Man and SuperCena

For every era of wrestling there's always a top guy in WWE, for the raging 80s it was Hulk Hogan, for the New Generation era of the early to mid-90s it was Bret Hart, for the attitude era it was Steve Austin and the Rock. Now in this new era (presumably the PG era) one man stands as supreme superstar of WWE, John Felix Anthony Cena.

Cena is the definition of superstar, multiple time world champ with numerous movie and t.v appearences, being on the majority of WWE advertisments and products. He is seen as the most recognisable wrestler in WWE right now (who still competes, baring Rock and Austin), yet his reaction from actual wrestling fans is mixed, some (mostly small children and horny women) meet him with loud, adoring cheers, whilst others (mostly men over the age of 13) meet him with loud boos and abusive chants. So why is opinion on Cena so divided and what's my thoughts on him all together? In this blog I'll try to unravel the enigma that is John Felix Anthony Cena (I just like writing that).

So why does he appeal so much to young wrestling fans today? If you look at all the aformentioned top stars of WWE and the time they were top in you'll see why. Hogan was top in Reagan era America, when communism was still a threat and Americans needed an Aryan muscleman to look up to, to stand for the red, White and blue. Austin was top in the late 90s, when grunge and generation X was prominant, teens had an anti-authoritian feel and Austin obviously encapsulated that whenever he stomped a mudhole in Mr Mchmahon. Now look at this era, this is the era of Justin Beiber and RnB, Cena's catchy rap theme yet clean as a whistle attitude definatly appeals to small children. Also, any small child who still thinks wrestling is real, would think Cena is god after the amazing feats of strength and pain threshold (more on that later). In short, a mixture of modern tastes and superhuman booking makes Cena cool to the little Jimmys (thanks R-Truth).

Now, there are many reasons why Cena has gained so much hostility from the majority of adult males, one being his selling or lack there of. Sure during his beatdowns Cena will react and groan like most wrestlers, but when it comes to his big comeback, he gives off shoulder blocks like a fresh man, this takes away some of the believability of his performance, his blatantly non-connecting punches are another thing that riles up the masses. Also some of his promos come off as too childish and annoying and that he's trying too hard to be funny and comming off as flat. And let's face it, fans from the attitude era have always had a hostility for clean-cut, kid friendly wrestlers, remember Rocky Maivia? And even someone as talented and hard working as Rey Mysterio gets grief for being too kid friendly.

So, my thoughts on Cena? Whilst his in ring technique isn't exactly the sharpest, he's been able to have decent matches with JBL/Big Show to Shawn Michaels/Chris Jericho and while he's not the best, he's certainly not as bad as Hogan or Ultimate Warrior. His promos? People forget that when he was a mid-carder as the doctor of thuganomics, he got good responses from the crowd due to the very un-PG raps he did, if you're gonna blame someone, blame the writers for giving such patronising, unfunny material. In conclusion, Cena is a very hardworking wrestler who has the hardest schedual, is respected by the likes of Ric Flair and Bret Hart and doesn't abuse his position in the company (like say a kliq member would) so in my opinion...he's ok, although I'll still boo him at live events.