The Real Problem with John Cena
Times have changed, the Champ garnering a negative crowd reaction here or there and a positive one other places, most "smart" fans enjoy attacking the smallest aspects of his game: Character, Gimmick, Charisma, or even Wrestling Ability.
If Cena is so poor in these areas, particularly with the "you can't wrestle" chants, how do stars like Bobby Lashley and Batista find themselves so loved by the audience? As much as I align myself with Batista, on his best night Cena could out-wrestle him, and Lashley is...well...still green. I hate to say it, but after Sunday Night and the last few months at the top, he seems a step slower than his predecessors in progression.
To me, personally, it all comes down to one thing: The Writers. He is made to be, more than anything, a titan. He is an indestructable competitor who despite every disadvantage he is thrown manages to outwit and outlast his opponents. Viable challengers, both big and small fall to the Champ. And therein lies the problem. The booking of John Cena as the champ is not unlike a WWE Living Legend who faced an all too similar series of events 11 years ago. Rather than make the obvious Star-to-Star comparison, lets document this occurance and see how ominously familiar Cena's rise seems. Disregard his supposedly questionable ability, and disregard the gimmick. In fact, forget everything you know and assume this guy is just like everybody else, just a guy, making a living. Now that you're in this mindset, let's go back to 1996.
In March of 1996, The "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels finally rose to the top of wrestling to win the WWE Title at WrestleMania XII. In the year previous, Michaels had stepped away from his running buddies and become a premier talent. He beat his "best bud" Diesel countless times. In fact, the only time I remember Kevin Nash, who was twice HBK's size mind you, defeating Michaels was at WrestleMania XI. But lets get back on track, to the big match. In a match against a man whom endurance is synonymous with in Bret Hart, Michaels outlasted him for 60 minutes (more like 62) to win the WWE Title. The 8 months that followed marked a huge turning point in WWE, and the career of HBK the Main Eventer.
The following month, Michaels faced his buddy Diesel again. This time, Diesel wasn't going to be a pushover, and he would use his size and strength to weaken the champion. At the time, Diesel was already more successful than Shawn, having held the World title for nearly a year beforehand and being a raging bull in the ring. Still, as the match finally came at In Your House in April, Michaels was made to be faster, more agile, and just plain better than Diesel...again. Michaels won in a No-Holds Barred Match. A match were any weapon or implement could have further hurt the Champ, and he still won it. Follow me yet?
Shawn's next big rival came in May, in the form of the British Bulldog. A pure athlete, Bulldog was stronger than HBK and could keep up with him too. He also had the same kind of endurance, and had a score to settle dating back to late 1992 when Shawn upset him for the Intercontinental Title, and lets not forget the controversy of the 1995 Rumble, where he was again upset by Michaels. In May, the two wrestled to a draw. However, on television Bulldog brutalized the champion and attempted to injure him severely on several shows. Still, come King of the Ring in June, all seemed to be forgotten as HBK got the victory after half an hour. Did I mention Bulldog also had his wife and James E. Cornette in his corner for support? Talk about rotten "luck."
By July, the focus finally shifted to the match people wanted to see. The Mastadon Vader had debuted at the Royal Rumble in 1996, and he was on a collision course with the World Title at SummerSlam. Following a series of successful tag victories over HBK, including one at July's In Your House, Vader seemed poised to take down the title. And at one of the "Big Four," it was inevitable that HBK would finally lose. But here's the catch, he didn't. In fact, he lost his main event match with Vader twice, once by countout and once by DQ. However, since those results did not equate to a title change, Jim Cornette had the match restarted both times. At that point, Michaels sprang into action, making Vader look like an outmatched, lumbering oaf. He never really regained his main event status in WWE or anywhere else after this match. He had been horribly mishandled and again Michaels had prevailed. Could no one beat HBK?
In September, at In Your House: Mind Games, Shawn Michaels would face a disturbing newcomer who had just picked up a huge win over the Undertaker. Mankind, better known as Mick Foley, was the deranged challenger in a match that was old-school brawling at its finest. But in the end, low and behold, HBK won again, be it all by disqualification. Still, a victory over Mankind was quite rare, so once again, Shawn was the bulletproof brawler that could not, and would not be beaten. Following a forgetable title defense (and victory, of course) over Goldust in October, the fans were fed up.
The Survivor Series was to take place in Madison Square Garden, where the smartest fans (by knowledge of wrestling) in the industry call home. These fans are best known for their verbal abuse of Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg at WrestleMania, and their huge eruption for Tazz at the Royal Rumble upon his debut. In the Garden, you have to know whats up in order to attend. And these fans sensed what many sense in regards to John Cena. He was booked to always win. He never seemed to lose any steam, and the company made sure that he was the major, indestructable player in every component of every event. Naturally, the fans would support him right? Wrong. This was the event where Shawn Michaels would face Sid. Psycho (or Sycho, as WWE was known to spell it) Sid had been a supporter of Michaels for some time before turning his back on the Champ. He gave HBK vicious (mind the pun) attacks and hurt friends and family of Michaels. Surely, HBK couldn't stop Sid. On this night, Sid would add another heinous act to his list. He would take a camera from ringside and smash the ancient Jose Lothario with it, knocking Shawn's Mentor from the apron and sending him into an apparent incident of cardiac arrest. The crowd, who was expected to revile Sid even further, cheered loudly for his every move. Sid then took the same camera and bashed HBK with it to much applause. Such applause was not the intended response for WWE Writers, but when you present a wrestler as unbeatable despite constantly struggling, the crowd fails to buy into it. As Sid hit his powerbomb and went for the pin. Only two members of the Garden crowd, Young girls along the barricade in the front row, can be seen in total shcok and distress at what was about to happen. The crowd counted along with the referee and roared when Sid was proclaimed the new WWE Champion.
So why would they cheer Sid? He was never exceptional in the ring, and was a notorious backstage cancer. Wrestlers like that don't get over with the "smart" crowd, so the only logical response was that the fans had cheered for what he represented: Change. For the first time in 8 months, Sid had done what nobody else could. He made Shawn Michaels human. It has been a very long time since John Cena has been booked as anything but superhuman, so we begin to wonder just who is going to dethrone the Champ, and how it will happen. Who's left? And will the crowd buy into it?
