Unocal 76
King Koopa
Providing The Finest Oil
Posts: 12,687
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Post by Unocal 76 on Aug 21, 2011 1:50:57 GMT -5
Since he came over to RAW in the 2005 Draft, John Cena has been known for getting mixed reactions.
But has that only been the case because of the brand switch?
I remember when he WWE Champion for about 2 and a half months on SmackDown prior to the Draft- and don't recall SmackDown fans giving him the type of boos we'd see sometimes on RAW.
(When he was a babyface on SmackDown, most of the crowd seemed to be on Cena's side as opposed to RAW, when there have been tendencies to have the women and children cheering him, but males boong)
Was this mainly due to the brand switch from SmackDown to RAW, or would he have gotten mixed reactions had he stayed on SmackDown?
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Post by Oh Cry Me a Screwball on Aug 21, 2011 2:23:50 GMT -5
I think a lot of the reason he started getting mixed reactions is because he was put in some poorly-casted feuds. The older, male fans ended up siding with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle in their feuds and it just snowballed from there.
That being said, the default solution for all taped shows is the hair dryer pop, so we would never know if he was getting booed until he shows up on PPV.
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BxB
Unicron
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Post by BxB on Aug 21, 2011 2:26:24 GMT -5
Yeah, they've used the "seagull pop" on Smackdown for ages. Even if Cena was getting mixed reactions on Smackdown, we wouldn't know. I, however, believe he was over like rover on Smackdown, and even on Raw when he was drafted. Him constantly beating guys like Jericho and Angle, who were favorites with the older fans didn't help. Plus his character was basically neutered.
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Post by Virt McGirt on Aug 21, 2011 2:58:52 GMT -5
I place the whole mixed reaction thing at right about WM22, so, it was a bit after the move
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Dave at the Movies
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
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Post by Dave at the Movies on Aug 21, 2011 3:00:06 GMT -5
I think it was the US sinner title and that spinning medallion necklace that replaced the lock and chain that originally got him booed.
I remember he would get piped in cheers on Smackdown but he would get boos at live ppvs.
Cena basically started getting booed when they watered down the rapper thug gimmick.
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bob
Salacious Crumb
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Post by bob on Aug 21, 2011 3:02:54 GMT -5
his character was neutered once he came to RAW which started the initially booing
then they put him in horrible feuds with the fans siding with the heels
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And_5400
Trap-Jaw
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Post by And_5400 on Aug 21, 2011 5:35:22 GMT -5
It really started going downhill at around a few weeks prior to News Years Revolution, though give or take a few months before like December, November as I probably wasn't paying attention until his massive boos at NYR.
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Post by baresolid on Aug 21, 2011 5:58:51 GMT -5
You all seem to be pinning his 'mixed reactions' to around NYR or WM22, but if I remember correctly many fans were audibly cheering the heels as early as Sumerslam 2005.
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Post by Snaptastic on Aug 21, 2011 6:26:00 GMT -5
You all seem to be pinning his 'mixed reactions' to around NYR or WM22, but if I remember correctly many fans were audibly cheering the heels as early as Sumerslam 2005. I remember similar I think. He got stale pretty quick either way. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2011 6:26:28 GMT -5
You all seem to be pinning his 'mixed reactions' to around NYR or WM22, but if I remember correctly many fans were audibly cheering the heels as early as Sumerslam 2005. And even at Mania 21, a vocal portion of the audience was on JBL's side. |
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Post by RealMattKozza91 on Aug 21, 2011 6:43:42 GMT -5
Of course he is gonna get mixed reactions with crowds of half kids and half adults.... Simple
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Bobeddy
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Made a Terrible Mistake
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Post by Bobeddy on Aug 21, 2011 8:48:57 GMT -5
You all seem to be pinning his 'mixed reactions' to around NYR or WM22, but if I remember correctly many fans were audibly cheering the heels as early as Sumerslam 2005. I'd say it began at Vengeance the month before when he went against Jericho and Christian who the fans were getting behind really strong around then. That was the problem. Christian, Jericho, Angle; Cena was being put up against guys that the older fans liked and genuinely wanted to see be champ. And then Cena just kept beating them, the older fans didn't but him and frustration grew to the point where it got to NYR and WWE just couldn't hide ignore anymore. 6 years later, the affects of Cena's initial booking are still being felt. |
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Lick Ness Monster
Dennis Stamp
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Post by Lick Ness Monster on Aug 21, 2011 8:58:04 GMT -5
Bad booking can accomplish quite a bit. During the Cena-Angle match from No Mercy 2003, dueling chants started with Cena eventually winning out. Two years later, it's Cena-Angle once again (at No Mercy, no less), dueling chants, and Angle eventually winning out.
I'd pin the exact time frame sometime around the Jericho feud. At least that was the first time that I noticed a sizable opposition.
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Post by crimsonwolf on Aug 21, 2011 12:50:11 GMT -5
Looking back, it wasn't until his feud with Kurt Angle that people started to actively boo John Cena. In his feud with Jericho, the crowds were pretty much 50/50 Pro-Cena/Pro-Jericho. But Kurt Angle was simply a heel people refused to boo. Combine that with the fact that on Raw, Cena pretty much loss his rapper gimmick (the thing that got him over) and gained Superman-booking.
And I don't think Cena got seagull pops on SD (at least not often) unless they constantly dubbed in all the "Lets Go Cena" chants every week.
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noah9322
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Titletown, USA.
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Post by noah9322 on Aug 21, 2011 12:57:35 GMT -5
I remember that I came back to wrestling after a break and the first PPV I watched was Survivor Series 2005. I was shocked to see how against Cena the crowd was.
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Post by kayfabulous on Aug 21, 2011 13:06:49 GMT -5
I can't really comment since I missed much of Cena's development into a main event star. I just know that I hated him when he debuted (he didn't mesh with what I liked when I was 13/14) and I'm not a fan of his current character either.
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Post by Free Hat on Aug 21, 2011 13:07:48 GMT -5
It all started in early '04 when they began watering down his gimmick. His raps became a lot less creative, revolving mostly around gay jokes and toilet humour (reportedly Vince's idea), and he started openly pandering to the audience around that time ("Chain Gang," etc). It wasn't so apparent when he was still a midcarder, because the fans didn't really care enough to actively boo him. But when he became WWE champion and started going over respected veterans like Angle, Jericho, Christian, etc, it was only a matter of time before the older fans turned on him
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Post by baresolid on Aug 21, 2011 13:09:58 GMT -5
The absolute pinnacle of Cena hate, outside of Edge's hometown, was probably Wrestlemania 22. Still one of my favourite crowd interactions with a match of all time.
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Magician under the moonlight
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Post by Magician under the moonlight on Aug 21, 2011 13:41:18 GMT -5
I think he was cheered that time on Smackdown, only because he was facing JBL. I remember people really hated him in the main event.
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Post by moneyman20 on Aug 21, 2011 13:47:11 GMT -5
I went to quite a few Smackdowns during Cena's U.S. title reign. Those cheers were not piped in. He was more over than Eddie and Rey every time I went. I would also say that it started during his feuds with Christian and Jerhico. Then came full force during the Angle feuds.
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