Making Face Cena Fresh

[MiLo Duck]

I like John Cena. I like his wrestling, I think he is smooth on the mic, and as a person he seems like a great guy for the most part. However despite all of this I don't like seeing him on TV. The most often heard criticism is that he is stale and his schtick has become corny and tired. The most often heard solution is to turn him heel. Now this may or may not ever happen. There are opportunities and there are teases, but it doesn't seem likely. We got the most recent situation with Bray Wyatt, but what if that doesn't happen. WWE likes the money he generates in merch sales by being face so he'll likely stay face.

However what if there is a way to both freshen him up AND keep him face? What tweaks could be made to the character that could accomplish this?

Anything from costume changes, to character changes. Gold camo tights and tassels? Facepaint and riding a horse? Perhaps he starts speaking in pig-latin and forms an international stable with Santino and Rusev?

So what can he do to stay a good guy and not be so stale to a lot of people?

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

Ditch the shorts and put him in traditional ring attire. Trunks/tights can be easily color coordinated with his wristbands, hats, and shirts.

Let him work with mid to lower card talents a bit more often.

[TWERKIN' MAGGLE]

Nothing, Let's Go Cena, Cena Sucks is ingrained into the minds of the viewers.

["Cane Dewey" Johnson]

I'd like to see Cena be Brock Lesnar's punching bag again. As far as I can recall, that's the closest WWE has ever come to replicating Superman vs. Doomsday.

[MiLo Duck]

May 2, 2014 0:23:08 GMT -5 TWERKIN' MAGGLE said:

Nothing, Let's Go Cena, Cena Sucks is ingrained into the minds of the viewers.

So you're saying either a Two-Face or Jekyl and Hyde gimmick

[Deleted]

Let him take 6-8 months off and then re-debut him with a new look/gimmick.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Fresh-Face - This tends to work for me, I am sure it could work for Cena. 

[kinginthenorth]

May 2, 2014 0:22:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Ditch the shorts and put him in traditional ring attire. Trunks/tights can be easily color coordinated with his wristbands, hats, and shirts.

Let him work with mid to lower card talents a bit more often.

Not only does that not make him fresh, that does the opposite of fresh by taking away the part of his look that makes him stand out. He is Jortman, in a sea of trunks.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

May 2, 2014 1:19:44 GMT -5 kinginthenorth said:

May 2, 2014 0:22:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Ditch the shorts and put him in traditional ring attire. Trunks/tights can be easily color coordinated with his wristbands, hats, and shirts.

Let him work with mid to lower card talents a bit more often.

Not only does that not make him fresh, that does the opposite of fresh by taking away the part of his look that makes him stand out. He is Jortman, in a sea of trunks.

Most of the guys who wrestle in trunks are barely/never on TV, and/or have drastically different gimmicks or personalities from Cena. Cena would still somewhat stand out.

[Clawley Race]

He needs a real heel to work with if he is going to be face. Leading into wrestlemania would have been a good time. Instead of having him lose such rare matches against Orton leading up to the big card...have him take time off to find himself leading into Wrestlemania. Then in the lead, have him to something to back Daniel Bryan against Orton/HHH. They are/were over as heels the same way Cena is...people just dont like them on screen/off screen/as characters. Let's say he comes in and challenges big Dave at WM somehow with no title implications.

I think that gets him cheered...that night at least....

[Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]]

Stop making him look like a Superman and lose cleanly to talent. Instead of...I don't know, beating someone with one arm and completely killing his career?

Less Superman, more looking toward the future and helping put over stars and talent.

Maybe work in some Suplexes, Uranages, Belly to Belly's, Exploders. He seems like the type of guy who can throw someone around, he sure lifts enough, a few more moves would definitely help him as well, he's proved that he can work a great match before, it's just little things that can really help, and one of them is variety.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

May 2, 2014 1:29:29 GMT -5 Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] said:

Stop making him look like a Superman and lose cleanly to talent. Instead of...I don't know, beating someone with one arm and completely killing his career?

Less Superman, more looking toward the future and helping put over stars and talent.

Maybe work in some Suplexes, Uranages, Belly to Belly's, Exploders. He seems like the type of guy who can throw someone around, he sure lifts enough, a few more moves would definitely help him as well, he's proved that he can work a great match before, it's just little things that can really help, and one of them is variety.

He used to do a weird looking fisherman's suplex back in the day.

[MiLo Duck]

I just had a possible idea. What about some kind of gimmick that takes advantage of some of the stuff that he is? Like maybe some kind of really awesome generous philanthropist. Take shades of the Million Dollar Man, Jay-Z, and Oprah and roll it up into something in which he can wear more up to date clothes and suits on occasion and uses his money and celebrity to get over on the heels. Gives away cool stuff to members of the crowd on occasion (and YOU win a car!) and can even go back a tiny bit to his old hip-hop character roots. Not sure what update to his ring attire that would entail, but I for sure think that is needed regardless.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

May 2, 2014 0:22:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Ditch the shorts and put him in traditional ring attire. Trunks/tights can be easily color coordinated with his wristbands, hats, and shirts.

Let him work with mid to lower card talents a bit more often.

Color-coordinating WWE's walking billboard's trunks to match the rest of his merchandise is the opposite of freshening him up. If they want to change things, they need to let him not be a walking advertisement.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

May 2, 2014 1:46:54 GMT -5 This Player Hating Mothman said:

May 2, 2014 0:22:42 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

Ditch the shorts and put him in traditional ring attire. Trunks/tights can be easily color coordinated with his wristbands, hats, and shirts.

Let him work with mid to lower card talents a bit more often.

Color-coordinating WWE's walking billboard's trunks to match the rest of his merchandise is the opposite of freshening him up. If they want to change things, they need to let him not be a walking advertisement.

As long as he's working for WWE full time, they're going to crank out merch for the guy and he's going to wear it. The best they can do is limit him being a "walking billboard" to in ring competition and have him wear actual clothes for shows where he isn't booked to wrestle (I.e solid tees, polos, button shirts, jeans/slacks).

[Deleted]

I thought they'd locked on a really good direction for him when they were doing the whole "If you want to be the face of this company, you have to come through me" thing they were talking about before the Cesaro match. And I think that's still the key. Veteran who's suddenly faced with fantastic new competition. The problem is, for that role to work it requires he be active. One of my biggest problems with Cena is he never acts first. Things happen to him. The Wyatts? He should have targeted them first. He should have flat out said "This is my company and you a danger to it." because he's a freakin' superhero and he should be taking it to the crazy cultists. Instead it's the usual "John Cena's a hypocrite who gets mixed reactions!" nonsense and him being a jokester.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

May 2, 2014 2:54:34 GMT -5 @rrnew said:

I thought they'd locked on a really good direction for him when they were doing the whole "If you want to be the face of this company, you have to come through me" thing they were talking about before the Cesaro match. And I think that's still the key. Veteran who's suddenly faced with fantastic new competition. The problem is, for that role to work it requires he be active. One of my biggest problems with Cena is he never acts first. Things happen to him. The Wyatts? He should have targeted them first. He should have flat out said "This is my company and you a danger to it." because he's a freakin' superhero and he should be taking it to the crazy cultists. Instead it's the usual "John Cena's a hypocrite who gets mixed reactions!" nonsense and him being a jokester.

Imo the Wyatts don't really fit with Cena's "The future of this business goes through me" directive. Bray Wyatt seems like he couldn't give a fraction of a shit about "opportunities" or "his spot" or anything like that.

[EoE: Well There's Your Problem]

I'm not really sure what CAN be done that would guarantee that he gets consistently positive reactions, because the divided reactions have been so firmly entrenched into the psyche of the fans. There's definitely no quick fix like "take away the corny jokes" or "have him lose more often", that's for sure.

[mrbananagrabber]

Ditch the comedy. Make him, for want of a better word, humble. Remember when Barrett was his biggest threat? No jokes, his career was on the line and he sold it like that. Remember the "never give up" chant? First and last time that happened.

He's going up against the Wyatt Family, a deranged group of sadistic, evil maniacs, he should NOT be making jokes and photoshops, but he still is. Thats what makes him so unappealing.

Plus, it is kinda fun to boo him.

[Deleted]

May 2, 2014 2:59:38 GMT -5 CATCH_US IS the Conversation said:

May 2, 2014 2:54:34 GMT -5 @rrnew said:

I thought they'd locked on a really good direction for him when they were doing the whole "If you want to be the face of this company, you have to come through me" thing they were talking about before the Cesaro match. And I think that's still the key. Veteran who's suddenly faced with fantastic new competition. The problem is, for that role to work it requires he be active. One of my biggest problems with Cena is he never acts first. Things happen to him. The Wyatts? He should have targeted them first. He should have flat out said "This is my company and you a danger to it." because he's a freakin' superhero and he should be taking it to the crazy cultists. Instead it's the usual "John Cena's a hypocrite who gets mixed reactions!" nonsense and him being a jokester.

Imo the Wyatts don't really fit with Cena's "The future of this business goes through me" directive. Bray Wyatt seems like he couldn't give a fraction of a shit about "opportunities" or "his spot" or anything like that.

It depends on framing, really.

"Future of the company" can mean a lot of things. Like the wholesale destruction of the company or a major, destructive overhaul of "the system." Or it could be as simple as they're hurting good guys and Cena wants it to stop to protect the company.