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Post by ChitownKnight on Jan 20, 2022 11:09:37 GMT -5
Now hear me out. I know the guy was the face of the wwe for a decade, but after watching Peacemaker, the guy def has a lot of charisma and knows how to act. Could wwe have made more money if he wasn’t a PG friendly character. Or if he was heel for a small amount of time. I know Cena Jedi mid tricked Vince into not turning heel, but I think he had way more potental
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Post by EoE: Well There's Your Problem on Jan 20, 2022 11:14:04 GMT -5
It’s hard to say without knowing for 100% certain how a hypothetical Cena main event heel run would’ve gone. Cena as a babyface kept the company afloat during some pretty rocky times, even with the vocal hate for him. A heel run could’ve just easily led to bust as much as it could’ve led to a boom.
Where they did kind of miss the boat was how they’ve utilised him as a part-timer. Sometimes he’d just get thrown into things like he was no big deal and it’s like… He was your GODDAMN ACE for a freakin’ decade, treat him with a bit more respect, like.
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Post by Fade is a CodyCryBaby on Jan 20, 2022 11:15:22 GMT -5
It’s tough to say because they did maximize him as the figurehead of the company and market him (and the company) back towards kids and a more family-oriented product. Also, the guy seemed to have a lot of say so..I’m going to lean towards no? They pretty much capitalized on him as hard as they could barring a heel turn.
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Post by polarbearpete on Jan 20, 2022 11:31:40 GMT -5
I think they financially used Cena about as well as they could have. He was a money maker as the face of the brand. Creatively, I’d say they did miss an opportunity to give him a heel run.
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Post by "Evil Brood" Jackson Vanik on Jan 20, 2022 11:35:48 GMT -5
I think they mostly used him well but I feel like they didn't really know what to do with him as he transitioned to more of a part time role and he has sort of just been around for the past 4-5 years when I think there is more they could've done to either conclusively help make a new star or take his character in a new direction.
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thehottag
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Post by thehottag on Jan 20, 2022 11:42:00 GMT -5
It's difficult to say they wasted him considering they wrung every drop of promotion out of him they could. However, there were definitely points where they could've altered his character or storylines to tell a more interesting natrative. They just ran with a pat hand because they couldn't fathom changing anything.
It's a bit like asking if WWF wasted Hogan in '93 - it's almost ludicrous to ask, but then again, they could've had Hollywood Hogan all to themselves too.
So 'wasted' might be the wrong word, but there was potential there they never explored, definitely.
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Post by häšhtå.gdālėÿ on Jan 20, 2022 13:24:08 GMT -5
Did they waste him? Na. Did they potentially miss a giant opportunity with the a chance at the biggest heel turn since Hogan? Probably.
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Post by Jindrak Mark on Jan 20, 2022 13:29:26 GMT -5
As a part-timer they've definitely wasted him for the most part or at least not got as much out of him as they should have. Losing the US title to Del Rio in 2015 was the end of full-time Cena and since then other than the Styles feud they've not treated him with the same reverence they do other part-timers like Lesnar/Undertaker/Triple H/Edge. There was a time when he was taking random losses on free TV to Nakamura/Balor/Strowman/Rollins with no build so they meant nothing while the majority of his time was wasted feuding with Corbin/Rusev/Elias. The former should have been the big PPV matches and the latter should have been the throwaway matches. It's not him losing matches. He's a part-timer. He should lose more than he wins but he's still arguably the GOAT in kayfabe and a win over him should still seem like a massive deal if you book it properly.
They should have made a lot more money even out of his rare matches in the past 5 years. The MITB return and Roman match at Summerslam was the first time they've treated him like a big deal in years and what do you know, it sold a shitload of extra tickets for Summerslam and house show/TV tapings for the month he was around.
I'd book his part-time years something like:
Wrestlemania 2016 - v Undertaker. Cena said in an interview he was cleared in time for Wrestlemania but Vince chose to hold him off. That sounds insane to me but if it's true I'd have finally done Cena/Undertaker there with Shane in Cena's corner and Vince in Taker's. Rest of 2016/early 2017 - Stays the same. No reason to change the Styles feud. Wrestlemania 2017 - v Dean Ambrose (were cutting great promos on each other in late 2016 but never got a one-on-one PPV match and Ambrose ended up on the pre-show). Battleground 2017 - v Corbin. Just to get him a PPV win as I have him losing the previous and following ones. Summerslam 2017 - v Nakamura (rather than on TV with no build, also saves Nakamura from the Jinder loss which killed all momentum he had). No Mercy 2017 - v Roman stays the same but with a more even match that doesn't make Cena look terrible. Survivor Series 2017 - They actually make a story out of him being a free agent and both Smackdown and Raw trying to recruit him, rather than out of nowhere announcing he's on Team Smackdown then getting eliminated like nothing in the match. Royal Rumble 2018 - Stays the same, makes it to the final four and is eliminated by Nakamura. Elimination Chamber/Fastlane 2018 - Competes in the EC then gets a win over someone at Fastlane (Sami Zayn?) to go into Wrestlemania strong. Wrestlemania 2018 - v Braun Strowman (he crushed it in 2017, getting massively over in feuds with Roman and Brock, he deserved a big Wrestlemania match rather than the comedy tag title thing). Greatest Royal Rumble 2018 - v Samoa Joe. Super Showdown 2018 - v Goldberg (5-10 minute win). Again, trying to make sure there's a win in between every couple losses so he's not a complete loser. Wrestlemania 2019 - v Kurt Angle (Angle was beyond being able to have a great match but this would have been a more fitting farewell than Corbin). Wrestlemania 2020 - Firefly Funhouse stays the same. Summerslam 2021 - v Roman stays the same. Wrestlemania 2022 - v Finn Balor. He's said he's working this show and this match makes the most sense after the contract signing angle last summer. However, if Balor is just going to continue doing nothing or leave the company afterwards then just put Cena in a random dream match instead. No point going all out to put someone over if it's worth nothing long-term, he already did that with Wyatt 2 years ago. Summerslam 2022 - v Edge. I don't care. The kid/Ruthless Aggression mark in me wants to see this one more time in the twilight of their careers.
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Post by THE FVNKER on Jan 20, 2022 13:30:44 GMT -5
I'm of the mind that WWE hasn't really "wasted" anyone in forever, but that by the time Cena came in, after the end of the Attitude era, WWE changed their strategy from building stars into marketing the WWE brand as the draw of the show. That way all they have to do is swap out top stars as needed, and there's no fear if they jump ship to another promotion since they weren't marketed as the draw anyway. It's a failsafe plan as a result of the MNW.
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Post by Finish Uncle Muffin’s Story on Jan 20, 2022 13:43:38 GMT -5
Honestly? I kind of don't blame WWE for not turning him. Here's why:
1. OK, he turns heel. The crowd boos him entirely for a few months. Then what'll happen is what always happens, the kids and families who bought every Cena shirt, headband, armband and garden gnome will keep booing while those who booed him will then start cheering him. Those who would start cheering him typically don't have the disposable income a family does. I think we're in a different world now on that front, but we weren't at the start of the decade.
2. Who was actually around to be a good babyface foil to Cena beyond Punk or maybe Daniel Bryan? I guess you could have had Taker, but there weren't any particularly fresh matchups. It would have been what we're seeing now with Reigns, just 10 years earlier.
3. I get that there's an argument to be made that maybe Cena pushed away some of the audience, but without him, ratings would have gone careening off a cliff earlier than they did IMO. He clearly made a difference on TV ratings and house show attendance.
I agree with the others here who have said they've not done a great job utilizing Cena after he went part-time. I don't think anyone's genuinely benefitted from beating him except AJ Styles, and even then I think the stuff he did with Roman cemented him as a go-to guy. If anything, maybe by design, they've kind of made Cena seem less important. There's a difference between using somebody to put over a new generation of guys and defining down your top star of the prior generation. Cena seems less important now.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 20, 2022 13:52:18 GMT -5
By not turning him heel?
nah not really.
Dude was still the number one merch mover well into his time as a part timer.
If he turns heel you lose a lot of the revenue stream of his fans that buy his hat/wristbands/shirt etc.
I don't see the people that did boo him suddenly start liking him overnight (which honestly Roman still getting massively booed should have at least put to rest the idea that just turning heel makes people that hate you suddenly love you to bed), but even if they do come around and start cheering him I doubt they're going to start buying all of the Cena Merch sales you lost from the first group.
By basically treating him like an afterthought when he transitioned to Part-timer status absolutely. Dude has been used horrendously, and it's amazing that this is how they treat their golden boy after he carried the company on his back for basically an entire generation and is one of the big reasons it's been able to make record profits.
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Jan 20, 2022 15:09:12 GMT -5
Cena is a Transformers movie before he was in a decent one.
Commercially successful, critically not so much.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2022 15:20:33 GMT -5
100%.
Not turning Cena heel was the biggest missed opportunity in wrestling history.
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4real
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Post by 4real on Jan 20, 2022 15:55:16 GMT -5
Creatively probably yes. Money wise I don’t think so. They made a ton from his merch and still do. I think if Bryan stayed fit and healthy maybe a Cena heel turn could have worked in 14/15.
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Post by Rolent Tex on Jan 20, 2022 16:09:21 GMT -5
100%. Not turning Cena heel was the biggest missed opportunity in wrestling history. Mega Heel Cena wouldn’t even have to change much. Another 100 types of Heel Cena merchandise and have him just get tired of the dick fans giving him crap like Hogan did and just start beating up the fan favorite workhorses like Daniel Bryan.
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06vwgti
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Post by 06vwgti on Jan 20, 2022 16:20:28 GMT -5
I think there could have been more depth to his character, felt like they just ran the same character with no growth into the ground for too long. Even without a heel turn I think it would have been possible.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Jan 20, 2022 16:24:46 GMT -5
Eh... I get what you're saying, but I think saying that they wasted him is a bit of a stretch.
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Post by BorneAgain on Jan 20, 2022 17:48:25 GMT -5
I'd say the only real waste is that in his part time years, it never really felt like beating Cena meant all that much because they so often sabotaged it.
-Lesnar got the most out of squashing him at Summerslam 2014, but then they did the silly DQ finish the next month to protect him.
-Styles did get some momentum from his two victories over him, only to then needlessly lose the WWE title in a program that saw Cena bury him before the PPV and then praise him after the match which not only didn't mean anything but was rendered pointless by Cena losing the belt to Wyatt three weeks later anyway.
-On paper Roman defeating him should have been significant, but between a meh "shoot promo" build and it happening on a relatively minor PPV, the thing was basically a footnote in Reign's career.
Honestly, its amazing that someone who was the guy for so long didn't really feel like he made anybody through his losses, barring the initial program with Kevin Owens which at least gave KO some hype, even if the latter's booking was hit and miss afterward.
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Post by The Rick Jericho on Jan 20, 2022 17:52:12 GMT -5
100%. Not turning Cena heel was the biggest missed opportunity in wrestling history. Especially when you think all the all-time greats have done it. Hogan Austin Rock Bret Shawn Savage Andre Undertaker Sid
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Post by Hit Girl on Jan 20, 2022 17:55:28 GMT -5
No, they wasted everyone else by sacrificing them to push Cena.
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