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Post by sportatorium on Jul 21, 2022 11:59:19 GMT -5
Cena's acting chops since leaving WWE make me believe that he could have been just as successful as those two if he had been allowed to go cut his own promos and take his character in the direction(s) he thought appropriate.
Without all of that, he's now a mainstream celebrity/movie star, makes any WWE event or show that he's associated with seem like a huge deal and has potential to become even more popular.
So, the company misused him as the centerpiece for a vision that many of us didn't like, but he's a bona-fide megastar.
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Post by stoptheclocks on Jul 21, 2022 13:21:24 GMT -5
The biggest merch seller of all time. The highest buy rate of any Mania. He's bigger than Austin. He's close to Hogan. It's facts my man. This is such a conflated argument. First, it takes two to sell a PPV..so let's not undersell the Rock. And WrestleMania sells itself anymore, it doesn't matter how good or bad the card is. Also as already mentioned, WWE is the draw, which is why no matter who the company makes as their champion. Secondly, look at the overall time spent as the main draw and of course based on longevity, Cena is going to draw more money since he was on top for more than twice the time that Austin was. By that argument, you can say that Roger Moore was the best Bond. Third... we're really going to go with merchandise? Let's be honest, Cena's merch sales are beyond inflated based on the amount of product that was produced for him, I'd say it's probably at least 2 to 1 in regards to how many products were created specifically for him compared to anyone else ever. And it's not just shirts. It's also hats, chains, wristbands, armbands...even that stupid little towel he was shilling later. Multiply that by every color of the rainbow and of course you're going to sell a lot of products. Meanwhile, WWE is not producing any products for other guys...and in my case canceled Christian's only shirt up to that point in 2005 before I had a chance to buy one. So when your options are limited at the merch stands (and let me tell you, at least one third of all the stuff at those stands was Cena merch), then you might buy a novelty shirt. At Austin height, I saw Austin shirts all over the place. I've maybe seen three people outside of WWE events wearing a Cena shirt. Most people would buy the shirt, wear it at the event and then proceed to put it on their closet and never wear it again. You're mixing up cause and effect here. They made a lot of merch for Cena, because he sold so well. They didn't just randomly pick his name out of a hat. If they could've sold Randy Orton shirts in seven different colours they obviously would have. It's very hard to compare era's due to the pop culture landscape being so different. But Cena today is a bigger worldwide star than Steve Austin ever was.
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Post by GodzillaIsMyMonster on Jul 21, 2022 13:45:11 GMT -5
The biggest merch seller of all time. The highest buy rate of any Mania. He's bigger than Austin. He's close to Hogan. It's facts my man. This is such a conflated argument. First, it takes two to sell a PPV..so let's not undersell the Rock. And WrestleMania sells itself anymore, it doesn't matter how good or bad the card is. Also as already mentioned, WWE is the draw, which is why no matter who the company makes as their champion. Secondly, look at the overall time spent as the main draw and of course based on longevity, Cena is going to draw more money since he was on top for more than twice the time that Austin was. By that argument, you can say that Roger Moore was the best Bond. Third... we're really going to go with merchandise? Let's be honest, Cena's merch sales are beyond inflated based on the amount of product that was produced for him, I'd say it's probably at least 2 to 1 in regards to how many products were created specifically for him compared to anyone else ever. And it's not just shirts. It's also hats, chains, wristbands, armbands...even that stupid little towel he was shilling later. Multiply that by every color of the rainbow and of course you're going to sell a lot of products. Meanwhile, WWE is not producing any products for other guys...and in my case canceled Christian's only shirt up to that point in 2005 before I had a chance to buy one. So when your options are limited at the merch stands (and let me tell you, at least one third of all the stuff at those stands was Cena merch), then you might buy a novelty shirt. At Austin height, I saw Austin shirts all over the place. I've maybe seen three people outside of WWE events wearing a Cena shirt. Most people would buy the shirt, wear it at the event and then proceed to put it on their closet and never wear it again. Dude. Cena had a million t-shirts made, because they kept selling. If he didn't make money, they'd have stopped making the shirts. And WWE is the "draw" yet Cena as the Main Event out drew shows he wasn't in the main event on. Like... I get you're not a fan. But facts speak louder than an angry dude on the internet. If Cena's not the all time GOAT, he's def in the conversation. No denying that.
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Post by Mid-Carder on Jul 21, 2022 15:36:31 GMT -5
I feel like this thread is some kind of fever dream. No. I like Cena as a human but no. Not even close. In any aspect whatsoever. The biggest merch seller of all time. The highest buy rate of any Mania. He's bigger than Austin. He's close to Hogan. It's facts my man. Austin is the biggest merch seller. The Austin 3:16 shirt alone is the biggest-selling wrestling merchandise of all time, despite merchandise being more readily available since Austin's prime. He's still a top merchandise seller to this day, 19 years after his in-ring retirement. Attendance, ratings draw, merchandise, PPV draw, Austin is top of all those categories. He was all over American media in the late 90's and his popularity compared to Cena (even now) speaks for itself. Per Meltzer: In 1999, he set all-time wrestling box office records in nearly every city in the country, selling out 70 percent of live shows and averaging more than 12,000 paid per night. In 2001, as the top star, he led WWF, as WWE was known at the time, to selling nearly 8 million pay-per-view orders in a calendar year, the all-time record for WWE.People dismiss Austin's legacy by saying wrestling was popular at the time and he happened to be on top, but the WWF wasn't. They were deeply in debt. WWF was successful and stayed successful because of Austin drawing people to WWF.
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tirtefaa
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Post by tirtefaa on Jul 21, 2022 17:08:48 GMT -5
Like... I get you're not a fan. But facts speak louder than an angry dude on the internet. Who said I wasn't a fan? If you go back and read my posts, you'll see I give Cena an enormous amount of credit. At no point am I "angry" about it. He's not on Austin level circa 1998. Yes, TODAY he has more relevance because Austin hardly does anything anymore, but both wrestling personas at their absolute peak, Austin completely blows him out of the water. You're mixing up cause and effect here. They made a lot of merch for Cena, because he sold so well. They didn't just randomly pick his name out of a hat. If they could've sold Randy Orton shirts in seven different colours they obviously would have. I'm not denying that Cena would have sold the most shirts of anyone on the roster, the point I was making is that if your merchandise shop has 80% Cena stuff and other guys don't even have a shirt available to sell, doesn't that negate any sense of competition regarding who is going to sell the most shirts? I know we're talking about Austin here, but fact of the matter is, I'm willing to bet more people bought a Cena shirt on the ground that there wasn't much else available and they wanted a novelty from the show they went to.
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Post by GodzillaIsMyMonster on Jul 21, 2022 17:13:02 GMT -5
Like... I get you're not a fan. But facts speak louder than an angry dude on the internet. Who said I wasn't a fan? If you go back and read my posts, you'll see I give Cena an enormous amount of credit. At no point am I "angry" about it. He's not on Austin level circa 1998. Yes, TODAY he has more relevance because Austin hardly does anything anymore, but both wrestling personas at their absolute peak, Austin completely blows him out of the water. He doesn't. But this is going on circles.
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tirtefaa
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If you wanna know the truth, you gotta dig up Johnny Booth.
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Post by tirtefaa on Jul 21, 2022 17:16:48 GMT -5
He doesn't. But this is going on circles. Austin was the top guy at the height of a wrestling boom. Cena as a wrestler cannot say the same. That isn't a knock on the guy, it's the simple fact of the situation.
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