John Cena: WWE Is Killing His Character

I like John Felix Anthony Cena. But the WWE seems not to. Or maybe they don’t care. Barbecue sauce and fire extinguishers seem more appropriate for Santino Marella or R-Truth. The creative team seems content to turn Cena into Benny Hill without the campy music. 

The worst-kept secret in wrestling is not kayfabe, it is the fact that the WWE creative team is staffed by Hollywood and television writers. Anyone who has experience in the field knows that these people are often extremely talented individuals with thousands of ideas a minute. However, as a writer you have to submit your ideas in script form to an executive whose job is to turn your idea into a money-making production. This involves rewrites.

Somewhere along the chain of command, the writers’ ideas become pruned and trimmed, and all too often, the end result looks like something that has already been done before. And just like that, the originality is gone. An infamous interview with Carlito (reported on F4WOnline.com in 2006) involves him discussing that in terms of character development, he was told to act like The Rock.

John Cena’s character is beginning to look like a king that sits on high and amuses himself with the other superstars, announcers and authority figures. It seems as though the WWE Board of Directors favors Cena by making sure the so-called underdog remains in the franchise. Cena used to win against all odds, and now he is the odds. CM Punk stated it perfectly when he compared Cena to the New York Yankees.

Sometimes I wonder what the WWE gains by placing the Cena matches last on PPVs. It’s not like the fans who have paid will turn it off if Cena is the fifth match on the card. Especially when the ending is a foregone conclusion, like in the Laurinaitas match.

I can understand special attractions like the Rock, Brock Lesnar or even a Stone Cold match ending a PPV. But the Cena vs. Laurinaitas match was like the Bret Hart vs. Vince Mcmahon match if it had ended Wrestlemania. John Cena honestly deserves better, he deserves a compelling storyline against an adversary that fights with his mind. The best heroes have villains that challenge them in the areas where they are weakest. Superman contends with Lex Luthor’s intelligence. The Joker forces Batman to come to grips with his own sanity.

These are the ideas that are likely submitted to Vince McMahon, then summarily vetoed and rewritten to turn Cena into Jamie Kennedy’s version of the Mask. The WWE works too hard focusing on the physical and neglects everything else about a person and about a character. The idea of Cena looking around for Big Show and being blindsided insults the fans and makes Cena look clueless

There should be no way that the world's largest anything could sneak up on anyone, nor should he have to. Cena is not like Hogan; he doesn’t need to battle monsters like, Earthquake, King Kong Bundy or the Undertaker. Monster heels work better against CM Punk. Cena needs a mastermind heel.

That would show that the WWE cares about how this character works and thinks. Until then, I’m forced to conclude that the WWE doesn’t care for John Cena.