Vince and John Cena

[Platinum_Lies]

A question that seems to be popping up all the time now is: why is Vince pushing guys like Lashley and Cena so hard? And looking back through the last 20 odd years in the WWE, I'm beginning to think the answer is quite surprising. McMahon has never really "made" any of the megastars or legends.

This may seem odd and down right wrong at first glance, but after looking at this a few times it begins to look a little bit different.

Hogan, one of wrestling's biggest names, was immortalised not by Vince, but by the fans. The birth of Hulkamania stemmed from the fans latching onto Hogan and never leaving. McMahon had no choice but to have him at the top of the card and with the belt, there was no one else in the business that compared at the time.

The Ultimate Warrior - another case where the fans latched onto a guy, a fairly low end middle carder, and within two years had him rival Hogan in popularity. This is even more apparent since, by Vince's thoughts, the Warrior self-destructed. The fans still love the guy the though even though Vince has tried to sabotage his career with slanted DVD's (show some integrity Vince, Hall of Fame!).

Bret Hart - a tag team specialist suddenly breaks out huge and becomes a name that many think is rivaled only by his arch nemesis (if you don't know who then you don't know this business). His pure wrestling talent won fans over and again McMahon followed the fans (seeing a pattern here?).

Undertaker - the man comes from nowhere, with the most unique gimmick, and dominates the ring with his presence. There was just something to him that could not be ignored. The Undertaker is the closest McMahon has come to truly making a star as he did force him on the fans much to early (the title win against Hogan).

HBK - The ultimate self-made superstar. After splitting from the Rockers, Michaels languished in wrestling purgatory for quite a while. Despite IC title reigns, there was something that hadn't clicked with the fans. But WMX arrives, and the ladder match reveals HBK's showstopper mentality. From then on fans slowly fell in love with the man's in ring talent and the passion that HBK radiated. The man's consistent high quality matches could not be ignored and McMahon finally gave him the belt at WMXII.

Austin - McMahon has said it himself, the fans made Austin huge. The King of the Ring and the birth of Austin 3:16 shocked the wrestling world and Austin was suddenly at the top of the business even though he did not have the belt. The guy was pushed as a heel for a while before McMahon finally realised that the fans loved the guy. The rest is history.

Rock - certainly not made by McMahon. If Vince had his way, we would still have Rocky Maivia, the chia pet. It wasn't until the Rock became himself that he was accepted. This is one of those rare superstars whom fans loved to hate and considering that he was a heel for quite a while, it is surprising that McMahon finally ceded to the man's insane popularity.

HHH - buried when he first arrived at the WWE, buried after the clic incident, and wasn't rescued until DX was born. Even then, with the immense popularity of DX, HHH was often ignored for guys like Austin and Rock. It wasn't until late 99 (two years) that Vince finally put the belt on the man. Was it because he needed a heel champion in a face dominated business?

Most of these guys were ignored by McMahon until the fans became to loud to ignore. All McMahon did was recognise fan support and follow thier lead. Until now that is. It seems that McMahon has become desperate of late to prove that he, by himself, can make a superstar. Lashley and Cena (prototypical chiseled and fairly big men) have continually faced impossible odds and come out on top. They both have held their belts far longer than their talent warrants, and the methods of their victories are highly suspect. All this is an attempt to force the fans to "love" these guys.

Sorry Vince, it isn't working. Lashley is getting decent, but not outstanding fan reactions. He is still too green to be in the major spotlight. Cena may have a large number of young kids and female fans, but has an even larger number of haters (or as we seem to be called now, smarks). Cena's 20 out of 24 month reign is more evidence that McMahon is desperate for something, since the fan reaction has been pretty straight foward. Hell, even the Cena fans are growing tired of the long title reigns.

Just a theory on why the hell McMahon is shoving these guys down our throats. Could be right, could be wrong. But there has to be some explanation as to why he is now ignoring the fans.

[AFC1986]

the problem with vince is that he hasn't cared about what the fans or the wrestlers want in a long time and that is the main reason why a lot of the wwe fans and wrestlers are watching or wrestling for other promotions. i think he wants cena, batista and lashley in the spotlight all the time is he wants them to be the new versions of wrestlers like the rock and stone cold and i think you are spot on when you say vince has never "made" a wrestler. the fans make the wrestler. over the last few weeks all 3 of vince's favourites have all been getting booed by the fans and if that happens to 3 faces then surely vince should see that something is wrong and he should keep them out of the title picture giving the fans some news fueds for the titles so that fans start getting interested again

[Platinum_Lies]

Batista is nowhere near as bad. I think the only reason he was booed was because he was going up against Taker's streak at WM.

Cena gets booed no matter who he faces. Listen to the crowds closely too, there are a lot of boos even at RAWs, but they are usually overpowered by the higher pitch of the females going nuts (I was at a live event and it was much easier to hear it). It is more prevalent at PPV's because more hardcore fans tend to buy the tickets and casual fans have a much harder time even finding tickets.

Lashley is really just a high level mid carder. The US championship is the highest he should have ever gone at this point. He is not yet ready to carry the load of being one of THE MAN (since there are now 3 titles there are 3 "the man").

[legolas4792]

imo cena beats boretista but im hoping orton gets the opportunity to beat him at backlash

[Platinum_Lies]

I'm beginning to sense a fatal four way at Backlash. I don't see how HBK can be forced aside without a rematch, and I don't see Orton and Edge not being in a fued by the end of the month. If it is a 4way, as long as Cena loses I could be happy with th champion.

[heartbreakkid]

I think that Vince wants to make Cena into the new Hogan. That is not going to work, times have changed. I remember hearing Ross say that the fans nowadays are different, for example, we seem to be cheering the heels more than we used to. Vince needs to listen and maybe its time for a nice long heel title reign?

This also reminds me that I heard somewhere that Vince wants to turn Orton face. This is probable because the fans seem to be cheering for orton. But maybe they are cheering him becase he is a heel and cool? I personally would like to see him face, but i doubt the majority of the fans will.

[Platinum_Lies]

I think the reason people cheer for the heels is because they act as heels and are proud of it. I love the heels more in the current state of the WWE because of this. You have so many faces out there like Carlito or Cena, who really act like heels but want to be cheered and loved and seen as faces.

This is all the result of Austin and the anti-hero era that was the Attitude Era. The crowd may just be desperately waiting for another "say your prayers, eat your vitamins" face and I think that may be very close at hand with CM Punk. It is so refreshing to see a true face in the business.

[skywarp]

right now.. people hate face like cen cuz there boring!

[tommy]

I think the reason people cheer for the heels is because they act as heels and are proud of it. I love the heels more in the current state of the WWE because of this. You have so many faces out there like Carlito or Cena, who really act like heels but want to be cheered and loved and seen as faces.

This is all the result of Austin and the anti-hero era that was the Attitude Era. The crowd may just be desperately waiting for another "say your prayers, eat your vitamins" face and I think that may be very close at hand with CM Punk. It is so refreshing to see a true face in the business.

CM Punk may not stay face for long however. After how great of a heel he was in ROH, it's not likely that he will always stay a face, even though he could be one of the biggest things in the business since the attitude era.

[Platinum_Lies]

I must be some sort of prophet... but more likely the WWE is just too predictable. A fatal four way at Backlash with Cena/HBK/Orton/Edge.

If Cena walks away champion, Kennedy better come charging to that ring ala Edge at NY Revolution last year. He can't beat these odds believably, but I am almost sure he will.