WWE Off-Topic

[Mercury112491]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubcity

Cena was the last singular star guy, to me. They wouldn't let Reigns beat Lesner for the longest time, and he really didn't spend much time as world champion. And his outside WWE TV celebrity presence was practically non-existent. I think WWE sees not having one guy on top as a strength, because then they can pretend that parity and 50/50 booking = roster depth and everyone being elevated.

You’re talking like Cena was the guy right off the bat. Cena was just a top end wrestler for a long time. He didn’t break through until he moved to his Hustle Loyalty and Respect character. Same with Rock and obviously Austin.


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[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mercury112491

You’re talking like Cena was the guy right off the bat. Cena was just a top end wrestler for a long time. He didn’t break through until he moved to his Hustle Loyalty and Respect character. Same with Rock and obviously Austin. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Not accurate at all. Cena got the rocket strapped to his back long before that. You can see in 2003-2004 where Smackdown shifted to making Cena the face of the brand that he was the guy. Even with Eddie Guerrero as champion, Cena was getting booking like the most popular guy on the roster and honestly looking at his reactions then, he was.

[dubcity]

Quote: Originally Posted by SmashMan

There's probably a good reason he didn't this time.

Lol, yeah maybe he would have held on to the title this time for a while, but who knows. Last time he held a world title before this was over 2 years ago.

[Mercury112491]

Quote: Originally Posted by King_B_Mack

Not accurate at all. Cena got the rocket strapped to his back long before that. You can see in 2003-2004 where Smackdown shifted to making Cena the face of the brand that he was the guy. Even with Eddie Guerrero as champion, Cena was getting booking like the most popular guy on the roster and honestly looking at his reactions then, he was.

You missed the point a little. We’re not talking about simply a high end heavyweight. Yeah Cena got a huge push but like I acknowledged that he was a top tier wrestler in my post. What we’re talking about is a generational true face of the company the way Hogan, Rock, Cena were. I’m saying those guys didn’t generate their crossover appeal right away and it didn’t coincide with their initial pushes to top tier status within the company.


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[dubcity]

Well, WWE put out their awards list for 2018, for some reason. Enjoy ...

Quote:

Male Star of the Year: Braun Strowman Female Star of the Year: Becky Lynch Tag Team of the Year: The Bar Breakout Star of the Year:*Elias Most Underrated Star of the Year:*Naomi Return of the Year: Dean Ambrose Best on the Mic of the Year: Paul Heyman Rivalry of the Year: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns Best Diss of the Year: Ronda Rousey’s promo against Nikki Bella Match of the Year: Becky Lynch vs Charlotte Flair at Evolution Shocking Moment of the Year: Randy Orton’s Screw-driver job on Jeff Hardy GM of the Year: Paige Most Hated of the Year: Baron Corbin Brand of the Year: Raw Funniest Moment of the Year: Titus O Neil falling at The Greatest Royal Rumble

[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mercury112491

You missed the point a little. We’re not talking about simply a high end heavyweight. Yeah Cena got a huge push but like I acknowledged that he was a top tier wrestler in my post. What we’re talking about is a generational true face of the company the way Hogan, Rock, Cena were. I’m saying those guys didn’t generate their crossover appeal right away and it didn’t coincide with their initial pushes to top tier status within the company. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Yeah, no. I get exactly what you're trying to say, but you're wrong. Trying to narrow down Cena as just another heavyweight is completely misrepresenting what he was and would be as silly as calling Brock Lesnar in 2002 just a "high end heavyweight." Guys get big pushes. Sure. Kurt Angle got one and we knew despite that he wasn't being pushed to be the face of the company. Edge started to get one and we knew he wasn't being pushed to be the face of the company. Randy Orton was being groomed to be a star in Evolution and when he won the title from Benoit, but we knew he wasn't in line to be the face of the company. Cena on the other hand it was clear once the shift started. His rapper gimmick was a joke character at first and was supposed to be just another heel to feed to faces on Smackdown and give him something to do since he was close to getting fired as his clean cut bright colored tights character. But once he got the rap gimmick over with the fans and was getting the biggest pops in the whole company you could clearly see where the gears started to shift and the machine was put behind him.

Once Brock bailed on them after Mania, you can see where the plan was put in place for Cena to be THE GUY. They spent the next year building up Cena to be THE GUY and take the championship they cared about (the WWE Championship) off one of the worst champions in history JBL at the following Wrestlemania. Cena won the title at Mania in April of 2005 and was on RAW with the belt by June. He wasn't brought there with that belt just to be a high end heavyweight. He was THE GUY in the company and that was when he was still rocking throwbacks and carrying around spinner championships and rapping. Long before Hustle, Loyalty, Respect was a thing. Obviously he wasn't on the path to be the guy when he debuted against Angle with that first push he got, but nobody except Lesnar was on that path. Rock certainly wasn't. Austin definitely wasn't. Michaels wasn't. Triple H sure as hell wasn't. But once Lesnar left, Cena was the clear cut guy that Vince was putting his hat behind.

[Mercury112491]

Don’t get all testy lol. You’re still missing it. I’m well aware of Cena’s career arc. Being pushed and put in a position to be THE GUY is not the same thing as actually becoming him. Vince has done the same thing for Roman, is he THE GUY? Is he a Rock, Hogan, Cena? I’m saying all those guys took time to become the massive brand carrying crossover success that they became. People are saying there will never be one, that Reigns has failed. I’m simply saying to give it more time. These guys don’t appear over night and even when Vince wants them to be the guy it still takes time. You really think he’s batting 1.000? That those 3 guys are the only guys Vince has wanted to crossover? Just because there isn’t an heir apparent ready to immediately take the mantle from Cena doesn’t mean there won’t be eventually. Personally if Reigns is able to come back I think he’ll be in an amazing position to fulfill his potential if they just let him be himself a little more.


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[King_B_Mack]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mercury112491

Don’t get all testy lol. You’re still missing it. I’m well aware of Cena’s career arc. Being pushed and put in a position to be THE GUY is not the same thing as actually becoming him. Vince has done the same thing for Roman, is he THE GUY? Is he a Rock, Hogan, Cena? I’m saying all those guys took time to become the massive brand carrying crossover success that they became. People are saying there will never be one, that Reigns has failed. I’m simply saying to give it more time. These guys don’t appear over night and even when Vince wants them to be the guy it still takes time. You really think he’s batting 1.000? That those 3 guys are the only guys Vince has wanted to crossover? Just because there isn’t an heir apparent ready to immediately take the mantle from Cena doesn’t mean there won’t be eventually. Personally if Reigns is able to come back I think he’ll be in an amazing position to fulfill his potential if they just let him be himself a little more. Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

Not getting testy. Just disagree with your assessment of Cena's rise to the man in the company. I agree with your overall point that just because someone isn't currently ready to be that guy it doesn't mean there'll never be another. I just think you're selling Cena short on what he was. When they put the WWE title on him and moved him to the flagship he was THE GUY from that point forward. By the time he got to HLR Cena, fans were already tired of him. You're saying he was just another dude on the roster when he was clearly the number 1 guy in the company. Roman doesn't have near what Cena had going for him at the time of him taking over. But I think we're arguing semantics at this point.