USA Network Forums > John Cena or Dean Malenko Debate

thedogg001

Jul 19 2006, 05:58 AM

Well I've read the complaints. John Cena doesn't know how to wrestle. He sux (exact spelling). He can't sell moves. His opponents have to 'work' harder to 'carry' him during his matches.

John Cena is a great wrestler unfortunately he came around when the Rock was on his way out. John's matches are patterned much like The Rocks. Maybe there was some residual hatred passed on... the whole Hollywood Hip-Hop thing that rubs some of us the wrong way.

For those of you who think he is horrible. Why not root for Dean Malenko? Bring the man out of retirement. He was a natural Wrestling-God. The "MAN OF A THOUSAND HOLDS," he could do anything in the ring. He just didn't have that 'it' factor or mike skills to carry him over. The haters don't enjoy pure wrestling they just dislike hip hop or Sports Entertainment. Otherwise Lance Storm would still be in the ring, Shelton Benjamin would be champ, and good ole' Dean Malenko wouldn't be working backstage, he would be headlining Wrestlemania's.

Caliban

Jul 19 2006, 07:53 AM

Rock was a lot more entertaining in the ring than Cena. Ugh.

cenagirl

Jul 19 2006, 08:12 AM

the rock was a great wrestler and champion as meaning to bieng the wwe champion 5 to 6 times or more cant remember.
john cena has great mic skills just like the rock does and two great finishers: the fu and stfu, the rockbottom and the ppl's elbow. which i loved whenever rock did it to his opponents in the ring.

thedogg001

Jul 19 2006, 10:05 AM

Cenagirl that's the first true thing you've said today. HUURRAH

POWERade

Jul 19 2006, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Well I've read the complaints. John Cena doesn't know how to wrestle. He sux (exact spelling). He can't sell moves. His opponents have to 'work' harder to 'carry' him during his matches.

John Cena is a great wrestler unfortunately he came around when the Rock was on his way out. John's matches are patterned much like The Rocks. Maybe there was some residual hatred passed on... the whole Hollywood Hip-Hop thing that rubs some of us the wrong way.

For those of you who think he is horrible. Why not root for Dean Malenko? Bring the man out of retirement. He was a natural Wrestling-God. The "MAN OF A THOUSAND HOLDS," he could do anything in the ring. He just didn't have that 'it' factor or mike skills to carry him over. The haters don't enjoy pure wrestling they just dislike hip hop or Sports Entertainment. Otherwise Lance Storm would still be in the ring, Shelton Benjamin would be champ, and good ole' Dean Malenko wouldn't be working backstage, he would be headlining Wrestlemania's.

i was soooo disappointed when Malenko was taken off screen. I always loved watching his matches, because he is such an awesome wrestler. I will alway sfondly remember his fued with Chris Jericho in WCW.
I hated seeing Shelton turned heel, because I thought he should be put in more Championship matches and given a much better push. (they started to, and fans were with it... but then they just stopped it...) Because Shelton is one of the very top most talented guys in the ring currently in WWE. His matches with Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels over the past year or two became instant classics. Shelton can put on a better wrestling match on his meduim-good days than Cena can on his best days.
Lance Storm? lol, actually, I never watched many of his matches, but I've heard that he's a great wrestler, and boring as crap on the mic.

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't dislike hip-hop, and I've been on-board with various hip-hop style characters (um... Konnan, Ron Killings/K-Kwik, etc.) And I liked Cena a lot better when he was bustin raps on people every week.

here's what I said to someone in a PM:
a lot of people, more than i realized until lately, watch the show way more for the character portrayals than the wrestling.
but there's a lot (I hope) of people like me insofar as the characters and storylines are completely secondary to the actual wrestling.
any day of the week, I'd rather see a poor character have an awesome match (like Shelton Benjamin), much more than I want to see a good character have a poor match (like John Cena).
--John Cena is a good character, but he is not a good wrestler

I guess it's hard for me to accept that so many people are more concerned with the characters and storylines than the wrestling. Apparently, there's enough of those types that the WWE feels it's ok to put Cena in the Championship status.

I guess you're right - a lot of us are watching to see Professional Wrestling , not "sports entertainment"
And the more WWE moves towards "sports entertainment", the further they move away from wrestling. But I guess that's about how Verne Gagne and Killer Kowalski looked at wrestling in the 80s and up too. (what they said in that A&E documentary, just not in those exact words)

Quote:

Rock was a lot more entertaining in the ring than Cena. Ugh.

times that by a hundred!
Cena does a good job at the character, and he's not bad in that respect... but he ain't got NOTHIN' on the Rock.
I still remember the electricity running thru the air, as the millions... AND MILLIONS, of Rock's fans chanted his name
I know Cena has a lot of fans, and a lot of hype... but I've NEVER heard a crowd react to him like they did to the Rock during his good-guy run.
Sure I've heard Cena get mega cheers, but he's NEVER had 12, 15 or 20 thousand people on their feet chanting his name in unison on command - week after week after week.
And even before that, when it was "Rocky Sucks" chants, there were more of them than Cena boos.
And I've never felt electricity in the air from Cena either. lol
The Rock could motivate and manipulate a crowd like VERY few others have ever been able to do. I doubt we will ever see someone with the Rock's particular magic again.

thedogg001

Jul 20 2006, 02:03 AM

Did I say Cena wasn't a good wrestler? No. Is he a Shelton Benjamin All-American hell no. Stone Cold, The Rock, HHH, Goldberg, and John Cena. Their matches follow patterns. Almost each match carrys signiture spots, crowd popping rallly's, and larger than life (or sometimes laughable) finishing moves. Is it John's problem that his character has such a dynamic following? It's something new a multi-dimensional fanbase. People cheer him and boo him. Like HHH gets booed and cheered. If you have a problem with his matches you have a problem with the style of matches that are prevelant in the WWE. Many WCW wrestlers who were brought over during the buyout couldn't cut it. They were use to quick matches. The WWE is currently trying to cut down on injuries while instituting a wellness program that potentially save lives of men who take to much pain meds after risking their @#@'s in a match for you. Will the style change? Sure once a great, entertaining, but safe option is found. Look at the New ECW, the style is different, the matches are quick, and their is an attempt to protect those involved. Don't give up on WRESTLING, the style changes, we must change with it or be left behind watching old Harley Race tapes.