Raw Thread 14/02 *spoilers within*

Guess you like more in wrestling nowadays than me. I'm in the same boat though that I enjoy the wacky side of wrestling moreso than the great matches.

flahavaj wrote: »

Yes its all Cena's fault. :rolleyes:

Jesus christ.

Where did I say that? There is no point discussing this if people are not rational or misconstrue everything I say. Read my posts again, I never say it all Cena's fault as that is an obviously idiotic sweeping statement. I clearly said Cena et al which is the direct opposite of it being Cena's fault entirely. And as the main man in the WWE, he takes a larger share of the blame than others.

I ask you to read the posts of people who are admitting they have stopped watching wrestling and see how often Cena's name is referenced. Is he the only reason? Obviously not. Is he a big reason? Undoubtably he is. Am I saying he is awful in everything he does? No. D.Q is right in his post above. That is what I have been saying about him, he is just not making enough people care about him.

Gerard.C wrote: »

Do you watch Cena every week?

Obviously I do. I post almost every week on Raw threads.

SlickRic wrote: »

i marked like mad for Rocky.

but putting WWE's decreased buyrate down to Cena's character is lunacy.

the only things that he should be criticised for are some of his bad habits in the ring...like his shít punches, his shít execution of the STF and his occasional bad selling.

nothing any other wrestler hasn't done.

have a look back to Bret v Austin at WM 13, and see how fúcking ridiculously Stone Cold sells a leg that Bret is supposed to have crippled.

Cena is made the scapegoat in such a pathetic way it's untrue. like MNG said, Cena has the same problem Rock had circa WM18, except there's nobody like Stone Cold, Hogan or HHH to fill the void. only Orton, whose character they've kind of destroyed.

it's the writing and era that's the problem for the Attitude era junkies like ourselves. end of.

you can point to Jericho, Punk etc all day long for promos in the current era, but they are a couple of the best ever, AND, it's far easier to do a heel promo in PG world that the 18-35 males will enjoy, than a face one. look how Punk struggled. Batista. hell, even Jericho on his last comeback. Cena has still done THE best face promos of the last 6 years.

Cena is doing the absolute best he can with the promo material he's given, is a company man through and through so won't rock the boat, realising the bigger picture that this is the way the powers that be have chosen for WWE to go.

you'll all love Cena once he's heel, i guaran-fúcking-damn-tee you.

Again, I clearly do not put it all down to Cena. But it is sheer lunacy to pretend he is not playing a role in decreased buyrates. He is the man on the adverts. He is the guy they use to sell PPVs. The top guy ALWAYS plays a large role in the success of a wrestling company. Is the top guy the only influence on buyrates, ratings etc? Obviously not. But it is head in the sand time if you ignore the role he has played in disenfranchising many viewers from wrestling. Listen to massive "Cena sucks" chants and the voices they came from. Those are the people who have stopped buying PPVs. Cena is the person most associated with what that demographic does not like about wrestling over the past few years.

As for the heel/face promo stuff, I am obviously not basing my views on Punk's et al (Again I say et al, so I mean more than just CM Punk!) heel promos. Of course he is naturally suited to heel promos. Of course heel promos are far more likely to win over adult males. But he has consistently shown throughout his career that he is good on the mic. Ditto Jericho and many, many others that I could mention. CM Punk was not a success as a face, because fans were rarely given a reason to get behind him. His push was extremely weak. A face being pushed as a fluke champion is very rarely a success. Yes he should accept some of the blame. But so should the booking department. The same booking department that have to share a lot of the blame for Cena's failure to connect with large parts of the audience. You very rarely become a true success without solid backing from the booking department.

This "Cena is great, he does not rock the boat" view is just wrong in my view. There is a pretty massive difference in the behaviour of HHH or Kaval, two people who have been mentioned here as rocking the boat. Ditto people like Austin, Goldberg, Hogan, HBK etc who have caused trouble in order to keep their place. It is not rocking the boat to want to improve yourself and the overall product. DQ lists many aspects in which he has not improved. It is not rocking the boat to improve promos so they don't alienate large proportions of the audience. I'm not expecting him to become Rated R, I just feel he has enough stroke to improve his promos. It is not as if I am the only person who feels his promos are naff.

As for the condescending line that I will love Cena as a heel, guarantee all you want, but I am extremely doubtful I will love him. I may recognizable the improvement to the show, but he would just become something that I admit has improved the show without actively loving. Similar to the way I felt when Hogan turned heel. And Cena is no Hulk Hogan.