Dub H
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Post by Dub H on Sept 6, 2020 8:25:21 GMT -5
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. I dont think Roman will be personally blamed,but he will always be the poster boy of "above average talent" pushed for stardom.IMO and that stigma wont go away easily
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Sept 6, 2020 12:53:56 GMT -5
I think everyone benefits from hindsight. Internet fans HATED The Rock in-ring during 99-2001 and crapped on his sharpshooter, now people love him. People hated Cena during the Super Cena fun and he did some major rehab with the 2015 US Title run.
Will Roman be on Cena’s level? Probably not, but I don’t think he’ll be remembered poorly.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2020 13:10:03 GMT -5
I don't think nobody will surpass Cena ever after 2000's. Maybe in second century. If there's wrestling in that kind of world.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Sept 6, 2020 13:36:38 GMT -5
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. I dont think Roman will be personally blamed,but he will always be the poster boy of "above average talent" pushed for stardom.IMO and that stigma wont go away easily Well that's what I mean. If the narrative becomes not "Vince was a hell man whose bad ideas drove the fans away" but "we didn't have the right star, Roman wasn't the guy for it and we faltered until someone better came along", then Roman ends up shouldering that burden and nobody ever has to hold a dried-up creative well accountable. Roman doesn't deserve that, but history could absolutely swing that way on the guy.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 6, 2020 13:41:57 GMT -5
Depends.
To the fans? No. To his peers? Yes.
Reigns is just more popular backstage and is more of a "team leader" than Cena so that's where he wins. Everything else is a no no.
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Shark
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Post by Shark on Sept 6, 2020 15:13:33 GMT -5
Depends. To the fans? No. To his peers? Yes. Reigns is just more popular backstage and is more of a "team leader" than Cena so that's where he wins. Everything else is a no no. I was about to say the same thing. I've only ever heard great things about how Roman carries himself backstage and how he treats everyone else. I rarely hear those things about Cena. Cena always seemed like a very selfish performer. I think Orton is even more respected amongst his peers than Cena is.
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adamclark52
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Post by adamclark52 on Sept 6, 2020 22:03:12 GMT -5
Yes
Go watch every ppv from mid-2005 to 2012 and see if your mind doesn’t change on Cena
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Post by -Lithium- on Sept 7, 2020 4:55:11 GMT -5
I doubt it. Cena had a couple years where he organically grew into the most popular act in the company as a singles star. Reigns never had that. Outside of like a window of three months, Reigns was booed week in and week out from 2015 to 2018. He never had any time in the company where he was universally over as top face, and yes...in arena TV reactions do count, as much as people have tried to downplay them. People only started pretending they weren't one of the major metrics for measuring overness during Cena and Romans eras.
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Post by cassonova on Sept 7, 2020 9:37:14 GMT -5
It really depends on the metric in which we're using and, really, with Roman still being an active competitor, things can change relatively quickly. In terms of public opinion, I don't think so. Cena was one of the most popular acts of the mid 2000's, organically even. What really helped his cred was his hustle and charity work. The man legit did not stop working. I also think the last five years have done a lot to rehab his in-ring reputation as well. I think Roman will have the most respect in the locker room. Most of the stories of him backstage involve him being a leader whilst being one of the boys. And while he received a super push, we haven't heard very many stories of him using clout to change outcomes.
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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Sept 7, 2020 16:50:34 GMT -5
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. I mean. I love Romey Rome, and I'd argue he maybe has Cena beat in the hunk department, but. Cena was a draw, setting records in fact. Cena set merch records. Cena carried the company for twelve years. Cena has had some of the greatest matches of all time with some of the greatest workers of all time. Cena is one of the greatest mic workers of all time. As far as longevity, even some of wrestling's other greatest draws in history struggle to step up to him, people like Rock or Austin or even Backlund. Cena is one of the very best of all time. And I love Roman, but he has a long, long way to go to have a legacy anything like Cena's. Almost all of Roman's greatest moments were due to fan backlash, accidental great booking, real life tragedy forcing positive receptions, insane booking machinations, worked shoot angles that even work WWE's documentary crews for no reason... Jesus, man. They brought Cena back and killed his heat on Roman's altar and the numbers kept on droppin'. I'm not saying it's impossible for Roman to come back from that, I'm saying in the current WWE climate it is impossible for anybody to.
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Post by Toilet Paper Roll on Sept 7, 2020 17:15:09 GMT -5
Cena has earned a spot among the best ever.
Roman hasn’t and I don’t think he will either. Sure things can always change. But it’s not like this is Romans first dance atop the card.
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