^That's my point though. Cena's quite possibly your most charismatic figure. You can't say it's all on merchandise sales either because Cena has been outsold by edgier people; and not all that merch was sold to people in any one or two specific age groups... Punk's MITB BITW shirt outsold Cena in the children's department... so clearly parents weren't too bummed out by his edgier content. So why use Cena to pander to the negative opinion of nearly everyone who watches the product? All it has done is hurt Cena rather than boost him. They didn't know for sure before Vince called Rock up last winter that they'd have someone who could come in and catapult Cena right back into the respected graces of the majority... like it or not, "Let's Go Cena!" STILL gets drowned out by "CENA SUCKS!"
So why, for 5 or 6 years now, have they made Cena look like a complete tool on the microphone? What good did it do anyone? I'd venture as far as to say all it did was do harm. Cena can be edgy and still sell more merchandise than anyone... in fact, it would help them move a shit-ton MORE merchandise if Cena was a little edgier and not being this, (thank you CM Punk) douchebaggety walking billboard for the PG era.
Granted, I'm of the belief the entire company NEEDS to be edgier on their own... but Cena's the worst of the worst imo... 1. BECAUSE of his vast potential, 2. because of his past character, and 3. because he's your top dog and sets the standard for everyone else in the company. Hell, even setting the standard doesn't cut it... it's why EVERYONE is stale right now or lame on the stick. Cena needs to raise the bar... something he's capable of doing because we already know he has done it and is starting to do it right now, and we know he's capable of getting even better.
Then again, the WWE would rather ram video package after video package after video package of quotes from TV and radio interviews on Raw rather than give us a promo... but again, this is somewhere Cena can help. For someone so avid a Rock/Austin fan, you'd think Cena appreciates a great promo as much as anyone... and he's the least at-risk guy in the company. Hell, CM Punk got told "say some controversial stuff and we'll cut you off when we think you've gone too far" and he didn't get fired for shit, even with his contract coming to an end, legitimately. John Cena could walk out on Raw week after week and call Vince McMahon "a dickless piece of shit" and I'm certain nobody would even think twice about "punishing" Cena for it... THAT is how much power he has. He owes it to himself, the company, and every guy in the back to raise the bar, step it up, and usher in a "new" era.
