John Cena's contract has quietly expired
- Thread starter Metal Face
- Start date
Who are you? Doesnt matter who he had to work with, thats not what I was speaking off.. my point is he isnt on that tier or class of those 3..and their persistence to continually try and place him in that stratus is what ultimately killed the product cold..
Elim Garak
Veteran
I gave up on the product around 2010 keep up with some news that's about it lol.
Transcendent? You out your damn mind..look at Hogan..Austin..Rock..THOSE are transcendent stars that are bigger than wrestling.. Cena has never been on that level ever.. when did he take the product to new heights and produce anything close to a boom period? He had the opposite effect if anything killing ratings and driving interest AWAY from the product ..guy was ass in the ring and corny as hell with that marine nonsense..you can like him but dont act like he is anywhere near Rock Hogan or Austin.I have to staunchly disagree
From about 08 - 11 yes the character was stale. But I can't remember anybody Vince hasn't left stale, because he's just not qualified to produce weekly television anymore. If you want to talk about the intangible "X factor", Cena has it. He's a clumsy wrestler who dresses like a 5 year old to the ring and has somehow made it work for 15 years, putting on more great matches than Stone Cold, Rock, and Hogan ever did. No doubt he was corny but he was an actor on a produced TV show, you can't only blame him for stupid shyt but then hold Vince accountable for all of the other creative shortcomings.
From 2012 after he was doing the best work of his career and turned into this mythical figure who defied conventional wisdom. Even from 05 - 07 he was earning stripes as a top guy and having great matches on the regular. Did he tune people out? Most casuals left in 02 and the internet beards who cared enough to pop blood vessels over Cena didn't actually go anywhere.
Cena made a career out of turning feces into gold. Stone Cold and Rock had success built in to their characters. Cena was a gimmicky rapper turned stupid Marine Superman who wrestles in jorts, and still carried the decaying product for 10 years.
Call the last transcendent star of the business a "C list talent". The ratings were declining for years before he became a top guy. There's also no logic in holding both the entire success and failings of the company accountable on one performer.
NYChase718
Veteran
He is going to sniff that realm and you're going to have no choice but to deal with it.
Smug troll face
Mike the Executioner
What went on up there? Poppers and weird sex!
I've been sports-entertained for many years by Cena. It had to end at some point, but I'm glad I was around for it. 
One of the reasons Cena worked so well is that everything he did felt important. Whether you loved him or hated him, he was always able to get strong reactions out of people. He had a main event presence that helped out a lot of his feuds. If you have someone else face CM Punk in Chicago in 2011, that match doesn't get remembered as well. He was the only one you could put in that spot.
And while it's true that WWE overexposed him for years and the writing for his character did him no favors, we have to remember that he got over on his own. The fans gravitated towards him, he wasn't just handpicked to be in that spot. And he literally devoted his life to that company, doing everything he could to give the brand a good name.
The only thing that would turn me against Cena at this point is if he ended up being on some
, but right now, his moves don't even suggest that.
One of the reasons Cena worked so well is that everything he did felt important. Whether you loved him or hated him, he was always able to get strong reactions out of people. He had a main event presence that helped out a lot of his feuds. If you have someone else face CM Punk in Chicago in 2011, that match doesn't get remembered as well. He was the only one you could put in that spot.
And while it's true that WWE overexposed him for years and the writing for his character did him no favors, we have to remember that he got over on his own. The fans gravitated towards him, he wasn't just handpicked to be in that spot. And he literally devoted his life to that company, doing everything he could to give the brand a good name.
The only thing that would turn me against Cena at this point is if he ended up being on some
, but right now, his moves don't even suggest that.
End of an era, no matter what you thought about the man.
I'm interested to see what the second stage of his career looks like. Rock did things no one ever thought a wrestler could do out there, and that road is now paved a good bit. Plus, Cena was indisputably The Guy of his era whereas Rock is 1A or 1B depending, plus Cena is white and not just racially-ambiguous. He's literally set up to succeed off the work Dwayne paved and the work he himself did in the E. He's also gone more lean instead of bulk like Rock did, so... assuming the world can open up again, I think dude will find a lot of success and only be held back by how long he waited to make the jump, just age-wise.
Reckon in 10 years we'll be seeing a male-patterned baldness John Cena playing the old retired vet who still has one last hurrah in him in movies, and probably like, a fire chief dad of the female lead in a NBC/CBS teen drama.
And honestly, dude... I wish that for him. He's seemed like a stand-up guy. Even the vulture gimmick wasn't his idea but he still did shyt like put Bumpy Knuckles on his CD and the Amadou thing in his theme meant that man was being shouted out once a week in millions of homes in middle America for a decade. The Make-A-Wish thing on top of it all... man. When he was there I didn't care for him much, but objectively, removed from all this... Cena really was the best WWE performer of the PG era. Not the best character or worker or talker, but dude is probably the first non-problematic first-ballot HOFer they've produced since the AE who might go on to success without shunning them on his rise.
Shame the company definitely does not deserve any residual goodwill their association with him might bring.
I'm interested to see what the second stage of his career looks like. Rock did things no one ever thought a wrestler could do out there, and that road is now paved a good bit. Plus, Cena was indisputably The Guy of his era whereas Rock is 1A or 1B depending, plus Cena is white and not just racially-ambiguous. He's literally set up to succeed off the work Dwayne paved and the work he himself did in the E. He's also gone more lean instead of bulk like Rock did, so... assuming the world can open up again, I think dude will find a lot of success and only be held back by how long he waited to make the jump, just age-wise.
Reckon in 10 years we'll be seeing a male-patterned baldness John Cena playing the old retired vet who still has one last hurrah in him in movies, and probably like, a fire chief dad of the female lead in a NBC/CBS teen drama.
And honestly, dude... I wish that for him. He's seemed like a stand-up guy. Even the vulture gimmick wasn't his idea but he still did shyt like put Bumpy Knuckles on his CD and the Amadou thing in his theme meant that man was being shouted out once a week in millions of homes in middle America for a decade. The Make-A-Wish thing on top of it all... man. When he was there I didn't care for him much, but objectively, removed from all this... Cena really was the best WWE performer of the PG era. Not the best character or worker or talker, but dude is probably the first non-problematic first-ballot HOFer they've produced since the AE who might go on to success without shunning them on his rise.
Shame the company definitely does not deserve any residual goodwill their association with him might bring.
Homeboy Runny-Ray
From Around The Way
He's only the closest thing cause they refused to push anybody else. Actually cm punk was closer. They shoved him down our throats nonstop () for years at the expense of the rest of the roster. He gave the same tired underdog promo every week even though he was never the underdog. They jobbed everybody out to him. He wasn't underappreciated at all.
THIS right here.
punk & danielson were the most red hot wrestlers that the WWE has had since rock/austin.
but they werent WWE creations so they didnt get that green light.
cena is one of the main reasons why chit went into the shytter actually.
Bryan Danielson
Jmare007 x Bryan Danielson x JLova = King Ghidorah
Amare's Right Hook
Southeast World Champion
Cancelnomics
Peter Popoff
Baba Yega in black uptowns
Na, he still sucks. Always will.
AJtheOne
Nets/Giants/Yankees
the only one that is kind of similar was rock. people had an inkling that he was leaving but no real confirmation.
watching his unaired speech after the goldberg match is interesting because it was the only real goodbye
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