Cena's promo on Raw

[Messiah]

In the chatbox for the Fast Lane discussion, I said that I really enjoyed John Cena lately. When he's not involved in the WWE World Heavyweight Championship picture and in the kind of role he is in now, it can be entertaining. The build-up to his match with Rusev at Fast Lane was done extremely well. Cena and Rusev both shined. Cena has so much credibility that it adds so much to a mid-card feud, and the fact that the United States Championship is finally of importance is a good thing. So I was really for the first time in a long time starting to like John Cena.

That was until his promo last night. Whatever you may have thought about the quality of the promo, the content was terrible. Cena's number one character flaw has always been that you can never buy into him ever being in trouble. That nothing seems to affect him, physically or emotionally. Last night was as bad as it has ever gotten, though. Less than 24 hours after being knocked unconscious, Cena showed no signs of physical wear and tear. Cena didn't seem emotionally affected by the loss even though in the build-up to Fast Lane, he made it seem like this match mattered a lot to him. He barely gave Rusev any credit. At one point, he used the match to put himself over, by talking about how he was the first guy to make Rusev see this way and all that crap. He did all he could to diminish Rusev's win and downplayed the fact that he lost. That might have been fine coming from a heel directed at a babyface, but Cena is the babyface directing that at a monster heel. It was absurd.

What did everyone else think about it?

[Str8Shooter]

I'm not sure I see it that way. He was talking about how he was the first one to break the accolade and he was certain he would be the first one to defeat him after that until he was kicked in the nuts. To me he sounded like any big time athlete looking for positives to take from a loss.

Cena's characters has never been the type to let losses get him down. His entire gimmick is to shake things off, stay positive, and come back strong no matter what happens to him. He did what I expected him to do. Now maybe you could argue that his character shouldn't be that way anymore, and that's a fair point. But this is entirely consistent with what John Cena's character has been for years.

[Messiah]

Technically he didn't break the Accolade. Rusev let it go to give him a swift kick to the crotch.

[flock u]

I've always been entertained by Cena but usually (and this is the case here) I'm more entertained by the bitching and moaning about Cena more than anything else.

[Messiah]

"Bitching" and "moaning" it may be, but it is true. Cena completely no-sold his loss as per usual. Do you disagree? What were your thoughts on the promo?

It would be like if Daniel Bryan came out to the ring and acted like losing to Reigns didn't matter to him. Cena did this exact same thing after his match with The Rock. They tried to pretend like it actually bothered Cena in the lead-up to their rematch at WrestleMania 29, but we never got that impression even once after WrestleMania 28 despite their year long build leading up to that (WM28).

This isn't anything to do with how entertained I am by Cena. I like him in this role as I've said. It is refreshing. But when Cena's character flaw is still so blatant no matter where he is on the card, I'm going to take note. His promo would have been perfectly fine if it was just what he said in the second half of the content - how he will keep fighting, all that jazz. But he came out there and acted as if the loss meant that little to him. I felt that was really tacky coming from a guy whose opponent made him pass out.

[Messiah]

John Cena flat-out said in his promo he was going to win. Then following that, he nonchalantly said, "I lost... and Rusev won," and then looked at the crowd as if he was awaiting their approval. After saying that, he even said, "I've got no problem with that."

I mean come on. This isn't a Cena thing because I like the guy, or don't mind him, right now. I just thought it was a poorly done promo. They should have just had Rusev come out first, run down Cena, and then have Cena come out and say he will keep fighting to defend his name. That would have been better than Cena basically saying the loss didn't matter.

[flock u]

"Bitching" and "moaning" it may be, but it is true. Cena completely no-sold his loss as per usual. Do you disagree? What were your thoughts on the promo?

It would be like if Daniel Bryan came out to the ring and acted like losing to Reigns didn't matter to him. Cena did this exact same thing after his match with The Rock. They tried to pretend like it actually bothered Cena in the lead-up to their rematch at WrestleMania 29, but we never got that impression even once after WrestleMania 28 despite their year long build leading up to that (WM28).

This isn't anything to do with how entertained I am by Cena. I like him in this role as I've said. It is refreshing. But when Cena's character flaw is still so blatant no matter where he is on the card, I'm going to take note. His promo would have been perfectly fine if it was just what he said in the second half of the content - how he will keep fighting, all that jazz. But he came out there and acted as if the loss meant that little to him. I felt that was really tacky coming from a guy whose opponent made him pass out.

As far as the Promo goes I found it to be pretty good which to me is saying something cause I haven't been high on his promo work for at least a decade.

Now when It comes to No selling what happened in the match I'm fine with it for a couple of reasons most notably because I've seen a lot of babyfaces do this over the years from Hogan to Steve Austin to even the Rock a couple of times. I've come to expect nothing less from a Top Babyface especially with Cena's current Never Give Up Attitude. I also think the No Selling kinda fits in with his Military references in the promo cause the Marines and just about anyone in the Armed Forced pride themselves on no showing pain and not letting the enemy know they got to them. Cena made it clear in last night's promo that this storyline isn't really Cena vs Rusev it's USA vs Russia Redux. So to me Cena comes off as showing America Strong. But that's just how I see things.

[SlightlyJames]

I don't get the logic that Cena brushing off the loss is okay because that's just what he does. It's an idiotic way to go about things, why are we supposed to care at all about his matches when he's just as chipper when he gets beat down as when he wins? Right now the guy serves as a brick wall to most guys' push, and now even when he does eat the loss he completely invalidates it?

This seems a lot like something that happened a few months ago where Cena lost then had to demolish the entire Wyatt family so people didn't "lose faith" in him. It's a bullshit mindset to have that not only fucks over anyone he goes near but also demolishes any interest in seeing the man himself wrestle as you know no matter the outcome he's going to be the same insufferable prick as he was before.

[Everlong]

It's sad that Cena's bullshit no-sell character has been so ingrained in us that people just don't even care any more.

[Viazon]

Yeah, his promo this week was pretty bad. It was just the basic bullshit he has been cutting for over ten years. Ruzev's promo however was excellent.

[flock u]

It's sad that Cena's bullshit no-sell character has been so ingrained in us that people just don't even care any more.

Not nearly as sad as people who think that just because someone loses to Cena that means they are being buried lol.

[Kyle]

Messiah and SlightlyJames pretty much nailed it right on the head.

Good faces make it known that they feel pain, loss, heartache, etc. That's how we know they care and it's much easier that way to care for them in turn.

[SlightlyJames]

It's sad that Cena's bullshit no-sell character has been so ingrained in us that people just don't even care any more.

Not nearly as sad as people who think that just because someone loses to Cena that means they are being buried lol.

I think it says it all about Cena's reaction to the loss that you're under the impression he won.

[Circled Square]

I'm with James here. Cena looks like somebody who doesn't care, win lose or draw, when he reacts like he did on RAW. His mic work felt very phoned in and uninspired. Cena has to bring something else to the table for me to truly be invested in this feud IMO.

[SortaCreative]

Look at the difference between Cena's and Bryan's promo about losing.

[flock u]

Look at the difference between Cena's and Bryan's promo about losing.

Unfair Comparisson because the ONLY reason Bryan cuts that Promo on Raw is WWE is still trying to get the internet fanboys to get behind Roman Reigns. And hoping having Bryan do that promo and shake Roman's Hand would help them with that situation.

[Everlong]

^I'm not sure the WWE really cares if fans get behind Reigns. They haven't been united behind Cena for eight years or more, so clearly having top faces booed doesn't bother them.

[SortaCreative]

Look at the difference between Cena's and Bryan's promo about losing.

Unfair Comparisson because the ONLY reason Bryan cuts that Promo on Raw is WWE is still trying to get the internet fanboys to get behind Roman Reigns. And hoping having Bryan do that promo and shake Roman's Hand would help them with that situation.

The reasoning behind it doesn't matter. The delivery is what I meant. There's a massive gulf inbetween the two. Bryan managed to make the match at Fastlane mean something in defeat, Cena just shrugged it off.

[Hanley!]

It's absolutely ridiculous that even now that he's taking a break from the main event, he's still "too good" to show any sort of weakness. That he continues to no-sell every single loss does so much to harm every feud that he's in. And what the company doesn't realise is that it harms him as a character also.

For ten years now, he's shown no weakness. He's never sold defeat. And the intention is obviously to keep him looking strong. The sad thing is that after this many years, the company still hasn't realised that this attempt to make him look strong has never made him popular. Making him face every defeat with a wink and a smile and a vow to "never give up" has never made the fans like him any better.

They're trying desperately to protect him, and it's just exposing him to more hatred from the fans.

For a character to be popular over a long period of time, he has to lose. And I mean really lose. That lets the fans sympathise with him. So they'll be more personally invested in his battles later on. Putting some serious obstacles in the heroes path makes his journey more compelling. Everything has come too easily to Cena and as a result, he's uninteresting.

Look at the rise of Daniel Bryan as a comparison. You know what started the surge in his popularity that brought him all the way to the main event? Losing to Sheamus in under 20 seconds. It wasn't even intentional by the company, but fans felt bad for Bryan. They felt like he had been screwed over and it led to a strong vocal display of support by the fans. This led to a face turn and a rise through the ranks.

Fans need to know that a wrestler is mortal to give a damn. Acting like Cena is immortal has never done the character or the company any good.

[Str8Shooter]

Hogan was immortal and booked pretty much the same way and he brought the company to heights it had never reached before. Maybe that would explain why Vince treats Cena essentially the same way. He must not realize it's not 1988 anymore and what worked best then might not work best now.