The most hated wrestler of 2014? I asked our
Facebook followers who they hated the most this year, and the results were plentiful. in the end it came down to two men, the two men who will challenge for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship at the Royal Rumble, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena.
Our followers were pretty vocal over their choices. They highlighted Lesnar’s lack of dates despite holding the World Championship. Their main grievance with Brock was the fact he spent months at home with the title, while Daniel Bryan (during his reign he picked up a neck injury) had to vacate the title because he broke the “30 day title rule”. Apparently the rule doesn’t apply to Brock, meaning the title is only defended when he’s scheduled. They also highlighted their disgust for the decision made at Wrestlemania when Lesnar defeated The Undertaker’s Wrestlemania Streak.
So who won this category? Well … I can say that Brock got a few votes, but it was John Cena, one of the most controversial and polarizing figures in the history of wrestling, who ended up with the most votes.
This category was not part of my “Best Of” albums in the past. I decided to include it this year because I wanted an opposite category to the “Most Charismatic Wrestler” (which is currently being voted on for part six of this series). I did not want to include a “best babyface” or “best heel” category, so I was hoping a heel wrestler would have taken this one. After a swarm of votes for John Cena, I realized how inevitable it was that heels could not be expected to win.
Why do the fans dislike John Cena?
The fans have spent nine years discussing the reasons why John Cena sucks. They continuously chant “Cena Sucks” (usually ensuing a “Let’s Go Cena” chant), and they have never stopped letting the WWE know how much they hate John Cena.
I know all the reasons why people don’t like Cena, but just for the sake of it, I asked our Facebook followers why they voted Cena the most hated wrestler of 2014. The post ended up as one of the most liked, commented, and shared of recent times. Everyone wanted to get in their reasons why they hated Cena, and others wanted to defend him, and give reasons why the fans shouldn’t hate him. So without directly quoting anyone, I will give a summary of the reasons for and against below:
- Never changes. Does the same thing every week.
- Should go back to “Thuganomics”, his current gimmick is not entertaining.
- He is too “good”:. He never gets upset, angry, sad, insulted, frustrated, or anything that would imply he was hurt mentally in any fashion, making it harder for his opponents to look strong against him. Adults can’t handle Cena being too good, because heroes have to overcome hard times to get the people behind them.
- His acting is questionable.
- Over-saturation, WWE puts him on everything, has him on all the shows. He is never away.
- He is booked to go over other wrestlers with serious momentum, slowing down their momentum to the point they may not recover. He does put other wrestlers over, but it is a rare occurrence.
- The biggest icons in wrestling have changed their characters over the years, and names like Hogan and Austin have played the bad guy. Cena has not played the bad guy for almost a decade, and the fans would like to see it, but they realize it will never happen because he sells the most merchandise.
- He looks like a 12-year-old in his attire. His entrance theme needs changing.
- Fans want to see something fresh, but so long as Cena is the franchise player, other wrestlers will always have to settle for #2 at best.
- He can’t wrestle. He oversells, undersells, has little athletic ability, repeats the same moves.
- He wins all the time. He has won the title so many times. It is inevitable the title will end up on John Cena again because it’s John Cena. He is a one-man show, and WWE don’t want to bring anyone else up to his level because he suits their business model and it works for them.
- Predictable, stale, fake, phony. His sense of humour consists of lame jokes and talking down to his opponent. He is sloppy, awkward, repetitive, and cheesy.
- He tries to portray himself as a “rebel” against the authority of WWE, but he is well-known for being the face of the WWE, and is pretty much a corporate business person who will do anything for the company.
There are probably more reasons, but we got the jist I think. Let’s balance it out with the reasons why we should not hate John Cena.
- He is a role model for young kids. He loves children, and he is always granting make-a-wishes.
- It’s Vince McMahon who decides how Cena is booked, and whether his character will change or not.
- John Cena shows up, unlike other wrestlers. (Lesnar)
- He has a huge passion for the business, and stays true to himself despite his many critics.
- He sells the most merchandise, and other wrestlers are not ready to fill that role. As long as he sells, he will always be on top. It’s up to other wrestlers to step up, it’s not up to Cena to step down to give them a chance.
- John Cena is a nice guy. He has never done anything to imply he is anything other than a decent human being.
- Cena is not going to say no to the decisions made by WWE. He cannot be blamed for his portrayal on television, he is only doing his job.
- Despite the people who don’t like him, Cena does have fans, and those fans love everything he does.
- Cena does put guys over, like when Daniel Bryan beat him clean at Summerslam.
- Cena can wrestle, he has a list of five-star matches with some of the greatest.
- Fans only hate Cena because they are jealous and want the Attitude Era back.
- When Cena gets injured, he does everything in his power to return quickly, because he loves being in front of the fans.
How much success did he have this year?
As a fifteen time World Champion, Cena has had his fair share of great years, but he has been through years of mediocrity as well. This year could be seen as one of his least successful. He won the title at Money in the Bank, but he only held the belt for 49 days. He lost it in a squash match to Brock Lesnar at Summerslam. His last chance was against Lesnar at Night of Champions, and although he won the match, it was by disqualification.
Aside from that, Cena has spent most of the year in several feuds. He was the clear winner of the feud involving Bray Wyatt. He failed to beat Dean Ambrose at Hell in a Cell, however he went on to defeat Randy Orton to become number one contender later in the night. Cena was on the winning side of the Survivor Series main event. He was eliminated from the match after Big Show turned against the team.
He was able to keep his number one contender spot by defeating Rollins at TLC after an assist from Roman Reigns. He lost a cage match to Seth Rollins the following night after another beat-down from Brock Lesnar.
Unlike previous years, “the champ” has not been here. Cena has not been on top of the mountain all year, but he has remained a permanent fixture in the main event scene. The crowd reactions are still split between the proud Cenation fans, and the fans who enjoy reminding him how much he sucks.
WWE embraced the split reaction a few years ago, and it seems that will never change. As far as they are concerned, he gets the most reaction, and it doesn’t matter whether he gets cheered or booed, so long as the fans have their say and talk about it.
It’s a crazy dynamic that helps WWE to keep up their PG image and reputation, but it comes at the expense of those who have grown tired of it all. To some, Cena is everything, but to others, Cena is that annoying itch that won’t go away no matter how much you scratch it. He’s just there, all the time, and it doesn’t matter to WWE how many fans get annoyed by his presence, so long as they make money. So long as he sells the most merchandise, it will continue.
I have done blogs and articles over John Cena before, and I know many reasons why Cena’s popularity developed like it did. I won’t go into all the reasons, but I wanted to wrap this up by remembering One Night Stand 2006. On that special night, a full Hammerstein Ballroom of ECW fans set the tone for the reactions Cena still receives today. It was the end of an era, and the extreme fans really let him have it. If for some reason you never saw this, it is an absolute must-see, especially if you are a fan who voted Cena the most hated wrestler of 2014.
Hate is a bit of a strong word. Personally I do not hate John Cena the person. If anything, I really dislike WWE’s dependency on John Cena. WWE believes that the character of John Cena works, when in reality, Cena could be bigger than he is. All it would take is some character development. To “turn him heel” probably wouldn’t work right away, but with the right development, it could be done to great effect. It would create some historic moments, and in the long run, it would help him to gain the respect someone of his position deserves. It would make his Hall of Fame induction much easier that’s for sure. I assume John Cena would like to end his career as one of the most liked, not the most hated. It would make an interesting story that would go down in the history books. The controversial franchise player who finally gained the respect of all the fans he worked so hard for.
Thanks for reading the fifth edition! It took a lot of comments from our Facebook followers, and I thank them all for the continuing participation.
