The Cena style

[no user name]

So first of all this isn't a critism of John cena. Wrestling is about being a draw and cena was. Its more of a discussion. 

So I was at revpro the other day. Their main face at the moment is a guy called Michael oku. Now during his match the guy in front of me really didn't like him. A bit to much to be honest, it's wrestling calm down mate.

I don't know why he didn't like him but knew thing I did notice(and this could be the reason) is that the other guy did all the work. Oku took a few hard bumps to be fair but overall the other guy seemed to carry him. It reminded me a bit of John cena. From what I remember in a lot of his matches the other guy did all the work then cena would suddenly somehow win the match right at the end. 

Now like I said I'm not criticising cena. I liked him when I watched wwe. But I know more about wrestling now and I think I possibly wouldn't be so keen now.

That being said I did like his character so maybe I would of been. 

So what are your thoughts? Do you mind it when the other wrestler seems to do all the work or doesn't it bother you?

Or am I not understanding what wrestlers like cena are actually doing in the ring?

 

 

[LaGoosh]

My main issue with John Cena's style is that despite being a freakishly strong muscle man is that all his offence is weak as piss. Running bull dogs, second rope leg drops, flipping neck breakers....absolute crap. You're a beast John, do some goddamn power moves. Press Slam someone for the love of God!

[Merzbow]

5 minutes ago, LaGoosh said:

My main issue with John Cena's style is that despite being a freakishly strong muscle man is that all his offence is weak as piss. Running bull dogs, second rope leg drops, flipping neck breakers....absolute crap. You're a beast John, do some goddamn power moves. Press Slam someone for the love of God!

Didn't he start doing the Code Red at one point in some weird attempt to show that he can "wrestle"? It didn't suit him at all and actually lessened his repertoire in my opinion, proper cosplay stuff appealing to wankers.

[Roy]

My main issue with Cena is that he can't throw a convincing punch. That he struggles with this, the most basic offensive moves, always grated with me. He can look quite awkward at times with basic moves and general demeanour. It's a hard thing to put my finger on, but it's like the difference between seeing The Rock put on a sharpshooter versus seeing Bret Hart applying the same move.  

[air_raid]

16 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Didn't he start doing the Code Red at one point in some weird attempt to show that he can "wrestle"? It didn't suit him at all and actually lessened his repertoire in my opinion, proper cosplay stuff appealing to wankers.

And springboard Stunners!

[The Gaffer]

I've never liked Cena's style. I think there came a point where the backlash against him got so wearisome that I went along with the whole contrary "Yeah, he's actually the bollocks" line instead - and I do appreciate what a massive draw he was, what he meant to kids, and what a weird fecker he is nowadays - but upon reflection yeah, never for me.

He's had a few great main event matches but his offence looked fucking crap and the years of wild oscillations between Party Cena and hoo-rah Aggro Cena are like an entire lost generation to me. WWE at its absolute most turgid and autopilot when they were pre-pipebomb, pre-Danielson, pre-NXT-as-super-indie. I'll never watch that stuff back.

I understand why he didn't do it in 2012 but he's five years younger than Rock. I wonder if there's a WrestleMania in him where he leans into the dark side. This was on the John Cena Experience DVD and was apparently recorded for the heel turn that never happened:

Imagine him marching down the big massive walkway to this. I don't think it'll happen though. They turned Hogan on it but they'll never turn Cena. He's too weird. 

[Carbomb]

Pretty similar to Gaffer here. In truth, most of my dislike for Cena was his character rather than his in-ring work - more than the "JBL is poopy" shite, it's more the shameless clothes-horse merchandising and the twee, contrived likability (which he ditched for the superb promos on The Rock). Yes, we were always sold to, but with Cena it was like they'd just given up on even trying to hide it. To those of us of late Gen-X, that's the kiss of death - the generation that embraced Austin and rejected the old WWF hated being so obviously shilled at, and I think that was a big part of why the older sections of the audience turned on him. 

As to his actual wrestling, there was a period where I actually did like him as a face, just after he'd turned; he still had a bit of "bite", the FU was still a Death Valley Driver (not saying it had to stay that way, but it sort of spoke to the style he was working), and he sold a bit more.

In terms of his main-event ring style, for the most part I had no issue, as I'd long accepted that any style will work, no matter how relaxed or sloppy, as long as someone sells for it - Hogan's WWF style demonstrated that - but I'd also accepted he wasn't intended for a fan like me; I was a Bret Hart fan, who liked a bit of variation, but also some realistic-looking offence (at least, what I considered to be that).

None of this was enough to completely put me off him (I enjoyed his matches with Michaels, Batista, and Punk) - there was ONE thing, though, that was: his Smug Superman comeback. After taking a massive beating, he just no-sells the entire fucking lot like it hasn't affected him at all. Even Hulk had the decency to, ya know, HULK UP. Actually show he was digging deep to find something to fight back with.

I find his style very frustrating, because there's a lot to like. But what's not to like is really noticeable, and annoying.

Edited April 4 by Carbomb
east coast hip-hop FTW

[CavemanLynn]

I think Cena's ability to build a WWE main event and work the crowd into a frenzy in the ring and on the mic is undeniable, but, much like Hogan before him, I always found his work and style far too clunky and rehearsed. Even on his rope running, it looks like he's counting his steps. The fact they called him The Prototype in OVW was bang on - he was (and still is, IMO) like they built their perfect wrestler in a lab, and just needed to get him through his on-screen nerves to strap a rocket to him. For all the talk they were going to fire him in the early days, I feel sure they'd have found a spot for him to tick over in. Or it might just be revisionism by me, unable to unsee Cena, Batista, Lesnar and Orton as the definitions of that era. It's the notorious incidents of no-selling that really do it for me in terms of being unable to put him on any kind of Mt Rushmore - in recent interviews, I've seen Cena talk about not pitching your own ideas but working to make the writers' ideas work (another example of his droid-like manner), the Nexus multi-man and the post-Lesnar promo both stank of a guy on his own reign of terror, his own Hogan-handing-the-belt-to-Warriors.

@no user name Re: your reference to the Oku match, was he working face? If so, the balance you described sounds about right to me, from a classic match structure viewpoint, i.e. the face takes a beating from the heel, selling more than bumping, getting the crowd on side, building up the heat for bumping the heel later. I've not seen much of Oku - just what's on YT - and I've heard decent things, but bear in mind I don't rate many of today's lot; many tout Oku's psychology as excellent, which from what I've seen boils down to repeatedly going for his finisher, which is a no-brainer, but then again, he'll work the leg for a bit then send the guy off the ropes like a fxxxing idiot. But if he was doing his job, but you were looking mainly at the workrate, I can see why it might look unbalanced.

[RedRooster]

I've never had an issue with Cena's ring style. If I were to sit down and draw up a list of my favourite WWE matches from the past twenty years, I'd imagine he'd feature heavily. While his character could be grating, he absolutely did have the ability to enhance programmes through his involvement; and to make his opponent feel like a big deal simply for feuding with him. That doesn't mean the effect was long-lasting, but he had an ability to make many of his matches feel big time; or at the very least, interesting. 

I'd love to have seen what a heel John Cena would have looked like, but I can't imagine he'll be back long enough for that to be a possibility. Based on some of his comments, I wouldn't be surprised if his next sustained run culminated in his retirement from in-ring competition. 

[simonworden]

The thing with Cena for me was, past all the walking merch shilling, by 2008 it all got a bit samey and he didn't noticably adaot his character in anyway. I know he had the "rise above hate" thing and coming through adversity was really what his character was about but considering he went through being part of the Nexus, CM Punk having his number, The Rock, Brock (especially the 2014 squash) and even as late as 2018 when he got mugged off by Taker, there hasn't been a shed of a visible battle scar to change his character. 

[Merzbow]

Speaking of Rise Above Hate, was there anything worse than the Kane "Embrace The Hate" angle? It was shit even by Kane feud standards, Cena making out with his jobber mates girl and all that.

[TheScarlettChad]

Cena's a great worker. Cena vs Tanahashi is still THE Dream match.

[Callum1993]

11 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

Speaking of Rise Above Hate, was there anything worse than the Kane "Embrace The Hate" angle? It was shit even by Kane feud standards, Cena making out with his jobber mates girl and all that.

Zack Ryder getting pushed off the stage in a wheelchair made it all worth it. 

[TheScarlettChad]

1 minute ago, Callum1993 said:

Zack Ryder getting pushed off the stage in a wheelchair made it all worth it. 

Him rocking up in his wheelchair with roses to see his best mate in Cena snogging his mrs was top tier too.

[Slapnut]

The Cena style: