John Cena and WWE: Will the Cenation fever end in 2014?
The Attitude Era was one of the most successful phases in WWE’s history. Much of the success during the era was contributed by the company’s willingness to go with superstars who had a cocky nature but still was a fan favorite.
Looking through the mould, superstars like Stone Cold, Triple H or Shawn Michaels were people who would drink beer, abuse women and shout out foul language with obscene gestures. Yet these are three names that defined that most successful era.
Fast forward to the present, the WWE has decided to go with stacking up good guys and bad guys in different boxes much like they did back in the 80s and 90s. Simply speaking, the company is taking the easiest path possible by separating heels and faces with a wide channel between them.
And arguably the superstar who has been most affected by this lack of innovation has to be John Cena. Cena’s initial gimmick of the rapping thug was actually the platform for his rise as a big name.
The scapegoat of a lazy creative
His ability to pull of taunt angles with his rhyming promos and the dark humor that rode with it simply took off with the fans. But soon as his popularity rose, WWE decided to give him a makeover. The Cena who used to be a thug was now changed into the good guy who was a role model for all the children in the WWE universe.
And after all those years of the same gimmick, one must say that Cena’s popularity is still stuck among the children. The common scene in most of the live shows of WWE where Cena makes an appearance is the crowd being split into two.
One part including the kids chant, let’s go Cena while the other older part of the fans chant Cena sucks. This sums up the baldness of WWE’s current product and the deterioration of Cena’s character. One cannot blame the older section of the fans for booing the Cenation leader also. I mean every storyline that has Cena in it is bound to become stale these days as the fans can predict what happens before the angle even start.
Back in the days, any of the top stars would’ve taken a fall once in a while but that is not the case of Cena. He thrives and thrives with wins much to the misery of the loyal fans. the character oriented approach that the company takes when it comes to Cena is one of the reasons why the ratings is taking a big dip every week in and week out.
The imminent Change
But these days seems to be coming to a conclusion. Last year we saw the rise of stars like Daniel Bryan and CM Punk which says that the fans are tired of seeing Cena get in the ring and win every match. At the moment if you take a poll among the WWE fans above the age of ten about their favorite wrestler, surprisingly or predictably Cena would struggle to make it into the top five.
The sad part is the company is not ready to make any risks with him even after all this. Instead they seem to be boosting their merchandise sale by concentrating on the hate that he develops. The “Cena Sucks” and “If Cena wins we riot” t-shirts are doing brisk business which show that the company is turning into a merchandise seller rather than a wrestling promotion.
Ready for a fall ?
But Cena can’t be blamed for this monumental drop. The company which once had the courage to make a celebration sex angle in the middle of the ring has transformed so much that it doesn’t even show blood nowadays. And they don’t even compensate for it with their storylines.
The company is on a slow and painful decline at the moment and Cena is man who is being dragged down with the ship. The endless possibilities that can be done with him still remain unexplored as the creative are not willing to try anything innovative.
At this rate, it won’t take much time before Cena starts to drop down the ranks further while wrestlers like Bryan and Punk flourish. The Cenation will come to an abrupt end sooner or later unless the creative realizes that professional wrestling was never meant to be family friendly.