Will Roman end up being more respected than Cena?

[ChitownKnight]

So after 15 years, they finally turned their top guy heel (or intended top guy in Romans case). Cena never got the heel turn even though fans wanted it, but Roman finally did. Roman is doing good so far and I think he will get more positive reactions when he goes face again (although they should wait until 2022 or so to do it so crowds can react to his heel run). Do you think Roman will end up having a more respected legacy than Cena?

[Fake Jesus]

He's worse than Cena by every metric and has had an absolutely horrible run up to this point, so it's hard to say yes.

["Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik]

I think WWE's inability to create another star will make Cena more respected over time. He might be one of the last true individual difference makers in this country for a very long time. Roman is likely going to do a lot but it's hard to see him reaching that level before he hangs it up, party thanks to the way the company is right now.

[slaughterama]

In-ring/character-wise, it will be awfully tough. Overall? Cena is going down as one of the most respected people in the history of the industry, if not the most, with all he has done outside of the ring for kids, charity, and the company. Nobody will ever approach his level.

[mcstoklasa]

Sept 5, 2020 16:32:16 GMT -5 Fake Jesus said:

He's worse than Cena by every metric and has had an absolutely horrible run up to this point, so it's hard to say yes.

Yup.


BUT



Finally, the overpushed, booked against the will of the fans baby-face has actually turned heel. They've actually done it. They never did with Cena. This could take Roman to new heights

[Mozenrath]

It depends, I guess. If we're talking just singles stuff, Cena has a big advantage on him, but the Shield stuff is something Roman, rightfully, will get a lot of respect for.

I feel like this is going to be more of an apples and oranges thing, but a lot of this is also going to depend on how the heel run plays out. I've always thought of Roman as more of a Batista than a Cena, anyhow.

[Some Baritone guy IS REDEEMED!]

I mean, Cena wasn't exactly loved in his era but now that he's gone, he's at least grudgingly respected. Legacy is a tricky thing to predict while the person is still active.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Right now, it looks increasingly likely that Roman's legacy is going to be having been the face of WWE when the company's monopoly on wrestling in the US finally collapsed due to their inability to adjust to the times or put on a product remotely appealing to anybody under 50. The best case scenario for Roman is that he doesn't get blamed personally for WWE's failures.

[Deleted]

Absolutely no chance.

[A Platypus Rave]

Sept 5, 2020 17:35:05 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Right now, it looks increasingly likely that Roman's legacy is going to be having been the face of WWE when the company's monopoly on wrestling in the US finally collapsed due to their inability to adjust to the times or put on a product remotely appealing to anybody under 50. The best case scenario for Roman is that he doesn't get blamed personally for WWE's failures.

Hell you could argue he's only turned heel because they no longer see him as being capable as running as the face of the company.

We can see but as much as I can see him being fixture in the main event scene still... I think this is them admitting he's not going to be THE Guy.

[Clash, Never a Meter Maid]

They’re two popular entertainers known for being charitable and generally cool dudes.

Unless it got out that either one was doing bad stuff, they’ll both end up pretty respected. More so than a Marty Scurll or Del Rio, I’d imagine.

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

I'll just be happy if he ends up with half that respect.

[fw91]

Idk, I feel like people actually saw the value of John Cena when he became a part timer. We didn't appreciate him during his main run (myself included) but I had some sort of epiphany of "I get why he was the guy now" when he was gone.

[Cyno]

I was a lot more of a Cena fan than most even during the SuperCena days. Even when Cena's character and winning ways got insufferable, I always respected his ability to put on fantastic matches when the moment called for it.

Roman? Eh. Even his big matches at times felt like they were going through the motions. Like, I can name a number of Cena matches that I'd consider outright 5 star, MOTY candidates with one approaching "favorite match of all time" status. None of Romey Rome's matches come close to that for me.

[Kevin Hamilton]

Cena has become one of their all time top guys and has made some in roads into being known in larger pop culture.

Roman seems like a really good dude, but it's unlikely.

[A Platypus Rave]

One thing with Roman is he likes saying things to gain brownie points with fans when something isn't an option then do it anyway...

like the Saudi Shows when he left he said he was never going to do the Saudi Shows (like all the people that had legitimately boycotted them)... only to turn around and do them anyway when he came back.

That's not the first or only time he's done that.

[eJm]

Sept 5, 2020 23:29:23 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

One thing with Roman is he likes saying things to gain brownie points with fans when something isn't an option then do it anyway...

like the Saudi Shows when he left he said he was never going to do the Saudi Shows (like all the people that had legitimately boycotted them)... only to turn around and do them anyway when he came back.

That's not the first or only time he's done that.

Yeah, that stuck a craw in me. And I guess despite the logic, him coming back at a time when Florida hasn’t exactly improved in dealing with the virus just has me more worried for his health than anything.

Unless WWE has improved on how it’s dealing with the virus...which would mean WWE would have to admit they had a problem in the first place so...

[anglarite]

I don't trust WWE booking to say yes...

[Mr Mario Mario]

I don’t believe so

Cena was actually really popular before the SuperCena stuff started

Reigns didn’t even have that

[This Player Hating Mothman]

Sept 5, 2020 17:35:05 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Right now, it looks increasingly likely that Roman's legacy is going to be having been the face of WWE when the company's monopoly on wrestling in the US finally collapsed due to their inability to adjust to the times or put on a product remotely appealing to anybody under 50. The best case scenario for Roman is that he doesn't get blamed personally for WWE's failures.

I think it's going to depend highly on how long this period goes on and what WWE looks like afterward, but Roman can either be the maligned face of the on-screen problems, or the redeemed presence who goes somewhere else/gets another chance in a differently-structured WWE and proves he wasn't all along the entire f***ing problem. Which I don't think he is, but wrestling has a funny way of making the failed pushes into the story and face of downward eras. WWE's historically done everything they can to absolve Vince of blame for things like the New Generation era and act like it was just for lack of stars and they needed real stars to come along, instead of losers like Mabel and Lex Luger.