What is it about Cena that makes him so hated?

[Gnrfan]

Genuine Question because i don't get it really?

Is it that he rose up the card quickly and is perceived to not have paid his dues?

Is it that he made HBK & HHH tap at Mania, and people begrudge him that?

Is it that he just isn't that exciting in-ring?

Is it the rapper thing?

Is he just unfortunate to had to have followed Austin & Rock's era?

Is it that people feel like McMahon and WWE have forced him on people?

I'd be interested to see what people think, as i just see him as good entertainer, who has worked hard for WWE during a very difficult era. A era where tables are no longer broken, chair shots are very few and far between and the freedom to say what you want has been replaced by scripts.

Opinions welcome!

[BlowUpYourVideo]

I think it's a combination of:

- people feeling some of the things he says are pretty..... stupid. Guess that's what you get when you can't say '****', 'jackass' etc.

- he represents the PG era of WWE (though people were booing him back during his first title reign in 2005, so that came later)

- him being in the main event scene for so long, when people don't see him as that good a wrestler (anyone who uses that criticism against Cena but are Rock fans are just trying to come up with things to bash Cena about IMO)

- and I think him coming along after Rock and Austin didn't help him either. Two of the all-time greats were always going to be a tough act to follow.


Personally, I don't mind him that much, I think a lot of his hate is unwarranted, but I can kind of understand where it comes from.

[D]

Reasons i hate Cena

1. I can't stand white people who try to act black. so his thuganomics thing drove me nuts

2. He is corny

3. He is a cross between the Rock and Hulk Hogan but lacks the charisma to pull it off.

4. he wears jorts

5. The fact people want him to be a heel but because he sells T Shirts to kids, WWE Refuse to give the fans what they want.

6. Was pushed down our throats ad nauseum

7. He comes off like a corporate ass kisser. whereas Rock and Austin were anti establishment, he is back to being a company man.

8. not terribly exciting in the ring unless he is being led by an all time great. Just watch Mainevent against Miz. what a **** fest.

[Gnrfan]

Reasons i hate Cena

1. I can't stand white people who try to act black. so his thuganomics thing drove me nuts

Not sure he tries to black. Do you mean he raps?

Reasons i hate Cena

2. He is corny

Yeah he can be corny, i agree with that!

Reasons i hate Cena

3. He is a cross between the Rock and Hulk Hogan but lacks the charisma to pull it off.

I don't see Rock in him at all. I can the Hogan similarities but even they are "few and far between". I'm not sure he has copied anyone really. I remember when he was a heel and made up all his own "raps" i remember Foley saying that he was one to watch.

Reasons i hate Cena

4. he wears jorts

Fair enough but i'm not sure his clothes warrant booing him. Would you boo the Rock if he came out in "jorts"?

Reasons i hate Cena

5. The fact people want him to be a heel but because he sells T Shirts to kids, WWE Refuse to give the fans what they want.

Thats not really his fault and i'd argue he gets more heat than alot of genuine heels. Why change someone who gives everyone in the audience a reason to interact? He is unique in this... i'd leave it the way it is too from a business sense and storyline sense.

Reasons i hate Cena

6. Was pushed down our throats ad nauseum

Again not his fault in anyway. Anyone in the locker room would have taken the chance, that he was deemed talented enough for. And you have to say he has delivered for WWE.

Reasons i hate Cena

7. He comes off like a corporate ass kisser. whereas Rock and Austin were anti establishment, he is back to being a company man.

Austin was/is real chummy with Vince. More so than Cena if you believe what you read. Sure you are not just buying into the characters a bit too much?

 

Reasons i hate Cena

8. not terribly exciting in the ring unless he is being led by an all time great. Just watch Mainevent against Miz. what a **** fest.

I didn't mind the main event with Miz. Would take that any day over the Orton HHH match at mania a few years back. I remember him having good matches with HBK twice, HHH, Edge, Orton, Batista and even with Angle and RVD before they left.

The are not top ten ever matches, but by no means are they terrible IMO. And lets not forget even greats have bad matches. Wrestling is and always has been about more than in the ring... whether you like it or not!

-------------

So from that i have agreed he is corny and he was pushed down our throats albeit not his fault. And he has also committed the crime of wearing "Jorts" 

The thing is i agree there is something that makes you wanna boo him... but i just don't know why. He has gained my respect over the last few years, probably since the day RVD beat him for the title and i kinda hope he ends up beating The Rock, although i think Cena has the lesser ego and will most likely job to the Rock.

And if the promos were being scored, i'd say Cena is ahead on points, crowd reaction aside of course. Just my opinion.

Cheers for replying though D. Its an interesting topic i think.

[AtariLegend]

Cena was getting booed long before the Triple H/Shawn Michaels matches.

As for promos, he writes his own materieal according to the former creative team guys, it's actually Rock that was reading getting more material from the lead writter guy (can't remember name off top of head).

So those lame gay jokes and silliness are all Cena, he's the star Vince lets him have control of his character.

[AtariLegend]

Word from the dirtsheet writters is, alot of people didn't like Rock and that he had outgrown WWE, some feel people were trying to make Rock look a bit worse inorder for Cena to look better.

[Hammy]

His promos are childish, plain and simple.  He can never do serious for more than a few seconds before he has to crack a joke and consequently you can't take his feuds seriously, did you ever get the impression his life was a living hell with Nexus?  He spent half the time joking his way through being a member.  I wouldn't mind the jokes so much if they were good but unless you are such or love loads of gay jokes, they aren't.

For those who think it is his rap schtick, its not since thats virtually vanished, that was actually pretty good back in the day.

Ever notice how some matches he goes into a match semi-popular and then half way through the crowd start to turn on him.  Its normally about the time he starts throwing the worst looking punches ever.  One of the greatest things about wrestling is being able to suspend your disbelief.  Cena makes it nearly impossible.

Now blame the dirtsheets, blame Cena, I don't know who is completely to fault, but his comebacks after beatings are often to quick.

Its not the same now, but a few years ago he never seemd to lose, it was an on going forum joke for any feud Cena was involved in SPOILER: CENA WINS!

Back to his character, with the "Rainbow Coloured" gear and his promos if you over 18, (Barring the odd exception - Gnrfan  ) he just doesn't have any real appeal.

One of his positives is his passion, although that can be a negative, its great he loves the company and the fans and the business and will never leave, but he seems to feel the need to tell us again and again and....

The best thing about him is he is over.  Cheer.  Boo.  He gets a reaction, he never suffers from pin drop syndrome like supposedly over guys like Orton can in matches (chinlocks). 

I remember him having good matches with HBK twice, HHH, Edge, Orton, Batista and even with Angle and RVD before they left.

2 good matches with HBK?? And good ones with Trips, Edge, Angle and RVD.... that's hardly epically difficult 

As for Orton.  I'll wager this.  For every good one he had with Orton they had 10 medicore to bad ones 

[Gnrfan]

His promos are childish, plain and simple. 

Surely not childish in a PG era?

I wouldn't mind the jokes so much if they were good but unless you are such or love loads of gay jokes, they aren't.

For those who think it is his rap schtick, its not since thats virtually vanished, that was actually pretty good back in the day.

I'd say the he is better than average on the mic. I just think its too much. I remember the same with HHH when he was the champ and leading the company. He used to come out at the start of RAW or SD for 20 minutes and after about 2 months of this, i got so bored of him it was untrue. In fact he bored me so much it took him a few years for me to even be interested in his work again.

When Cena writes his own stuff i think he is good, but i get the impression that the content isn't always up to him.

Now blame the dirtsheets, blame Cena, I don't know who is completely to fault, but his comebacks after beatings are often to quick.

Same could be said for lots of guys. Wrestling was created on face's taking a beating and overcoming. Cena is abit of a throwback. Very few these days are designed to 100% face as this just isn't considered cool anymore.

Bret was probably the last true 100% face to win multiple world titles. before the HBK and then Austin era took wrestling down a different road.

Its not the same now, but a few years ago he never seemd to lose, it was an on going forum joke for any feud Cena was involved in SPOILER: CENA WINS!

That was a good thing though i think. coz as bored as i got with him winning, i was continually surprised that he kept winning. I remember when Umaga first came in and quickly got a title match, i was convinced he was gonna lose, and then facing HHH at mania saw no way he was gonna win and certainly not make HHH tap. It was a real jaw on floor moment for me and for my friends. Then when he did it to HBK as well, i was shocked again.

I remember at this time WWE tended to have longer title reigns anyway (Lesnar, Cena & JBL all had lengthy reigns)

Back to his character, with the "Rainbow Coloured" gear and his promos if you over 18, (Barring the odd exception - Gnrfan  ) he just doesn't have any real appeal.

One of his positives is his passion, although that can be a negative, its great he loves the company and the fans and the business and will never leave, but he seems to feel the need to tell us again and again and....

The best thing about him is he is over.  Cheer.  Boo.  He gets a reaction, he never suffers from pin drop syndrome like supposedly over guys like Orton can in matches (chinlocks). 

Don't get me wrong im not a massive Cena fan, i was happy to see Miz retain and i freely admit that the guy is cheesy and childish and if this was the attitude era he would sink like a stone. But in the same way that Rock, DX & Austin embraced the attitude era, Cena has embraced this era and i don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

I agree he can be boring, but the guy has application that some more talented people just didn't have. Wrestling as whole is not as exciting and Cena is seen as this figure-head for that and gets alot of the blame.

His appeal to me is simply what you say, everyone chants at Cena good or bad. Not sure any other wrestler can hold that claim on the consistent basis.

Just strikes me as odd that "fans" hate on him so much despite his obvious work rate for the company they watch. If you don't like the product then fine, but Cena is 1% of that problem and its a problem that includes Vince, Writers, Advisers (and i include HHH in that), Wrestlers and the lack of competition.

[scotta75]

Here is it in a nut shell you can only force feed wrestling fans certain crap for so long before they turn on someone. Example Hulk Hogan he was force feed on people for so long when suddenly people just started to hate him, and such is the case with John Cena people are tired of his sugar coated bullshit character!

   I for one I can not stand Cena I think he is fake ass and his skills or **** in other orders he is a modern day Hulk Hogan plain and simple. Let's face it the only reason why Cena is like is because like by little kids and that is who the WWE is targeted too the young people.

  In the long run Cena is wash up he is over played and over marketed and force feed to people for too long!

[Hammy]

His promos are childish, plain and simple. 

Surely not childish in a PG era?

He's talked about "Poopy", "Snot" and "Spots" in promos.  Orton might be boring, but content wise, even in PG Era he can focus about kicking you in the head.  Yes I know he is more tweener than babyface, but using "PG" as an excuse for his childish promos is just weak.  And if its an explantion that he is catering to kids, fine, but don't be surprised that the 18+ market get annoyed that a product once aimed at them is aimed at a different age range, and the person who stands out as being the person who is most PG, and kid like...is Cena.

Now blame the dirtsheets, blame Cena, I don't know who is completely to fault, but his comebacks after beatings are often to quick.

Same could be said for lots of guys. Wrestling was created on face's taking a beating and overcoming. Cena is abit of a throwback. Very few these days are designed to 100% face as this just isn't considered cool anymore.

Bret was probably the last true 100% face to win multiple world titles. before the HBK and then Austin era took wrestling down a different road.

I don't just mean the "Hulking" up aspect.  I mean one second he's down after being nailed with a devastating move, then he just stops selling takes someone out, the match is over.  Its dumb, and to say, well he's a throwback, Hulk Hogan was like that is a poor excuse, people tired of that to, the business has evolved.  Compare HBK/HHH selling to Cena and he's laughable.  Summerslam 2010.  Cena got beaten down for 5 minutes, knocked out cold (or so you'd be led to believe) on the outside.  Rolled in, Gabriel misses the 450 splash, gets pinned, straight away Barrett is in the STF and tapping, Cena wins!  He just suddenly sprung back to life, 100% ok.  If I remember correctly wasn't HBK pissed at Cena at Wrestlemania when they fought for doing a bad job selling?

Cena has embraced this era and i don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

Maybe thats the problem.

People often knock this era, moan about the Attitude Era no more.  They don't want PG.  So logically they will knock the flag bearer of the era they dislike....right?

Just strikes me as odd that "fans" hate on him so much despite his obvious work rate for the company they watch.

Yeah but its kind of like on reality shows where people go.  "Well he sucks, but he tries so hard, lets vote for him"  And I'm like "No, if he's ****, he's ****".  Same with Cena, well done for trying, but he isn't that good, I'm not going to give him bonus points for that.  And like I said before, its seems society often dislike people when they appear to be trying too hard, and nobody shoves it down our throat about how hard they try like Cena does.

[slashsfro]

Yep, Cena's promos are awful when he strays from the topic point which is the match or feud.  He's okay when he talks about the match and stuff but when he tries to put a joke in there it always backfires.  The jokes are either about poop or gay bashing.

Cena just doesn't know how to tell a decent "story" in his matches unless carried by a superior wrestler.  My issue isn't with his promos (they are bad) but the fact that the guy is a really shitty wrestler.  People bring up Hogan but he was able to carry the Ultimate Warrior in WM6.

This has been mentioned a little but Cena's moveset is pretty weak.  Attitude Adjustment doesn't look like it hurts that much.  The STFU is a joke and I think part of that is because Cena just doesn't apply enough pressure and the move looks weak as a result.  Even a guy like Orton has more moves that look like they hurt (punt kick, RKO). 

Cena has headlined the main event at Wrestlemania the last 8 years (soon to be 9).  That's a long time for someone to be on top.  I wonder who will do the heavy lifting in the Rock/Cena match.  I'm praying it's the Rock because I have seen no evidence that Cena can do it.  The Rock got a decent match out of Hogan in 2002 and I don't think he wants to embarrass himself in his ring return.

[BlowUpYourVideo]

I think slashsfro makes a good point about Cena sticking to talking the feud or the match. I think he's fine and can be quite convincing when he talks about that stuff.

And regarding the painful-looking-ness of the Attitude Adjustment, I raise you.... the Skull Crushing Finale.

[Gnrfan]

Here is it in a nut shell you can only force feed wrestling fans certain crap for so long before they turn on someone. Example Hulk Hogan he was force feed on people for so long when suddenly people just started to hate him, and such is the case with John Cena people are tired of his sugar coated bullshit character!

I for one I can not stand Cena I think he is fake ass and his skills or **** in other orders he is a modern day Hulk Hogan plain and simple. Let's face it the only reason why Cena is like is because like by little kids and that is who the WWE is targeted too the young people.

I will agree that he has been force fed to the WWE audience, and in the attitude era his character would not be tolerated, but in this era where it is PG, and as such can't be compared. i don't think people can be suprised when his promos are like this. You don't have to like it but thats the product.

Everyone has a shelf life and there are no exceptions. people can re-invent themselves and come back but not many people stay the same and popular forever.

The fact of the matter is that to be big in WWE you need to be good on the mic and have a rapport good or bad. In ring quality comes after that. Cena is average in ring (but not terrible IMO), but good on the mic and has the best crowd reactions (as they are mixed) in the company. I remember his Rumble comeback, that was a great reaction. 

I for one I can not stand Cena I think he is fake ass and his skills or **** in other orders he is a modern day Hulk Hogan plain and simple.

I think Cena would take that as Hogan is one of the biggest stars WWE has ever seen. Like it or not Cena is in that elite group of wrestlers that have led a generation.

I'm not a massive fan of Cena's but i wouldn't boo him, simply because of his efforts he puts in for the company and i wouldn't begrudge him anything coz he aims his character at kids, which is what his bosses want from him.

His promos are childish, plain and simple. 

Surely not childish in a PG era?

He's talked about "Poopy", "Snot" and "Spots" in promos.  Orton might be boring, but content wise, even in PG Era he can focus about kicking you in the head.  Yes I know he is more tweener than babyface, but using "PG" as an excuse for his childish promos is just weak.  And if its an explantion that he is catering to kids, fine, but don't be surprised that the 18+ market get annoyed that a product once aimed at them is aimed at a different age range, and the person who stands out as being the person who is most PG, and kid like...is Cena.

As the main man on the RAW brand the company would want him to set the trend for the "PG" rating. No parent wants their kids idolising a guy who goes around wanting to punt people in the head and looking demented!

Orton IMO is terrible on the mic, terrible in the ring (although i do love the RKO) and his character is just stupid. But not heard many boos! So do people care less about whats good and more about the audience its aimed at when it comes to who they boo?

I'm not surprised that the 18+ demo doesn't like him! I'm just surprised that its only him they hate. People act as if Cena just does what he wants and has created this PG era. He's just the one fortunate (or unfortunate depending on how you view it) to be heading it up.

[D]

I guess my problem is mostly with how he has been booked.

like the Nexus thing. That could've been an NWO sized kick ass revolutionary angle. instead, because Cena sells Tshirts to 8 year olds, they make a fool out of Nexus and waste something potentially great.