Re: Is it time for Cena to put people over cleanly??
Look what beating Andre The Giant cleanly did for Hulk Hogan, what beating Hulk Hogan cleanly did for The Ultimate Warrior and Goldberg, what beating Ric Flair cleanly did for Sting and then what beating The Rock and The Undertaker cleanly did for Brock Lesnar. The point i'm making is that John Cena should only lose to people cleanly when it is needed to make someone a genuine star just as those aforementioned names did in respective matches before otherwise you water your top star down in star power and make him just another wrestler.
I've lost count of how many times i've said before that putting people over doesn't mean you lose to them because Bret Hart is regarded as having put Stone Cold Steve Austin over but Bret Hart won every match they ever worked outside of one which was a disqualification if memory serves me right. People like Sheamus, Wade Barrett, The Miz and currently Dolph Ziggler have never had more exposure than when they worked with John Cena and that exposure allowed them more time to shine. When Hulk Hogan was on top he only lost once in his whole WWE career cleanly, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart lost once cleanly during their run as top guy whilst i can only think of once for Stone Cold Steve Austin as well which was a Triple Threat match.
But that's the difference between Hart and Cena. The wrestlers that worked with Hart finished in a better position than they did than before their feud. That's the ultimate definition of putting someone over. Cena trash-talking Ziggler about how it's his 7th year already and how he can't buy a bag of nuts lowers his status in the eyes of fans and that's NOT putting someone over despite Ziggler having more spotlight on him. Did it help Ziggler when he was made to look like a fool trying to cash in his briefcase after TLC only for Cena to punk him out of it? Cena's no selling of promos and his grinning makes his opponents look out like jokes and it does nothing but hurt them.
You could win every match and still make your opponent out to look very strong (Hart and Austin) or you could lose and still make your opponent out to look very weak (Cena and ____ insert name).
Look at the Rock back in 2000. Even if he rarely lost clean, you always had a sense that he's a bit vulnerable to outside interference or underhanded heel tactics so him winning was never a guarantee. With Cena, it's the opposite feeling. You always feel like he'll overcome the obstacles and win no matter what. Therein lies the problem.
Live Shows Attended
10 - Pay-Per-View - WrestleMania 2000, No Way Out '01, Judgment Day '01, SummerSlam '01, Vengeance '01, Royal Rumble '05, WrestleMania 21, WrestleMania XXVI, WrestleMania XXVIII, Royal Rumble '13, WrestleMania XXX, WrestleMania 31...
11 - Monday Night Raw - 7/27/98, 9/13/99, 4/3/00, 10/09/00, 8/06/01, 9/23/02, 3/24/03, 7/21/03, 8/23/04, 4/4/05, 3/15/10, 4/7/14, 3/30/15...
5 - SmackDown - 11/30/99, 3/13/01, 8/07/01, 3/25/03, 6/03/03...
5 - House Show - 6/30/94, 7/29/94, 7/17/99, 7/08/00, 1/06/01...
All-Time Magnificent Seven
Bret Hart, Chris Jericho, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, CM Punk
Current Magnificent Seven
Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Bray Wyatt, Damien Mizdow, Seth Rollins, Cesaro (& Kidd)
Last edited by kwab; 01-02-2013 at 05:03 PM.