Is the John Cena revisionist history insane?

[Stop_It_5]

Is it an over-correction in the vein of "don't appreciate what you have until it's gone" ? Yeah, probably

He never reached the heights of Hoegan, Rock or Austin but he deserves credit for carrying that wagon as the top guy for as long as he did. A 15 year run without any time off that wasn't injury-related is practically unheard of in the modern era.

 

[The Prince of All Saiyans]

CENATION WE IN HERE

 

[Metal Face]

He ruled for over a decade so fans during that time are in the 20's and 30's and you got kids who still love his gimmick so it's not surprising. I remember the early days of IWC youtube era there was this Cena mark I don't remember his name but he was HATED he was an unapologetic Cena mark with all the merch and he looked the one of the background fish from Spongebob.

you talking about this cac?

 

[StatUS]

Cena became more favored during his US open title run and Smackdown Live with his matches with AJ Styles.

During the mid 2000s he was absolutely hated by older Attitude Era fans but adored by woman and children.

His merch sales were still legendary, plus they cleaned up on house shows when he was on the card. And the crowd responses during main events was interesting to watch.

He's not the GOAT but he was a better top guy than HHH, HBK, Bret, Bryan, Punk numbers wise. No he wasn't Hogan, Rock, or Austin but in present day he's a huge star and alot of that has to do with his long run at the top.

 

[prophecypro]

The older you get the more shyt that you as a young adult found wack, people younger than you now also grown will say was legendary

That just how it is in a lot of things. Not even revisionism per say just different perspectives to different generations.

 

[Mandarin Duck]

This is when I stopped watching wrestling as a kid. Once he started blowing up.

 

[prophecypro]

Cena became more favored during his US open title run and Smackdown Live with his matches with AJ Styles.

During the mid 2000s he was absolutely hated by older Attitude Era fans but adored by woman and children.

His merch sales were still legendary, plus they cleaned up on house shows when he was on the card. And the crowd responses during main events was interesting to watch.

He's not the GOAT but he was a better top guy than HHH, HBK, Bret, Bryan, Punk numbers wise. No he wasn't Hogan, Rock, or Austin but in present day he's a huge star and alot of that has to do with his long run at the top.

Is Tribal Cheif Roman the first champ to eclipse him on drawing power or is that too early to say ? Just thinking bout the numbers they hype

Im sayng specifically tribal cheif era Roman not previous era

 

[StatUS]

Is Tribal Cheif Roman the first champ to eclipse him on drawing power or is that too early to say ? Just thinking bout the numbers they hype

Im sayng specifically tribal cheif era Roman not previous era

It's hard to say because the fandom kinda just purchases things without even seeing the card, see Mania next year. Cena's run they were still doing 200k-500k ppv buys and a milly for Mania. I'd say the company in general is a bigger deal right now with Roman at the top but I dunno if it's all him like Austin in 98 or Rock in 2000. I wouldn't argue it tho.

 

[LordDeathwatch]

The Bruce Blitz disciples in here still fighting a war that was lost a long time ago. Mans stayed on top for over a decade, never turned, jumped mainstream, and is regularly hailed as one of the greats. I don't like a lot of the guys considered "great" but at some point you gotta let that shyt go.

 

[FTBS]

I stopped watching right as he was ascending. The was no correlation there. I may be wrong so please correct me if I am, but once he transitioned away from the white rapper wasnt he basically a modern day Hogan (appealing to kids, ripped, patriotic, goodie good that overcame all odds)? Was there truly any thing that stood out about his character?

 

[DaHNIC82]

This new found dikk eating is amazing.. Now he the GOAT and shyt. He must have jayZ marketing team

 

[StatUS]

I stopped watching right as he was ascending. The was no correlation there. I may be wrong so please correct me if I am, but once he transitioned away from the white rapper wasnt he basically a modern day Hogan (appealing to kids, ripped, patriotic, goodie good that overcame all odds)? Was there truly any thing that stood out about his character?

Edgier Hogan, then basically wrestling Barney, then the Punk fued came and he became shoot promo jones

 

[OVER]

you talking about this cac?

YES!

 

[XannyWarbucks]

Anyone that hates Cena did not watch during the Reign of Terror. 2002-2005 they lost more than half their audience. Cena's push stopped the bleeding, got them the Mattel deal and kept them afloat. House Shows and Merch were basically all on his back as well. Benoit shyt, as well. Company was at his lowest and this dude was still pushing numbers.

I was a teen and hated him, but even then, couldn't deny that he was over with women and children. Would I have turned him heel after a bit? Sure by 2010-11, they had enough guys to take a top-babyface spot and Cena could've gone back face after a year or so, but I can see why they kept him as well. Dude was basically the company especially after the Benoit thing went down.

 

[Jmare007]

-Cena's run started in 05' and his first reign was wildly successful compared to the shytshow that was 03 and 04 for the WWE. There is revisionist history because at the time, Cena's metrics were compared to 98'-01' WWF which was the biggest drawing run any promotion ever had so they were never that highly praised. But as time went on, his initial run was great boost for business (Batista as the 1B guy was low key important too).

-His run wasn't the lowest attendance or lowest ratings in WWF/E history, what the fukk shyt, before Roman turned heel and the Bloodline storyline started to gain momentum, that period was really bad attendance wise, and the company isn't running half the shows they did in the mid to late 00's.

-People did stop watching because of him. That is fair but is also incomplete. People stopped watching because of Triple H too and basically because the Attitude Era was over and that wrestling product died in 2001 and was never seen again. I think the biggest knock on Cena's run is 08-09 because there was barely any redeeming qualities to what he was involved in. But even still, it wasn't as bad as when he wasn't the main guy anymore and people like Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens got long runs, those were a fukking disaster and also helped boost Cena's case. People began to realize that it wasn't as easy being the n°1 guy.

-He did get booed all the time and it is 100% revisionist to act like for 3-4 years, booing wasn't just "a fun part of being in a WWE show", but there were a ton of fans that legit resented his push. For a period of like 2 years commentary couldn't even acknowledge Cena was booed I think the first time they felt comfortable doing it was when he beat Edge in Canada in a TLC match.