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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Mar 22, 2019 14:50:35 GMT -5
He was like Pedro Morales in a sense, kept the company afloat and did good business but never surpassed the business done by Bruno. I don't think it's comparable to be fair. They took Wrestlemania into stadiums annually, launched the Network, WWE Films all under his watch. He was instrumental in creating the breeding ground for WWE to make bank on TV deals and really reassess their business model. It ain’t that hard when you’re the only game in town. Wrestling doesn’t have more fans, it has fewer fans who spend more money. Austin took a dying wwe and made it mainstream, which is something Cena never ever did. If you own the game and don’t have any competition it’s very hard to lose.
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Bo Rida
Fry's dog Seymour
Pulled one over on everyone. Got away with it, this time.
Posts: 24,148
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Post by Bo Rida on Mar 22, 2019 15:08:55 GMT -5
Certainly in his later years, his lack of interest in going for the world title record is baffling. That underlying motivation and increasing frustration at being further from it could lead to some interesting things and make each short run mean more.
He's in danger of being one of the nostalgia acts that show up to ever diminishing returns, that's a huge waste.
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Post by KobashiChop on Mar 22, 2019 15:13:58 GMT -5
Cena was a success for them.
He isn't on the Mount Rushmore for them but he was a consistent main event presence from 2005 up until about a year ago.
Yeah it would've been good for us to see heel Cena but he was an unquestionably strong presence in the kids market.
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Post by abjordans on Mar 22, 2019 15:16:02 GMT -5
I’d say John Cena is maximized potential.
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Post by BayleyTiffyCodyCenaJudyHopps on Mar 23, 2019 7:41:30 GMT -5
I’d definitely say in the later years he was, as WWE should probably have protected him from some of the clean losses he’s taken on TV. Like I was fine with him putting Nakamura over, but the year before he dropped a match to Dean Ambrose (who I like) on Smackdown without a ton of fanfare or build up. Getting a win over Cena still means something, but not as much as it could have been since they haven’t saved that ammunition.
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Post by The Thread Barbi on Mar 23, 2019 10:05:31 GMT -5
I don't think it's comparable to be fair. They took Wrestlemania into stadiums annually, launched the Network, WWE Films all under his watch. He was instrumental in creating the breeding ground for WWE to make bank on TV deals and really reassess their business model. It ain’t that hard when you’re the only game in town. Wrestling doesn’t have more fans, it has fewer fans who spend more money. Austin took a dying wwe and made it mainstream, which is something Cena never ever did. If you own the game and don’t have any competition it’s very hard to lose. Because you don't stay in business and offer sustained growth for multiple years, while being answerable to investors and stakeholders without adapting yourself and your business model to the changing times, regardless of who you are and how big your business is? www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-did-wwe-become-a-most-valuable-sports-brand-a-most-innovative-company-by-betting-on-and-disrupting-itself.htmlThe live attendance portion of the business isn't the lifeblood of the company anymore like in Austin's time. Nor are PPVs which are dead. The billions pouring in from TV deals and other unsavory sources are keeping WWE strong for a long time.
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Post by Hit Girl on Mar 23, 2019 10:14:30 GMT -5
No, but WWE's obsession with pushing him at everyone else's expense wasted a lot of other guys potentials.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Mar 23, 2019 10:18:11 GMT -5
It ain’t that hard when you’re the only game in town. Wrestling doesn’t have more fans, it has fewer fans who spend more money. Austin took a dying wwe and made it mainstream, which is something Cena never ever did. If you own the game and don’t have any competition it’s very hard to lose. Because you don't stay in business and offer sustained growth for multiple years, while being answerable to investors and stakeholders without adapting yourself and your business model to the changing times, regardless of who you are and how big your business is? www.inc.com/jeff-haden/how-did-wwe-become-a-most-valuable-sports-brand-a-most-innovative-company-by-betting-on-and-disrupting-itself.htmlThe live attendance portion of the business isn't the lifeblood of the company anymore like in Austin's time. Nor are PPVs which are dead. The billions pouring in from TV deals and other unsavory sources are keeping WWE strong for a long time. Again how can’t you grow when you’re the only option for the consumer, when you’re unopposed? Yes Cena accomplished a lot but wrestling was irrelevant for the masses during his run, same that it is now. It’s not his fault, it was the material given to him.
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Post by OVO 40 hunched over like he 80 on Mar 23, 2019 10:18:32 GMT -5
No, but WWE's obsession with pushing him at everyone else's expense wasted a lot of other guys potentials. Wade Barrett is crying in the shower.
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Post by Hit Girl on Mar 23, 2019 10:23:19 GMT -5
No, but WWE's obsession with pushing him at everyone else's expense wasted a lot of other guys potentials. Wade Barrett is crying in the shower. Interesting post, considering your avatar.
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Post by Citizen Snips on Mar 23, 2019 11:30:29 GMT -5
Wade Barrett is crying in the shower. Interesting post, considering your avatar. "Big Match John sets 'em up, I knock 'em down Maggle!!!"
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Post by A Platypus Rave is Correct on Mar 23, 2019 12:12:49 GMT -5
Not turning him heel once between 2005 and...well...now must be seen as a wasted opportunity. But it terms of getting their mileage out of him, the WWE got their money's worth, an then some. Especially considering that initially, Big Dave was supposed to be "The Guy" and John was supposed to be "The Batista". And before that Randy Orton was supposed to be the guy.
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Urethra Franklin
King Koopa
When Toronto sports teams lose, Alison Brie is sad
Posts: 11,098
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Post by Urethra Franklin on Mar 23, 2019 13:04:07 GMT -5
In the sense of character development, sure.
And had he worked heel, he would have had to change up his in-ring style, so who knows what that would have been like? So I would say yes in that sense.
But otherwise, absolutely not.
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Post by Feargus McReddit on Mar 23, 2019 13:36:55 GMT -5
From the Roman match on, yes. The potential is there for nostalgia pops for the young twenties and teenagers. The potential is there for the hardcores in the older genertion who finally softened on him. The potential is there for a grizzled vet run and story. The potential is there for a former "The Guy" who is still in good graces with the company (for the first time ever) to be used to get very hot programs with upandcomers. The potential is there to use a decade's worth of sacrificing others to him and make it worth something instead of wasting him and making that decade worth of a very painful superpush meaningless now. The potential is there for a Hogan-like late career heel turn (yes there's like no chance of this but still, it'd be huge and we're speaking in hypotheticals). The potential is there for a lot. But WWE/Vince has no idea how to act because every top guy had a falling out with WWE on their way down or during their exit. So instead of figuring it out he just got made to look like a joke in a crap match in a shit program with Roman where the poor guy couldn't keep up with Cena on the mic. Now Cena is just sorta existing and doesn't feel like he matters at all. I still find it unbelievable that they spent practically a whole year turning Cena from the top merch seller to someone who might as well be the legend of the week Jack Swagger beat in about 3 minutes in the mid 2000s. I’m not even saying he has to be the focus of everything but there’s a difference between “pushing someone well past their prime to a prominent spot” and “Kurt Angle 2019”.
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Post by Mid-Carder on Mar 24, 2019 13:42:11 GMT -5
He drove a lot of fans away and for many remaining ones, Cena's push and the detriment it was to other wrestlers sucked the fun out of wrestling.
If anything their push of Cena wasted WWE's own potential.
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Post by Tiger Millionaire on Mar 24, 2019 17:26:17 GMT -5
If there is a victim of their not being competition for WWE, it's John Cena, at least creatively.
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