FATP:- Latest comments on Cena from former WWE stars
What’s up Ramblers? It’s time for the latest edition of “From Across the Pond” with yours truly. Thanks for the feedback you guys have given me on the last couple of columns, about MVP and AW’s firing. I was really annoyed with WWE at the weekend and I haven’t calmed down a lot since the news broke that AW had been released. I’ve even had to put the TNA column I mentioned in the last FATP on hold until next week because I couldn’t give it my full attention.
This week, I wanted to talk about John Cena and the latest comments from some ex-WWE stars about the man himself, his character and the way he works in the ring. These comments might just be from bitter former talents, or there could be some truth in it. This is gonna be a little bit different for me. Normally, I’d be kicking off and saying how I hate John Cena’s character, but you guys probably already know that I’m not his biggest fan. I never have been and I probably never will be. Here’s a quick recap for those of you who’ve no idea about why I dislike John Cena’s in-ring character.
I think his gimmick is stale. His mic work is average at best when he’s not in there with Punk or Rock. I think he’s booked like Superman and his clean-loss record over the last five years is shocking (only HBK and Rock have beaten him clean). The way he’s booked buries his opponents before the feud gets anywhere because you know he’ll win and won’t sell an ass-kicking. Has Cena had great matches? Yes, but only when he’s in there with someone who can work a match (like HHH, HBK, Punk, Jericho etc). He doesn’t do it often enough and it pisses people off, because they know he can do it.
Making Cena look vulnerable every so often would make it mean more when he does the big comeback. I know Hogan did the same thing in the WWE during his prime (early 80’s until 1993/4), but here’s my response to that. Hogan wasn’t on TV every week, or on PPV every month doing the same thing. At this point, being John Cena means more than being the WWE Champion and that’s a sad state of affairs, but that’s just my opinion. I don’t doubt the fact he works hard for the company in and out of the ring, but we’ve been force-fed the same thing for years. The people that hate Cena don’t necessarily want a full-blown heel-turn, but we’d settle for something different to what we’ve had up until now. That’s all. Make it fresh. Please? Thanks.
OK, so let’s get to this week’s topic about the latest comments from ex-WWE stars about John Cena. I suppose this all kicked off when former Spirit Squad member Kenn Doane made some allegations about Cena after his wife filed for divorce. Doane claims that Cena and Doane’s ex, Mickie James, had an affair when all 3 of them were contracted to WWE and that it had a part to play in how their careers have panned out.
In an interview with sescoops.com a few weeks ago, Doane said:
“I get jobbed out then they take me off the road more and fire me. When Johnny Ace called me to fire me, I asked him if this is why I’m getting fired. He told me ‘We don’t have anything for you and depending on whether you choose to discuss this issue will determine on if you’re allowed to come back in the future (so basically if I mention Cena and Mickie, then I’m banned)… I go back everytime they’re in my area and they always say the same thing (we like you, we’ll call you in a week) then never call me at all… Let’s go back a little bit shall we? So now I’m gone from WWE and Mickie and Cena are banging full time… Mickie becomes champ, gets TV roles and gets attached too. John… breaks it off for whatever reason and Mickie flips out, cries all over backstage… and it looks really bad. She now loses her title and jobs out and becomes Piggy James, then gets fired… When I was there in November, I was actually excited to talk with John and I wanted to bury this. He walked by and I put my hand out and said ‘Hey, you got a minute?’. He didn’t shake my hand and said ‘for you, absolutely not’”
Now, one side of the story is that, yeah Ken Doane may be bitter about the way his relationship with Mickie ended and the fact that he ended up losing his job. You could also argue that Doane only brought this stuff up because he wanted to capitalise on the press coverage of the breakdown of Cena’s marriage. The other side is that if Cena is responsible and he’s acted the way Doane says, he sounds like a douchebag. Acting high and mighty like he’s untouchable. If John did behave like that, then there are two people to blame: Vince McMahon and John Cena. Cena for believing his own hype and McMahon for creating the ego in the first place.
The next few ex-WWE stars with something to say about John Cena were Michael Tarver, George “The Animal” Steele and Chris Masters, who spoke with Robert & Kenny from the Inside the Ropes podcast. (On a side note, subscribe to their podcast. There’s a great mix of interviews, news, reviews and everyone’s favourite segment, Spazamania! Subscribe here or listen to the show live in the UK every Thursday night on www.strathclydefusion.com at 10pm. Hope the cheque’s in the post lads! Haha..)
Kenny asked George Steele about whether or not he thought Cena was a good choice to be the face of the WWE. Steele replied:
“I have seen hundreds of John Cena’s. Nothing special about him really. What’s special about John Cena? Stop and think about it. We’ve had some other guys that weren’t real special that were champions. What else are you gonna do with them? In every match, he looks the same. To me, guys like him are not special, but that’s just me and I’ve always felt that way about a lot of wrestlers.”
The key thing about Steele’s comment is that he’s got nothing to lose by saying that. He’s not under contract to the WWE. He’s appeared on WWE TV once in the last 20 years or so, and he’s effectively a fan watching the product who feels the same way that a lot of fans do about John Cena. Again, I’ll try and balance it by saying that Cena goes out, does what he’s asked to and leaves. Whether or not he could do it better on a more consistent basis, only John knows the answer to that question.
Michael Tarver, formerly of Nexus fame, told Inside the Ropes that he was disappointed with the outcome of the Summerslam 2010 main event (Team WWE vs Nexus):
“We (The Nexus) were very, very disappointed and I think that John Cena taking a DDT on the concrete and coming back like Superman will live in infamy forever… If the Nexus had’ve won at Summerslam, it could’ve made a huge difference in the landscape of the industry now…”
He was also asked what it was like working with John Cena. Tarver replied:
“Hahaha.. That’s a very interesting question. It’s a two-fold experience. Professionally, it’s like being on court with LeBron James or Kobe Bryant. It’s an amazing experience that I’m very grateful for… He commands the audience. Personally, I don’t really care for John Cena. I’d say that to him if I saw him personally. I have told him that. I’ve shaken his hand backstage and said ‘I don’t like you and you probably don’t like me’ and it was a pleasant conversation. Him and I have had our issues… Some personalities don’t click. You have an alpha-male like John Cena who’s used to being king of the hill and someone like me, who’s a fearless, buck-the-system kind of guy who doesn’t like being bullied, you know, I’m not a sheep.
A lot of WWE talent walk around backstage like sheep, scared to crack an egg and I personally don’t do that. It was hard for me balancing my personality. The way I am as a man and balancing things so I could keep my job. You’re afraid of losing your job… I was never disrespectful. I tried to always be respectful to him and impress him. To show him I was hungry… You can do the same thing someone else does and they don’t like the way you do it! There was no possible way I could get John Cena to like me for a few different reasons.”
Wow! That was a lot to cover. OK, so looking at it again, from Tarver’s PoV, it seems like he tried everything he did to impress John Cena and to earn his respect. From his comments to Inside the Ropes, it seems like Tarver is implying that Cena has bullied him. Again, we only have Tarver’s side because Cena can’t comment on things like that honestly (due to his WWE contract etc). If it’s true, it shows the same thing I was talking about earlier with the Ken Doane situation. Cena could come across like an asshole.
Balancing things again, you don’t have to like everyone you work with. I know I’ve worked in places where I couldn’t stand some of the people I worked with, because our personalities clashed. It didn’t stop me from being professional. As far as we can tell, there were no stiff shots exchanged between Cena and Tarver any time that they were in the ring together, so there’s professionalism there. However, if he’s bullying people when he’s meant to be a role model for kids, that’s something that needs to be addressed. The more these stories come out, it’s just adding fuel to the fire for those that don’t like John Cena. Just sayin’..
The last comments to Inside the Ropes came from “The Masterpiece” Chris Masters, who had this to say about working against Cena:
“At that time (late 2005/early 2006), man that guy had some heavy fists! You know, me and Carlito used to joke around in tag matches against John Cena and Shawn Michaels. For instance, in the Elimination Chamber, we both rushed for Shawn because he was easier to work with. Whoever got to Shawn first was left to Cena and we’re thinking ‘God, we’re gonna end up potatoing each other left and right’. At one point, I felt like I was in a real shoot fist-fight with him.”
It’s no surprise that some wrestlers work stiffer than others and are more hard-hitting than you’d think for something that non-wrestling fans call “fake”. I’ve never wrestled. I don’t have the bottle to, that’s why I respect everyone who does it, whether I like their character or not. If Cena’s working stiff, fine, no bother. If he’s genuinely fighting the guy, then that’s a problem.
Cena’s probably smoothed out a lot more in the ring since Masters worked with him, but Masters can only go on his own experience. It’s not wrong, but it might not be the same now. Could Chris Masters be bitter? Yeah, he might be. He had a monster push when he debuted, but it fizzled out and he was never taken seriously when he came back in 2009, despite the fact he’d improved a hell of a lot in the ring. He was having 10/15 minute matches on Superstars, working on his selling and in-ring work. Maybe someone else should work on that too, huh JC?
The last thing to consider about all these allegations is this: at one stage or another, Vince has fallen out with every single one of his top wrestlers and by top wrestlers I mean the face of the company. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle and even Stone Cold Steve Austin have all been on bad terms with Vince at one time. I don’t see any reason why it won’t be the same with John Cena in the future.
I hope that this article came across as balanced, because to be honest, I’m sick and tired of ranting about John Cena. The comments from Ken Doane, George Steele, Michael Tarver and Chris Masters might be from bitter ex-WWE employees who aren’t the superstar that John Cena is, but there might also be some truth in there. The more that stories like this come out, it just gives the anti-Cena brigade more ammunition.
If you’ve got anything to add, then get in touch with me and leave a comment below and let me know what you think! You’ll be getting two columns from me again next week because I’ll be doing the Wrestling Rambles Summerslam Review on Sunday, before I’m back in my usual spot next Tuesday with my column on TNA. I promise it’ll be posted next week and I’ll try to be positive! Until then, thanks for reading, have a great week and remember, subscribe to the Inside the Ropes podcast on iTunes!
Peace out,
George
Twitter: @georgec1982
—————————-
Tarver was real good. A great talker. I think he could’ve been something in WWE.
Yeah, I think he had more potential than most others, apart from Barrett and Bryan
I saw Tarver at a local gas station several months ago.
Well the majority of main eventers in WWE can work matches, that’s part of the reason they’re main eventers. Cena’s feuds with Rock, Punk, as you mentioned he sold well, which I agree. But he had a great match with Bryan on Raw last week and go back a few months against Lesnar, look how well he sold that entire match. In my opinion, Cena is good in the ring and always delivers when he has to.
Sure ex-wrestlers complain, but dirt sheets rarely report if an ex-wrestler says anything good about someone. I never look too much into what wrestler says about another wrestler because it does not mean it’s correct. It could be just their bitterness.
It’s a well written column, George, but I think you’re wrong about Cena. That’s just my opinion, but I do agree on some points!
You’ve just proved my point Ray. Apart from two matches since the Rock feud, his ring work has been below average IMO. You even said “always delivers when he has to”. He should have to every night he’s wrestling. Others bust their ass night in and night out, so Cena (and others) shouldn’t just phone it in when they think “it doesn’t matter” as much.
That’s exactly what I said. Notice I didn’t rant about Cena, I tried to balance everything the wrestlers said about him with what the truth could be. The point of the blog wasn’t to be a usual, standard “Cena sucks” blog, but to assess what ex-stars have said and try to balance it.
That’s not his fault. You can’t forget either than he nearly always does a dark match on Raw that we don’t see on TV. He does more than enough for WWE. The WWE is his life, he is the main player and anything he does outside WWE reflects on WWE. He practically has a 24 hour job 7 days a week. There is enormous pressure on him. He’s busting his ass more than anybody else. He just ha a divorce and did not take one day off or turn down a make a wish grant. Whether anyone likes him or not, it’s irrelevant. You can probably debate he’s done more for WWE than Stone Cold and Hulk Hogan.
Even if he’s told to do the ”it doesn’t matter” attitude, the sad thing is it doesn’t matter. His fans will buy the PPV regardless. Hogan didn’t even wrestle every week on TV, yet everyone burst Cena’s chops.
I don’t have any doubt that Cena works hard for the company, in fact I know he does, but the point of the blog was to assess what others have said about him. The blog wasn’t my opinion, it was balancing comments from ex-wrestlers that I had access to. Sorry if you don’t agree with what they’ve said. They weren’t my opinions, but the opinions of Doane, Steele, Masters and Tarver. If I’d wanted to, I could’ve gone on a whole rant about Cena, but I didn’t. That’s the difference.
If you want my opinion, here goes. Hogan wasn’t exposed as much on TV as Cena has been for pretty much the last ten years that’s why some people bust his chops. They’re sick of the same old sh*t week in and week out. The best in the business, Savage, Hogan, Rock, Austin, HHH, HBK, Jericho etc etc have all changed up their on-screen persona. Cena hasn’t. Whether that’s his choice or the office, maybe if they changed things up, people wouldn’t moan as much. That’s my two cents on Cena, which wasn’t what this blog was about.
I do understand that, George. But it does seem like you’ve gotten great enjoyment in writing negative things about Cena. Which doesn’t bother me at all, I respect your opinion 100%!
But to me, those wrestlers are just bitter. You’d rarely hear many successful wrestlers in WWE complain about Cena. Only the ones who got a quick stint or whatever.
I read Jericho and Batista’s book and they had nothing bad to say about him. Also, I heard a Seth Mates interview yesterday and he had nothing but good things to say about Cena as well.
I didn’t get any enjoyment out of writing about the things others have said about Cena lately to one of my friends’ podcasts. I was reporting it as news and tried to be unbiased. You can say those wrestlers are bitter, which is one of the first and last things I said in the blog, but nothing’s ever as rosy as it seems, whether it’s with Cena, Orton or not. You’re entitled to feel the way you do about Cena, but this blog was about reporting what others have said. Not what my opinion was or whether I got enjoyment out of it (which I didn’t). Sorry if you took it that way.
Too few and mostly unimportant(minus Steele) to form a pattern. Cena’s fine for now.
I remember a couple weeks ago, an interview came out with a star who called Cena “different” and went on to say how important that was; calling him “truly special”. I want to say it was Regal, but I can’t remember exactly.
Think some people have misunderstood what the blog was about. It wasn’t about me saying “Cena’s sh*t”, because quite frankly I’m sick of doing that. I tried to balance the comments of ex-stars with what the other side of the coin was.
To be clear, this blog is me reporting what these guys have said about Cena. My opinion on him is irrelevant.
I got what the point of the column was. Former wrestler’s opinions on Cena.
Love Cena, love his work ethic and his bad ass hard work!
I can see Cena(no pun intended) being the first headliner to be booed at his own HOF induction.