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Make no mistake, Cena never will be anywhere near the performer of the Rock, or even Hulk Hogan, for that matter. Hogan's limited move-set was fine for the times in the '80s, but wrestling has moved on since then, and fans have come to expect signs of improvement out of their champions. The Rock took his limited move set, gradually added in new moves, and sold like crazy for the man in the ring with him. Cena? Well, he does know how to sell a good beating, but this unfortunately seems to always lead to a "Hulking up" and a come-from-behind victory. The days of "Hulking up" or over, people. If Sting looks ridiculous doing it, how can we buy Cena's attempt?
Cena's detractors are dismissed as grown men jealous of the fact that women pop for him. Didn't they pop for the Rock as well? I don't hate Cena because women and children love him. No, I loathe Cena because of what he represents: the ultimate example of Vinnie Mac telling wrestling that "I know what you want more than you do." I don't want Cena. I can't stand him. I stopped watching Raw because of him. Yes, wrestling is fake. But shouldn't the champ at least be, I don't know, worthy of the title? How sad is it that the champion is the one that has to be "carried" to a good match? Shouldn't he be able to- how about this- wrestle?
The problem with Cena is that his character is too shallow. Why should I cheer him? Because he goes for the cheep pops by wearing local jerseys? Because "real recognizes real"? Because he's pissed off all of the time? I don't cheer for him do to the simple fact that if you've seen one Cena match, you've seen them all. Cena gets beat up for awhile, makes a leaping shoulderblock, maybe throws in a suplex or two before doing the poor man's People's Elbow, then performs his glorified fireman's carry for a finishing move.
Hmm...sounds kind of like a Hulk Hogan wrestling script, doesn't it? Too bad that went out of fashion fifteen years ago. Wrestling fans have moved on from that. Sure, we may pop for nostalgia purposes, seeing as to how Hogan helped to build wrestling into what it is today. But we also want to be entertained, and that is where Cena falls short. There is no mystery surrounding his matches, no question of "What will we see this time?" Instead we get a man who works hard at what he does. Unfortunately, what he does is bore the hell out of me.
And the "spinner" belt is the most wretched eye-sore I have ever seen. Does anyone even still buy spinning hubcaps anymore?
