The John Cena Appreciation Thread

[AnotherCrapUsername]

Contains spoilers from Money in the Bank below.

I've tried to insert Spoilers but don't know how, so have continued this post further below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So last night John Cena announced that he will be retiring from Wrestling in 2025.

Let's share our appreciation of one of the biggest names of all time in this thread.

 

Edited July 7, 2024 by AnotherCrapUsername

[air_raid]

Lovely photo of him there.

[TheScarlettChad]

One of the best. Hated him in his early super Cena years but he became really great around 2011 and cemented his legacy as one of the greats. His match with AJ at summerslam.  My word. 

[Jazzy G]

I loved the Doctor Of Thugonomics, but fell into the whole "oh, Super Cena" thing until I saw that he was starting to play into it. He's had some cracking matches. Rubber match against the Rock? 

[The Gaffer]

I've really grown to appreciate Cena's place on Mount Rushmore. There's no denying he was - by any business metric - the guy to run with, but I guess I'm one of those people where it felt like you could sense them chiselling him in up there just to have someone new chiselled in. It's the same kind of "Call him the greatest and it'll eventually stick" tactic that's worked really well with Reigns in the last few years, too. Kids probably don't notice and don't care though, and it's just my age. I'm sure some golden age fans in the eighties must have thought Hogan was being beaten into them as manufactured greatness. 

So I dig him. He's a decidedly offbeat fecker, and it's become really funny and endearing in his years long part timer phase. I look up at that mountain now and I'm like...cool. 

Honestly, though? As someone who waits half a decade to watch anything back, I've never watched much of anything he's done back and I doubt I ever will. Cena in his prime's just not for me. He was the face of a decidedly goofy, sanitised era of WWE where their own TV show looked and felt like the career mode in one of the games. He's in a few great main events, and whilst saying that that's in spite of himself is going too far, it's never like he was usually the pull for any of them. One Night Stand had the atmosphere. Money in the Bank had Punk. The Lesnar match just had him getting battered. 

I was all in on the "No, he's actually genius" backlash a lot of us had on here against the sheer exhaustion of Dem Wans (BOW DOWN TO THE KING!) booing him overzealously in front of kids and their families, long after the novelty wore off but...yeah. I think in retrospect his most impressive stuff between the ropes is having fantastic matches with Styles and Owens as in a subtle way there he probably was the architect pulling those together, given Cena had the command of the WWE style down and those two were just in the door. Neither man looked out of place in any of those matches, and that's probably almost entirely down to Cena. 

Appreciating from a distance. I think the love really started here:

[NeverYield]

Cena is quite simply one of the best to ever do it. 

Quite an inspiration really for all things in life, he was an extremely motivated wrestler who gave his all to everything he did, I'm not really sure all the Cena hate years ago was even justified for the most part, yeah he had some bad moments like everybody, and like everybody some of his stuff got a little tiresome, but a lot of it was likely wrestling fans, particularly the 'IWC' going with what was on trend at the time. 

Not saying at all there isn't people who genuinely didn't like him from day one, but it was definitely 'cool' to hate on Cena for a while.

Achieved loads in the business, inspired many, gave some great matches that had a real atmosphere to them, absolute legend, and fire on the mic. 

Edited July 7, 2024 by NeverYield

[Hannibal Scorch]

I know for a good number of people the news will be devastating to them. But for me it was a shoulder shrug. He has been less than part time for years now anyway, so I guess it’s good for him to do something official rather than just return as and when he’s free. But Cena was The Guy during some of WWE’s most boring years (and I don’t hold him directly responsible, but it is the case). I never found his matches to be that interesting, though the build up to Rock/Cena (Once in a lifetime, so good they did it 2 years running) and THAT match with Brock to be his best bits. Of course the RR return pop is memorable as well. But I have no desire to go back and watch much back from his main run back as those were the years as a fan I really struggled through. 
 

I just don’t see him as important as a Sting, Hogan, Flair, Hart, HBK, Austin or Rock, even though his time at the top was probably longer than some of those put together, and merch sales say otherwise. But I totally get why for a generation who started watching 2003-2010, this will be seen as devastating. I wonder what his plans are after hanging up the jorts as he made it clear he’s staying put, just not in the ring.

[WyattSheepMask]

What do we reckon?

Cena v Orton: One Last Time at Wrestlemania 

[NeverYield]

Just now, WyattSheepMask said:

What do we reckon?

Cena v Orton: One Last Time at Wrestlemania 

I would watch it.

[TildeGuy~!]

So people are confusing Cena of retiring AT Wrestlemania but he’s confirmed he’ll be around throughout the year.

A Rumble win and record breaking title win at Mania would be nice.

 

[Mr_Danger]

I know the obvious route for his last match is Orton but I hope we get him vs Cody in a big time match before he goes. In the absence of Kurt Angle I’d take him vs Chad Gable at some point too.

[WyattSheepMask]

14 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

So people are confusing Cena of retiring AT Wrestlemania but he’s confirmed he’ll be around throughout the year.

To be clear I wasn’t necessarily meaning that to be his retirement match, more that they never had one of their many PPV singles matches at WM. A Triple Threat at WM24 was as close they came to doing.

It would be a good thing to do for both them

Edited July 7, 2024 by WyattSheepMask

[Hannibal Scorch]

Also, it sounds like he’ll be around for 2025, schedule permitting. Peacemaker and F&F should have wrapped end of this year, but no doubt there will be press tours and reshoots potentially. But I hope he has a shortlist of opponents and I’d love to see a mixture of classic opponents and first time matches as part of that. Cody/Cena has to be money right?

[I Bent My Wookie]

Honestly I want to see him win the IC belt. The Cena US open challenge time was great and would be a good call back to maybe face Zayn for it as well. Means he can have those matches with people he wants to shine before his last few big matches. Would make him a full grand slam champion as well right, regarding current titles? 

But in reality, its him getting to 17 times world champion that needs to happen. If only for a "WWE can roll his name out" and it be a little less awkward than the next great Flair incident. 

[air_raid]

58 minutes ago, NeverYield said:

Cena is quite simply one of the best to ever do it. 

Alright, Becky.