Social Experiment? [Cena]

[Luke Flywalker]

WWE Shop is accepting pre-orders for a new t-shirt as we speak, about John Cena. The shirt is labeled "Anti-John Cena Shirt" and on the front says "CENA SUCKS" and on the back says "We Can't See U".

So is this a shirt for The Rock? Or is it a shirt for the WWE to gauge exactly how many people dislike John Cena in a possible effort to finally turn him heel?

Thoughts?

 

[...god...]

it's a shirt to see how much more money the WWE can make off John Cena.. except its 5 years late.

 

[monkeystyle]

Or is it a shirt for the WWE to gauge exactly how many people dislike John Cena in a possible effort to finally turn him heel?

I think you're on the right track with this. What's been one of the biggest problems with turning Cena? Losing the merchandise he sells. If they can sell the hell out of this shirt, they just might pull the trigger in time for WM.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

Cena is turning heel. There is no doubt about it, especially the way they really started pushing the young talent. It's no longer a matter of "if", just a matter of "when" which is looking like Mania time. It was a foregone conclusion last year when Rock and Cena started feuding. Even if he isn't technically a heel come Mania, he will be one that night. There's no way they thought they could do a face-face dynamic with one of the three most popular workers of the past 3 decades in his fucking hometown...well maybe...but still. Miami is going to turn Cena heel faster than Toronto did Rocky, even if it is for one night.

On a side note, WWE has been booked fucking spectacularly the past three weeks. Of course there are going to be dumb naysayers, but really how the fuck can anyone find something to complain about? Danielson and Punk are the top guys in the industry, every champion on the roster is under 35, 6'2 and 230 lbs and the product is honest to goodness booked around in ring happenings. Danielson is being booked like actual big shit, Ziggler is getting a chance to shine, Ryder (As goofy, overated and severely limited by a goofy gimmick) is being pushed, the tag division is starting to regain momentum, all the belts are being held in high regard and are being booked back to prominence and the first round of young pushed talent (Sheamus, Miz and Del Rio) are still upper mid card, main event fixtures. Orton and Cena are still prominent (and there is no reason they shouldn't be) while being an aside to let the younger guys get established. There is a nice ebb and flow going right now with how the older guard and the new generation are slotted and booked. The booking is simple, effective (Mark Henry's title reign) and still intriguing (Kane). The few complaints are minor and right now, the WWE is easily putting out the best product, in ring and overall. That's not fanboyism, that's pretty factual. What do y'all think?

 

[Luke Flywalker]

^Dead on. The only real complaint I have is the seemingly worst-of-the-worst TNA booking going on with the Divas division right now, lmfao. Beth Phoenix retains her title, tweets about Kharma to build at hopefully a potential feud, and they have her come out the very next night and get squashed by Alicia Fox, who hasn't won a match... ever? I almost want to taste her pussy now, because whoever granted that got their fucking world rocked by that shit. They either need to eliminate the division completely, or focus seriously on it... because that shit is utter garbage.

Part of me still thinks the current face-champion-trio is just WWE fucking with the IWC... but they've booked all of them so perfectly and all have risen to very solid levels in terms of reaction and performance. Shit, I can't remember the last time this much of the card actually got a reaction out of the crowds... it's been awhile. They've also been structuring the shows well enough that they get pops early to fire crowds up. Oddly enough, when Triple H got a little more power, this product really started to evolve and grow... >_>

 

[...god...]

you forgot the tag team division still blows.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

It has been blowing, but right now they've actually got a couple tag teams trying to get #1 contender, all they really need at this point is to pair up a couple sets of guys who aren't doing anything anyways. I'd mark the fuck out if they would establish the Celtic Connection and let Sheamus & Drew dominate for awhile... but I think they're set on making Sheamus a huge player, even though they're making him squash the likes of the worst low-card talent.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

And the Uso-Primco matches have been pretty friggin good. I hope if they do repackage singles guys as teams, let them look similar via attire. Might as well repackage RTruth and JTG as an edgier Cryme Time; 2 Live Coons.

 

[monkeystyle]

I'd just like to state for the record that turning Cena heel is not something I would do just yet, nor anytime soon for that matter. I think the longer they hold off on doing it the more it will be a huge deal. The Hogan effect if you will.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

Huge problem there, Monk.

Hogan turning heel was the least-expected move in the business. Hell, they were worried people would cheer nWo even if he joined because of him, and he had to work twice as hard to get heat.

Cena doesn't have anywhere near 1/4 the support and following Hogan had in arenas, let alone the world. Turning Cena sooner is logical because it NEEDS to be done. People dislike him already, and the heat drowns out the pops by large in every single city... EVEN BOSTON! It's time to do it. Not only would it boost his segments, it'd boost other people's segments and hopefully promo, but it would boost matches and reactions. It would boost Cena because he'd actually HAVE to change his character a bit.

They've tried their damnedest to make him a Stone Cold superstar... but it hasn't worked. Cena can't lay just anyone out and get a pop for it. Someone could make the save for Austin getting his ass kicked (a-la The Rock), get a crazy fucking pop for it, Stone Cold could Stun The Rock and the pop would be bigger. Cena doesn't have that... so it's time to go a different route.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

^^R.e Hogan: What? Hogan was in a similar position then in WCW as Cena is in now. The crowd HATED Hogan. Go watch any WCW show with Hogan headlining after the novelty of his return wore off and it became apparent that Hogan was in business for himself and got spots for his buddies Tenta, Duggan, Leslie and buried the fuck out of Ric Flair and just ruined Vader to the point that his career would never rebound in America. The crowd hated him and if they didn't turn him heel, the nWo would have been cheered sooner than they were if Hogan was their opposition. Hogan's turn was perfect because the crowd demanded it despite what Hogan and Bisch might tell you.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

^Nah man, I remember the Hogan the month before his write-off... Hogan was getting crazy pops, especially during one of his tag-matches with Macho.

Then the night of the formation... Hogan's music hitting got one of those ultra-crazy pops that only Hogan was getting in the 80's... and then the turn was solid.


I'm not disagreeing with you that Hogan may have been losing some of his support... but it was nowhere... NOWHERE near the level of what Cena has been going through.

 

[He who knows more than Nation]

We are ging to split hairs on this. No problem. There were "die Hogan, die" signs an chants from the very first Nitro and let us not forget the live crowd at the triple dome cage match. Hogan did get a pop because he wasgone for months and the Outsider were so brilliantly booked there was no way Hogan was getting booed. But it was fairly comprable to cenas situation when you figure there was no IWC then.

 

[Hometown Kid]

I think there's still way more problems than Enzo and Flywalker are letting on with the product. Time will tell with Danielson and Ryder (In fact, I wonder if they put the belt on him just because they don't want him to have to ME 'Mania) and Punk still is bad news as the top guy, despite getting pretty great reactions in general now. Tag division needs more teams, Divas are booked atrociously...even Rock coming back had a pretty flat buyrate.

There's a lot of positive signs though, and I think the Cena turn's coming at 'Mania. But even that i'm not positive of, it's just been teased and talked about so many times...his main problem isn't even that he's a face though, or a main eventer, it's that his promos are bad in a way that do damage to the product. If he's still doing a bunch of bad comedy as a heel, it's not going to help that he's feuding with faces. They're giving him a reason to turn though, which leaves me more confident that wherever they're going with Cena and the WWE in general, it'll work out.

 

[Luke Flywalker]

^They've been pushing the envelope and making a lot of the "unthinkable" happen recently tho.

I think Bryan's going to coast into Mania as champion. Everyone in the company is supposedly really high on the guy.

Punk, it's still more than just buyrates and viewers. You've got to push the limits with something like this. If you bail on it, you're just wasting time in the first and last place... if you stick with it, (look at the reactions now compared to 2 months ago) the payoff could be huge. I think the problem with Punk at the moment is that Del Rio is the only money feud they're willing to give him (it should be Miz, but whatever). If a Jericho return happens, it could be huge for Punk, especially with mic-work. I still maintain the Cena heel-turn is the only way to absolutely, fully establish Punk as the ultimate superstar. There are some good young heels on the roster, but none of 'em are established names yet. Del Rio's as flat as can be, which sucks because he truly has a lot to offer... but shortcomings are shortcomings.

The WWE invested so much into John Cena that the bulk of people who tune in to the show are Cena fans... so when you get these viewer ratings coming in, I think a bulk of the loss occurs when people don't want to see anything other than Cena... and that's a product of the E never using Cena to establish anyone else.



As far as his promos, I agree. I never liked the underhanded comments he makes... for someone who wears "Hustle Loyalty Respect" and "Rise Above Hate"... a lot of the underhanded comments really resonate. The corniness of his character is harmful as well... I still can't figure out wtf "RASCAL FLATTS" had to do with ANYTHING that night. He needs to stop being the posterchild for PG... flirt with the other side of the rating like Punk has done. We all KNOW Cena has the potential to be a top-notch mic-man in the business... that's what is possibly the most frustrating thing... there's never any display of that potential anymore.