WWE Fans Cena-Nuff?
Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Combine that with an ever increasing number of boos, jeers, and a growing number of fans who have simply Cena-nuff, John Cena is one of the most polarizing figures in wresting, perhaps ever. I’ve been following wrestling since I was a kid, and I can say I’ve never seen someone so over with the fans having such a vocal hatred by so many other fans. A three time main event champion (one reign as WWE Champion and two reigns as WWE Heavyweight Champion) Cena has a unique ring presence that fans either truly love or completely loathe.
I was in attendance at Wrestlemania XXII in Chicago, when Cena battled Triple H for the WWE Heavyweight Championship. I could not believe how many fans were cheering for Triple H (booked as the “Heel” or “bad guy”) during the match. Chants by Cena fans yelling “Lets go Cena” were immediately responded by anti-Cena fans chanting “**** you Cena”. During the broadcast, announcers Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler dismissed the early formation of the anti-Cena crowd as being “traditional wrestling fans.” Now, it’s hard to ignore the boos giving a solid bass line to the cheers when Cena’s music hits and he appears in ring.
There have been times when someone was being pushed as a face or heel and getting the opposite reaction from fans, but typically that has been a unique situation (for instance, when Shawn Michaels visits Montreal) or when a person is so incredibly popular as a heel, that they still have a great fan base no matter how they are being pushed (for instance, the Rock as a heel). In fact, that was originally how the Wrestlemania XXII match was explained, that Triple H simply had that many fans even as a heel. But as time goes on, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
It is not as though Cena doesn’t have ability. His matches are usually top-notch, despite his relatively limited technical skills. He’s great on the microphone, with most if not all of his promos being solid and mistake free. But for some reason, every time he comes out he’s receiving more and more boos.
Cena’s situation is very similar to the days of Hulk Hogan. In the latter days of Hogan’s championship run that ended with a match against the Ultimate Warrior, some of the fans who would not be described as a “smark” (a fan who enjoys pro wrestling despite or because they know that it is staged, as well as generally knowing the “ins-and-outs” of the company and knowing many things about the industry or wrestlers collected by sources and are posted online) had turned against Hogan. His matches had become predictable an his character a bit stale. And Hogan definitely had limited technical skills.
I certainly wouldn’t compare the career of Cena to that of Hulk Hogan (of course, as a lifelong admitted Hulkamaniac, I’d be a bit bias) but the turning of so many fans against Cena despite his strong push as a fan favorite shows shades of Hogan.
