Pitcos to review them.

[d-d-d-dAz]

It's in the first post now Ian, he's going to have to do it.

[Up Chuck]

Sliced bread, surely.

 

EDIT: Can I do the Khali match?

[d-d-d-dAz]

I've always said white bread, I have no idea why. Something you half pick up as a kid, and it sticks.

 

And yes, you can you lucky sod. Great match.

[BiffingtonClyro]

I'm currently having an argument with somebody on Youtube (I know, I'm an idiot) who is saying that The Amazing Red is better than Cena This is what he's posted. No word of a lie.

 

"Let's look at Amazing red vs SuperCena...

Amazing Red:

Red Edge

Red Eye

Red Fusion

Red Spike

Satellite DD

Seeing Red

718 (Tiger feint kick)

Code Red

Infrared

Red Star Press

 

SuperCena:

Spin-out powerbomb

AA

"STFU"

"5 knuckle shuffle""

[Duke]

I nominate every match he ever had with Randy Orton and I want Pitcos to review them.

I know you're kidding, but I absolutely love the trilogy of gimmicks he and Orton had, the I Quit, the Cell and then the Iron Man. They're each others career opponents

[d-d-d-dAz]

Really?

 

I know there was a time when WWE really wanted it to appear that way, but I just don't think it ever stuck. Orton, if anything, is the blot on Cena's copybook. They just couldn't make that work.

 

Gun to my head, if I was forced to pick a career opponent I'd have said Edge with CM Punk in the process of making a credible claim, too.

[NEWM]

Not got the opportunity to link it as I post, but the Royal Rumble I reviewed (08) was as much a love letter to the significance of Cena as it was a match review. I fucking love Cena, and I'd happily stick my name down to review absolutely anything he's done.

 

He's brill and I've probably used every thread I've ever posted in to say so anyway so I won't go much further beyond Daz's excellent opening salvo. People can say what they want about the likes of his incredible efforts with Khali, Lashley, K-Fed and others, but to me, his biggest carry-jobs are still with CM Punk. I'm not being cunty either, Mr Ratings is obviously a good hand out there, but Cena's the only guy that elevates Punk in-ring to BIG TIME WWE Main Event style, and as good a talker as Punk can be, when those to go at it verbally, they're on another planet. I think the Punk/Cena/Vince contract signing on the MITB go-home show and the Punk/Cena/Bret pre-Night of Champions 2012 promos are better than Punk's original Vegas outburst. They're legit proper wrestling show build-up promos, which Cena steers masterfully when Punk can't help himself from pandering to Colt fucking Cabana et al, or forgets he's supposed to be making the arena make noise rather than the internet fans at home.

 

I'm excited for Cena to be back holding the belt too. As long as he spent staring at the lights in the last year or so, he's still the most exciting guy to see in PPV title matches I think, especially in this era of rematch after rematch after fucking rematch (apart from maybe the Orton series in 2009). Had a (STUPID....STUPID STUPID STUPID) niggling thought he might turn heel at Mania (drawing those comparisons people did to the Steve Austin/Rock sitdown from 2001), but even if he doesn't and we just get another year of Cena ploughing through the roster, I'm happy. His best matches come during those runs anyway, and the prospect of something like Cena/Menry has me weeping with joy out of all three eyes.

 

EDIT: And just briefly again on the Orton feud, I actually thought, against the odds, the Iron Man Match was great. More proof that Cena's a safe bet in any environment, but the Kendo Stick beating in the middle was really good, and I felt the match suited the rapey Viper role Orton had at the time. Cena sold "slow and methodical" like it was an actual thing, rather than a figure of speech invented because a wrestler is slow and boring.

[Nexus]

One of my favourite Cena matches is versus Umaga in the Last Man Standing match. Umaga had been made to look like a beast, and the match, with the ropes being used to choke Umaga out, was amazing.