sek69 Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 So basically Cena is the hero the WWE Universe deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we'll boo him. Because he can take it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Part of his charm is that he can take it, too. I can imagine a lot of past franchise guys treating the inevitable backlash against them with some contempt, but Cena doesn't seem to at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 We really need to get away from this idea that the Cena dynamic works so well because he's the top face to one portion of the audience and the top heel to everyone else. That's all well and good, except the latter group no longer goes to house shows or orders PPVs because they hate him so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted April 20, 2012 Report Share Posted April 20, 2012 Yes, that's proven by the fact that John Cena gets a unanimous reaction from the remaining audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Actually, he almost never gets booed at house shows, which kind of proves my point. Cena isn't the sole or even the primary cause of the WWE's current issues. But it's undeniable that a significant portion of the audience has a viscerally negative reaction to him. Whether that reaction is warranted or not is immaterial. And nobody the WWE has offered up recently to appeal to that audience has clicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 What proof is there that Cena's not being booed at house shows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 It's something I've heard a bunch of people say. I'm pretty sure Dave has said it a few times, but I can't pinpoint where. And every house show report I've read has mentioned that the crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Cena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chess Knight Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Christian had a good heel run for however long, but ever since his turn last year his momentum has been completely killed. Between 2009 and 2010 it looks pretty clear he's meant to work babyface veteran for the rest of his life (or y'know...wrestling career). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Jackson Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 The crowd was pretty much 100% pro-Cena the only time I saw him live at a house show in Victoria three years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slasher Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Actually, he almost never gets booed at house shows, which kind of proves my point. Cena isn't the sole or even the primary cause of the WWE's current issues. But it's undeniable that a significant portion of the audience has a viscerally negative reaction to him. Whether that reaction is warranted or not is immaterial. And nobody the WWE has offered up recently to appeal to that audience has clicked. Pretty sure the anti Cena fans are still attending house shows but a big part of the whole booing gimmick is it is a tv gimmick. It's almost like a Pavlovian response at this point. Similar to when fans would chant "You Suck" at Kurt Angle, just for the hell of it. It's the "fun" thing to do at tv tapings. House shows? Not as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 A lot of conclusions can be drawn from this, of varying degrees of accuracy. Mine is is that the "Cena Sucks" assholes just want to be heard on television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rzombie1988 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Cena was overwhelmingly booed at a house show I went to a few years ago. Booing Cena is no gimmick. A good portion of fans do not like him and they also happen to be the loudest. Anytime his image appeared on WM weekend events/shows I went to he was booed with Cena Sucks chants following. Even in lines, Cena Sucks chants broke out. Please do not try to rewrite history here. I think if anything he's benefitted from alot of the hardcore fans giving up on wrestling, and let me tell you, even my most hardcore friends are barely into it now. He may also benefit since families and kids are more likely to attend house shows than major events due to pricing. From 3-9 in Toronto: John Cena defeated Kane in a Last Man Standing match. This was pretty good and went just about the right amount of time. There were dueling chants of "Let's Go Cena" and "Cena Sucks" and he worked hard as always. He gave Kane an Attitude Adjustment through a table and Kane was sitting up at ten but it was too late. From 3-16 in Montreal: John Cena vs Kane, Last Man Standing Mixed reaction for Cena, but a lot more cheers than during the video package. Biggest reaction so far, not biggest pop though, Santino has still the lead. Loud "Let's go Cena, Cena sucks" dual chants. They brawl to the outside, Cena gives a chair shot on Kane's back, Kane throws Cena in the steel steps, then back in the ring, he hits Cena with the bell and then with the mike. He chokeslams Cena for a 9 count. Kane goes for a table, back in the ring Cena back supplex Kane and tries his 5 knuckles shuffle but gets countered and thrown through a table in the corner. They bring another table, Cena reverses and hits the Attitude Adjustment through the second table for the win. The crowd pop more for the finish than during the match or the entrance. From 4-12 in Poland: 7th Match: Last Man Standing John Cena def. Kane Cena came out to a typical John Cena Mixed Reaction. Kane was beating down Cena with chairs, hit him with a microphone and threw him into the steps. When none of that worked - he grabbed a table from underneath the ring and threw Cena through it. After Cena got up at 9, Kane got a second table and set it up in the middle of the ring. Kane tried to chokeslam him throught the table, but Cena reversed it into the Attitude Adjustement throught the table. Kane tried to get up, but collapsed at 9. Match felt like it was very by the numbers - no playing to the crowd, and it felt like there was no improvisation at all - just the entire match planned out spot by spot earlier. Cena also stayed at ringside with the fans for a surprisingly short amount of time. So yeah, Cena is still getting booed at house shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 What I thought. I know I'm repeating myself here, but I think what's happening in regards to this, is that Cena is the face of the "PG era" and antithesis to the much-revered Attitude era by the "Cena sucks" contingent. It's the price WWE has to pay now for taking such a sharp turn away from the edgier product that was produced a decade or so ago. Whoever it is that ends up taking John's spot won't have that stigma attached likely because that segment of the audience will have dwindled down considerably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Dude, that's Bizarro World. That doesn't count. It's pretty clear that when adult fans show up, they boo Cena. They'll boo him at house shows too, but they mostly don't go to house shows these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodhelmet Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 What? Adults don't go to house shows? Give me some numbers, Meltzer quotes, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Cena got a pretty big reaction at the house show I saw in Dec, but nowhere near the fact reaction Sheamus got a week before in Chattanooga at the house show I went to there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLIK Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 He may also benefit since families and kids are more likely to attend house shows than major events due to pricing. Yeah, this is more Meltzer's usual argument, not so much that adults/anti Cena fans don't go to house shows but that more kids/pro Cena fans do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NintendoLogic Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 Dave discussed the phenomenon in exhaustive detail in the 9/29/08 Observer. A few snippets: For all people are saying about WWE not connecting with the youth, my experience, and going to a live show bears this out, is the youth is all they are really connecting with. Raw is still among the higher rated shows among teenage males–at times this summer among the top five in broadcast or cable, an audience Smackdown also does well with. Go to the arena. It’s filled with kids and teenagers. Who are the people no longer attending? It’s the adult males who, according to TV ratings, are still watching the shows, and even older people. John Cena, on the other hand, he fills arenas with kids and teenagers, and for some reason, runs off people who are older. Do they see him as a poser? Do they not respect him and see him as an artificial star? I don’t know. The reason people boo him less is not because he’s won people over, but because the audience that booed him stopped coming, and was replaced by an audience that saw him as the biggest star. But the point is, all that heat there used to be at his matches with the cheering and booing that everyone thought was good, was both good and bad, particularly if those booing aren’t coming back. The average TV viewer is 36 of Raw, yet if you go to an arena, you see very few people over the age of 36. Ten years ago that wasn’t the case. Since then, numbers have only gotten worse across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 The thing that boggles me about this is that there still is an audience that boos Cena, dwindling or not it's still there. And it's not just in places like Miami or Chicago where he was placed directly against hometown favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted April 21, 2012 Report Share Posted April 21, 2012 The thing that boggles me about this is that there still is an audience that boos Cena, dwindling or not it's still there. And it's not just in places like Miami or Chicago where he was placed directly against hometown favorites.Why is that hard to understand? There's still a sizable group of fans who like wrestling in general, are willing to go to the shows, but simply don't like Cena. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 I know that, but I was more or less referring to Meltzer's logic that Cena single-handedly eliminated that segment of the audience when it's quite clear they still come. It would be interesting if there was a comparison of how many 18-30 year old single males attended shows in the late 90's when the Attitude era was booming and now, same for children and their parents/guardians/whatever. There might be a bit of a drop in the former now, but I'm going to guess not as much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomk Posted January 8, 2013 Report Share Posted January 8, 2013 Cena could get a unanonimous crowd reaction if he followed a few steps: 1) Tighten up his moves - It's not even his wrestling ability, which is debatable. It's how he performs his moves. I can count on one hand the number of times he has correctly applied the STF in the last 9 years. Huh? Cena would get booed less if he was working tighter. He has been booed opposite loose HBK, Angle, HHH, Edge, Punk and Jericho. On the other hand, He was cheered opposite JBL, Umaga, and Lesnar. Maybe it isn't him who needs to tighten up his moves, maybe he needs stiffer opponents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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