I don't buy that Cena has been getting a free pass, at least not on this board. I know I'm not the only person who has talked about how he made a big shift in style in & after the Owens series and not for the better. I also shit all over the Royal Rumble three-way with Rollins/Brock and a big part of it was because of Cena spamming the AA so much.
That said, I'd still take bad John Cena over bad Kurt Angle and definitely good Cena over good Angle (which lasted like what? at most 3 years?)