He brings it.
The Best and Worst of Raw 3/28/11 offers up the best (meaning the highest quality to be found in a given activity or category of things) and worst (most faulty, unsatisfactory, or objectionable) of the March 28 edition of WWE Raw. Brandon Stroud is a syndicated advice columnist whose weekly column, The Best and Worst of Raw 3/28/11, is featured in over 250 newspapers nationwide.
I’ve got a lot to say about last night’s main event confrontation, so let’s get right to it.
Best: John Cena > The Rock, Deal With It
The Rock has been “The Great One” exactly two times in his career. The first was when he became a member of the Nation of Domination and started telling Jennifer Flowers about the expense of his shirts. The second was when he shaved his head, put on a leather vest and started playing locally-condescending country and western songs on a guitar for seemingly no reason. Those are the only two Rocks that deserve your chanting and bowing.
Every other time he’s been a sweaty, gesturing jerk in block letter T-shirts shouting asinine catchphrases about the vagina and somehow becoming a wrestling icon despite never being the best guy in the company. Stone Cold Steve Austin was better than him in his prime, and now John Cena is better than him. John Cena is a lot better than him.
Last night’s main event segment (which couldn’t possibly be a match… can we still say match? Sorry, which couldn’t possibly be an entertainment) exhibited clearly why I’ve always sort of disliked Rocky; Rock came to the ring twitching and soaking wet, cut a 28-minute speech about how he loves Jesus and whooping ass, and continued his beef with Cena. Cena came to the ring and (in an admittedly very un-Cena-like turn of events) explained calmly, logically and confidently why everything the Rock was saying was bullsh:t. He spoke the truth. Rock has no actual issue with him, he’s just cherry picking these easy to digest phrases for people to laugh at and repeat (Fruity Pebbles, Power Ranger, Barney the Dinosaur). He’s like a living Sony Pictures Animated film. There isn’t a joke, he’s just saying coup d’état in a funny voice so kids will repeat it in the theater.
How does Rock respond? By threatening to beat him up. That’s it. That’s all he’s got. “I’m going of make fun of you. Wait, you can’t respond, LET’S FIGHT.” Cena completely shut down the Rock’s defenses by literately explaining that he’s full of crap, and Rock didn’t have anywhere to go. Thinking objectively, little kids should be cheering for Rocky’s stimulus response act and grown men should be cheering Cena as the emotionally sincere company man who isn’t going to back down from this bully’s ten year old nonsense.
What are your talking points against him? The same ones as the Rock. His shirt is too bright! Big deal. Grow up. Only kids like him! Only kids and adults who think for themselves and don’t jump on the Internet to figure out what they should think. He’s a bad white rapper! Yeah, and I’m bad at baseball, but I still like to do it. Cena is a human being, and despite being the most 2-D motherf**ker walking, he’s the most three dimensional ace the WWE has ever had. And he’s better than the Rock. He’s had more great matches, more memorable moments (good or bad), and his catchphrases are about 5% less dumb. Cena rules. Deal with it.
Worst: Cocaine Outside of the 1980s
But no, seriously, did you SEE the Rock? He kept blinking and staring at everyone like he was Val Kilmer in At First Sight, pouring full bottles of water over his head, shouting about Jesus, rambling on and on about “Team Bring It.” IF YOU’RE GONNA GO CAMPING YOU NEED TO BE ON TEAM BRING IT. YOUR TENT, SOME FOOD, YOU NEED TO BRING IT. He was the Dwayne Johnson Twitter Account That Walked Like A Man. He was tweaking his ass off, and honestly, outside of Cena calling him gay a couple of times, why the hell is he even so mad? You’re hosting Wrestlemania, you aren’t even wrestling. Calm the hell down.
In the 80s, Hogan could snort a line (eleven lines) of coke and give an awesome interview about having magical power sources in his palms and saving Donald Trump from collapsing fault lines. People don’t buy that anymore. Now it just makes you look like a creep. Rock looked like a member of The Power Team. An underwater member.
Secondary Worst: Miz Is Stalling
The Miz’s entire adult life has been building to this. We found out he was a wrestling fan (of course he was a wrestling fan) by watching him do a crappy impression of The Rock on The Real World. He gets into WWE, goes from a nobody to a somebody with a lot of hard work and only John Morrison’s inaccurately spinning coattails to ride, and boom, The Rock comes back to host Wrestlemania. This is Miz’s dream coming true. This is the most important thing he’s ever going to do in wrestling. So what happens?
He comes out with Alex Riley and cuts the same slow talking “laaaast weeeeeek johhhhhn ceeeeena” promo, makes some bad points, looks like an amateur next to Rock and Cena, then gets beaten up by a retired guy with a one on two disadvantage. The show goes off the air with Cena and Rock creating three simultaneous worldwide trends and Miz scurrying away off camera somewhere.
I love you, Miz, but you’ve got to come stronger than that. Go into business for yourself if you have to, you’re going to be here next Monday. The Rock isn’t.
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Ok, I agree with everything, except that Cena is better than The Rock. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate Cena, but The Rock is magic on the mic. Twitchy, yeah. and The Rock WILL be there next Monday. As will Sin Cara.
Christ, we know it’s a slow sports day…but really?
I couldn’t possibly agree more about the Snooki thing. Totally spot on. I’m also glad someone pointed out awkward Trish Stratus. What is up with you, girl.
Respectful disagreement: HHH/Taker was great by me done as it was. To be frank, this feud was completely off my radar and I didn’t care about due to my life long rivalry with “The Lame” Cripple H. I generally accepted it as being able to sell itself given the magnitude of the names involved, but personally could not possibly have cared about it. HHH does not interest me, he rarely entertains me, I don’t empathize with him ever, he’s just the friggin Game and I’m supposed to think he’s sweet. I don’t. And he’s never actually going away, and I wish he would because I’d never miss him. hi im posting about wrestling on the internet
And then, with a heavy assist by HBK and Undertaker’s AMAZING hat tip and smirk, the angle absolutely PEAKS the Raw before the PPV and I am suddenly invested. The match isn’t going to be any better than it was going to be 24 hours ago, but man, I am PSYCHED to see it now.
Every other angle ended up ebbing on the go home push. Lawler tried to beat up Cole even though it would have meant losing his match, so whatever. Rock and Cena faced off and it felt less exciting then when Rock first showed up. Punk kicked Orton’s leg out of his leg. I think other things happened.
So I think it was good that one angle hit its absolute crescendo on the final Raw. And that concludes this blog post. oh wait
I kind of wish we could buy single matches from WM. I would Pay $20 just for Taker’s match. Hell, and another $10 to not have to see the rest.
@FunkyWarmMedina Rock is deceptive on the mic. He’s well spoken and charismatic, sure, but the things he says rarely matter or make any sense. It’s just threats and jokes. No substance.
@liquid_d Oh boy, is this my first WRESTLING FAKE guy on With Leather? Hello!
This post is racist.
I’d say the the Taker/HHH angle has been book-ended with goodness, with a big load of shit stuffed in the middle. I loved the silent showdown. I mean, it’s not Eddie coming out to the ring for a wordless eight minute promo, but it’s not terribly far off. I could’ve done without H informing Taker of his desire to place his penis in the Dead Man’s maw, but that’s just H. He sucks, yet somehow I’m 100% invested in their match now. Big credit goes to Taker and HBK, but HHH definitely held his own.
“he says rarely matter or make any sense.”
Apparently you’ve forgotten about the Rock and Sock connection. For shame. I mean that struck me on a deep emotional level.
My understanding is that they’re obligated to be PG on PPV as well.
Sensei: I know you’re probably joking, but I feel like Mick Foley deserves a ton of credit for taking things like The Rock’s charismatic babbling nonsense or the Corporation’s meaningless soap opera and making them make a sort of emotional sense. I disagree with the author up in the first paragraph: The Rock who tormented Mankind, both as his arch-nemesis and then later as his dickbag BFF deserves chants and bowing too. He couldn’t carry a company the way Austin did, but he was guaranteed money if you gave him a decent foil.
If you can call inanimate objects “sumbitches” and talk about forcefully placing them in asses, surely you could get away with a little blood. Especially on PPV.
I have to disagree with CM Punk turning on Chicago being bad. Quite frankly, you can’t have the heel getting pops on the last show before Mania. I’d book it that way. Besides, Chicago forgot about it about 5 seconds later, and they were cheering for him again at the end of the segment.
@Brandon May not have substance often, but he gets peoples’ attention and doesn’t bore them. Sometimes threats and jokes are what is needed. *two cents*
@Bob Sacamano – This post is the opposite of racist. I think the Hispanic lady is the best person on the show.
The aforementioned Hispanic lady IS looking real good
Cena is going to have to prove he can be a convincing heel before I would ever consider him to be close to Rocky. Cena isn’t 2D he is purely one-dimensional and his story lines are the most predictable ones in wrestling (granted most are, but with Cena, you know how each feud is going to end). Always being the good guy is boring, and so is the FU.
@Faarooq This is counterproductive thinking. If Punk or Daniel Bryan does something stupid, the WWE writers are to blame. If Cena does something predictable, it’s Cena’s fault? The FU is over and believable as a finisher, and is as legitimate as most legendary WWE finishers … the leg drop wouldn’t hurt, the Stone Cold Stunner makes no physical sense, etc. Cena is the best in the business at doing the job he’s asked to do, and it has nothing to do with “being the good guy.”
How in the bloody hell did that Snooki segment possibly take five hours to film? I don’t care how many 8-balls she shot into her eyeballs beforehand, there’s no reason that a minute’s worth of content should ever take that long, good lord.
Needless to say, great article as usual.
@ Brandon, wow, you got me. Don’t you have some other message boards to troll in between your soap op…I mean wrasslin?
@AudeSapere – Yeah, WWE could’ve booked and filmed an entire independent wrestling show in the time that took, and it would’ve been cheaper and more entertaining.
@liquid_d I’m not trolling you, I’m the guy that wrote the article. And no, I don’t frequent many message boards. I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it.
Cena is one of those guys who’s fun to boo because you know how great he is in “real life.” It’s like going to see a movie specifically because Christopher Walken is the bad guy.
Whoa dude…get off Cena’s vagina. Im not even gonna spend 5 minutes responding to this article but…obviously the point of last nights broadcast was 1…to begin to turn Cena heel..and 2..to make him look closer to the Rocks level. They had the Rock end the show on the floor..and respond to Cena’s 10 minute speech with exactly what you said..’Lets Fight.’ Say what you want about the Rocks in-ring abilities, but you know he can talk smack much better than that. The only credit i’ll give Cena last night was that he admitted the reasons the above 12 yr old and male crowd dislike him. But it doesnt change the reason he’s disliked.it just means he’s somewhat self-aware..good for you jack.
@Brandon I have no problem blaming the writers, but you didn’t seem to blame them when it came to the Rock. You blamed him for his diatribes, not the writers. If you want to blame the writers for Cena being one-dimensional, then you have to blame the writers for not liking the Rock’s use of easy to digest phrases. These guys aren’t out there ad-libbing everything they say. I’m not saying Cena cannot be great, but he hasn’t shown that he possesses the full range of acting abilities required to be one of the greatest. Maybe that is because of the writers. So if we want to blame the writers, I am fine with that.
With regards to the FU or Attitude Adjustment, I simply think it is lame and lacks creativity, just like the leg drop or a big punch like Big Show started using. Dropping someone from your shoulders for a mailed-in powerslam doesn’t impress me. If you like it, cool. It’s just an opinion on one finisher.
@liquid_d – Shut the fuck up.
@Brandon re: the original post. Rock is going to be there next Monday. He’s confirmed for the post-RAW show, and rumor has it that he’s going to be a semi-regular again, wrestling Miz and Cena in two separate programs down the road.
Your irrational Rocky hatred aside, great blog again this week.
“obviously the point of last nights broadcast was 1…to begin to turn Cena heel”
Uh, really? Sure about that, guy?
Looks like you got some people angry with this one, Brandon! I’ll step up and agree with you that last night, The Rock looked like a fool. I won’t get into who’s to blame, or even say that this means Rock is always bad, but last night was not good for him. As for Cena, he’s always at his best when he acts like a grownup, and last night was another great example.
Faarooq hit the nail on the head when he said that you always know how Cena’s matches will end. Most people that have been watching WWE for a long time know how most the matches/feuds will end. But Cena is by far the most predictable. Not saying it’s Cena’s fault, but that is why I fast foward when I see his face. He desperately needs a heel turn because he is as stale as that half eaten Cousin’s sub I have in the back of my fridge. At least the rock is usually entertaining.
I submit that Orton, Edge, Mysterio, Kane, and Triple H all tend to be more predictable than Cena; or at least have been the last year or two. Especially Edge. God, he is the worst babyface in history, and right now might be the worst he’s ever been. If I were writing this blog, I’d always give Edge a Worst just for appearing on the show. You talk about guys that need to turn heel…
@BeeJ
The sad thing is, Christian, the better of the two when it comes to being a face, is rumored to be turning on Edge at WM. Edge and Orton have no business being faces, yet those fans, yeah, the love cheering them. *sigh*
Yeah, Christian’s heel turn is pretty obvious, because otherwise his involvement in the feud doesn’t really mean much. Which would be fine, since Christian works great as a heel, but Edge would still be the face and ughhhhhh.
As for Orton, I think he was great the first several months of his feud. Unlike Edge, he actually adjusted his character without breaking the important parts that made him who he is; he’s just been telling god-awful stories the last few months. Edge, on the other hand, turned face by becoming the least funny man on the planet, while still attacking old men and comically huffing and puffing his cheeks like so much angry Mike Quackenbush.
*meant to say Orton was great in the first several months of his face turn
Boy, maybe in the future I can support this with my comments without reading the other comments for myself. liquid_d and “Cena’s vagina” guy, ladies and gentlemen!
That being said, I agree about most everything. John Morrison is still a viable talent, and the Rock, while a nonsensical children’s film, is still super charismatic and a lot of fun. It doesn’t mean his points aren’t stupid and horrible in greater context, but occasionally you have to let that go and enjoy the trash talk for what it is. Calling Cena a homeless Power Ranger made me smile, even if it was without substance.
Cena’s 3D “depth” comes from Creative doggedly insisting he remain the top face even though it would be a compelling and interesting idea to turn him. The audience reacts negatively to him, so the writers have him point that out and play with it rather than having him go sour and turn (something that very few other characters would be allowed to do). Can you count that as a strength? I suppose, but it seems a lot more like a corporation trying to hedge their bets by making a youth-friendly wrestler be tolerable to adults, rather than risking losing kids by turning him. That’s not his fault, as he’s said that he would have preferred he turned heel sometime around 2007 when he thought his character was getting stale, but it’s what happened.
Didn’t expect the whole Cena vs. The Rock debate with Cena being better, but it’s interesting to ponder at the very least.
Question for B – If you watch Smackdown/any other wrestling shows, what are the odds of getting reviews for those up on here too?
I have to respectfully disagree that you think Cena is better than Rock. I don’t think Cena has topped the Rock’s greatest performances. Wrestlemania X7 was the absolute peak of the Attitude Era, Rock’s matches with Benoit at Fully Loaded 2000 and with Angle at No Way Out 01 proved he knows how to work and didn’t need to be carried by the greatest technical wizards. He has done excellent Hardcore matches, like his match against Mankind at Royal Rumble 99, and his charisma is amazing. Maybe most of his shtick is “style” but the way he can make the crowd eat out of the palm of his hand is something I’ve NEVER see any other wrestler do. Maybe Austin, but that’s about where it ends.
To say he has only been “great” twice in his career is certainly an extreme opinion, one that I disagree with but you’re entitled to it.
@everyone – I am well aware that my preference of Cena over Rock is unconventional, but I stand by it. It’s not about Rock hatred, either. Like I said, I loved him in the NOD and as the bald movie star with the guitar. But shouting THE PEOPLE GIVE ME PASSION Rock kinda sucks, and you’re looking at him through rose-colored glasses.
@wagnike2 – “Question for B – If you watch Smackdown/any other wrestling shows, what are the odds of getting reviews for those up on here too?”
Well, I watch everything, but here’s the dilemma: 1) Smackdown comes on on Friday nights, and With Leather doesn’t update on the weekends. 2) TNA sucks a monster load and I’m not sure you guys want to read the “Worst and Worst of TNA Impact” every week.
@Eric – Austin was absolutely Rock’s superior, and if you’ll notice, the people you list him as having great matches with could have great matches with anything that moves. Prime Angle, Benoit, Stone Cold Steve Austin, primeish Mick Foley. Cena had an amazing bloody brawl with JBL, an above average match with Great Khali (which is breathtaking if you consider it), great matches with Batista (who has shaky motivation), that absolute classic at the Royal Rumble with Umaga, I mean hell, he worked a wristlock sequence with David Otunga. In the same vein that I feel Rock gets too much credit for his performance, Cena doesn’t get enough.
@B I completely agree with you re: Cena over Rock. Maybe it’s because I suspend rationality and maturity when I watch wrestling, but I don’t see what the harm is in John Cena. He works hard, cuts decent promos, and seems like a good guy outside of the ring. I think he would benefit from getting a more “professional” wrestling attire, as I’m not sure jorts and sneakers lend him an air of credibility. Also, I don’t know why a heel turn is needed for his character. Although (and I may be reading too much into this) I thought I saw an inkling of a turn last night with his deliberate, slow-motion “you-can’t-see-me” hand motion after he slammed the Rock.
@B – Add the Mania match and hour-long Raw match with HBK to that list as well.
In that respect, Rock had great matches with Kane (love the character but is NOT a good worker), a green Brock Lesnar (who he even put over cleanly), Goldberg (also put over cleanly), Billy Gunn and Ken Shamrock (who he had an AWESOME cage match with).
As for Austin being his “superior”, that is certainly a debate that will rage forever. I will say though, they both put EQUAL effort into their Wrestlemania matches and had EXCELLENT chemistry. On top of that, Austin could barely work anymore in 03, yet both of them were still able to have a great match to cap off Austin’s career.
I didn’t even mention his feud and series of matches with HHH, who like Austin, had fantastic chemistry with Rocky. I’d be hard pressed for anyone to say that either HHH or Austin carried Rock at any point and I’d be just as hard pressed to say Rock carried Austin or HHH at any point.
Brandon, you’re a good writer, and like I said, there is nothing wrong with having your own opinion. Hell, I know a guy who thinks the HBK/HHH HIAC match at Badd Blood 04 was the best HIAC match ever, even though I thought it was super slow and sucked. The only REAL part of your article that bugged me is “Those are the only two Rocks that deserve your chanting and bowing.” and “Cena > Rock DEAL WITH IT”.
I’m sure you didn’t intend for it to be like this, but it certainly sounds to me like you’re DEMANDING your readers should believe this and that any of their own opinions are wrong. Like I said, I know that probably wasn’t your intention but if anyone said this to me in a conversation I’d think they were awfully smug and full of themselves.
Just a little thing that bugged me personally. Don’t quit writing anytime soon, cheers.
Slate.com approves of your defiance of conventional wisdom.
I do have to say, though, that while I don’t know if I’m totally buying that Cena is better than Rock, I’m definitely more inclined to see through the veil of charisma and nostalgia and see the tricks of a Rock promo. Yeah, his return was handled well, but for me, everything turned sour when he busted out a Barney joke in the Year of Our Lord 2011. Even by the delayed standards of cool that are built into wrestling (after all, the face of the WWE proudly wears jorts), a Barney joke? Really? Really?
The Rock character is a charismatic bully. Always has been. In the past, it was easy to overlook the “bully” part of that because the charisma was nearly blinding, but now that The Rock is just singing the classics, the bully part’s becoming increasingly hard to reconcile.
/fake fighting
Have to agree with Eric there! Not trying to pile on either, just some constructive criticism: Your Rock vs. Cena assessment would’ve been more well received had it been more respectfully explained. “Deal with it” reminds me of articles I’ve read in magazines like GQ where they are trying to shove a fashion trend or some piece of consumerism down your throat….That being said, I wouldn’t of even bothered to comment if I didn’t really enjoy your collumns…I get a guilty pleasure out of WWE still at my age, and for the record I too would support and follow a Smackdown recap, keep up the great writing bro.
And yes BeeJ…im absolutely sure the point of this past weeks Monday Night Raw was to begin to turn Cena heel.
“charasmatic bully?”
Thats kind of stretching it fellas…what is HHH…what is Jericho..what is Taker. Even at their most babyface of characters were “charasmatic bullies.”
@Eric – “In that respect, Rock had great matches with Kane (love the character but is NOT a good worker), a green Brock Lesnar (who he even put over cleanly), Goldberg (also put over cleanly), Billy Gunn and Ken Shamrock (who he had an AWESOME cage match with).”
I would like to know which match with Kane you’re talking about, because evidently I never saw it. Ditto on Billy Gunn. Lesnar I’ll give you, but Lesnar was having cool matches with a lot of people at the time (include Hardys).
And of course I don’t “demand” that anyone agree with me, but I feel my opinion is justified mightily in this case, and will express it with emphasis (and a dash of hyperbole).
And to everyone complaining about the phrase “Deal with it,” please remember that the explanation you’re looking for is in the paragraphs under it.
Brandon: I didn’t think his matches with Billy Gunn were that great, but you can find a few on Youtube – they met up in 1999 on several occasions.
I watched from 2000-2002 and then 2009-now, so seeing the Rock back is still fresh to me. I guess that’s why I like him. I like Cena a little more than Rock, however. Not his character on TV, but everything Cena does for the company, the military, and the kids.
Yeah, I think I give Cena the character a pass because Cena the guy seems so decent. And he’s a quality performer, no matter what the Internet says. “Moves” doesn’t equate to knowing how to wrestle. Snooki knows six moves, I don’t think she’s going to be choking out Shinobu Kandori any time soon.
I’ve been watching wrestling for three decades now and I can’t fathom Billy Gunn having a match I’d enjoy.
I must say I’m surprised how much I’ve enjoyed the conversation going on in the comment section about Rock vs. Cena. Last night specifically, I was a bit let down by Rocky, largely for the reasons B mentioned, and the whole Team Bring It thing sounded like it’s the precursor to a new line of Livestrong-esque rubber bracelets. It’s almost the reverse of what happened with HHH and Taker. Rather than hotshotting all the money points into one segment, Rock and Cena have gone back and forth for a month and a half, and Rock addressed most of Cena’s points about his leaving during the first via satellite promo. There had been plenty of talk; the crowd was blazing hot and looking for shit-talking leading directly to violence. Rock suddenly becoming introspective wouldn’t have made the payoff any better, and nothing was going to turn the crowd in Cena’s favor.
Overall, though, I think B gives Rocky too little credit for his body of work. While many of his great matches were with other great workers, that’s less his fault than it is his good fortune to have been around when he was. He was able to continually keep himself wildly over despite doing an astounding number of jobs. He was a better face than HHH, and a better heel than post-1997 Austin. Credit to Cena for making chicken salad out of chicken shit for so long, but he’s been doing the same thing for so long that it’s hard for me to look at him as in the same ballpark as a guy who’s worked both sides at such a high level and continually had really good matches with everyone he worked with. If this is the start of Cena’s big turn, great, I’ll get my answer. But until then, I’m not convinced.
@85 – Saying that someone is a better heel than post-97 Austin is fightin’ words. Paranoid, mentally unstable bad guy Steve Austin who will do everything including sell his soul for the WWE Championship was absolutely outstanding, and if we could disassociate it from the business it did or that whole “it killed the Attitude Era!” talking point, I think more people would agree. Besides, killing the Attitude Era was a GOOD thing.
B, I’ll agree with you that 2001 paranoid, mentally unstable bad guy Austin was pretty awesome, the problem is that he was that guy for about five minutes before he was wearing tiny cowboy hats with Kurt Angle and trying to hug Vince for four hours a week. I think Austin peaked as a heel during the ’96-’97 Bret Hart feud, which I’ve watched a bit of lately and goddamn does it still hold up. Either way, Rocky was great as a heel with the Nation, a different kind of great heel when he was feuding with Foley in ’98-’99, and yet another different kind of great heel when he was putting on half-hour Rock concerts and getting Toronto to wildly boo and cheer him at the same time. Plus the fans went gaga for him as a face in between all those times. My point is, I hope Cena’s got those kind of chops, but I’ll believe it when I see it.
I thought this was a sports blog?
Did any actual (fake) wrestling take place or was it all speeches and gesturing ?
@Trolls R’ Me – I’m sorry, you were mistaken, this is a sports entertainment blog. Tomorrow I’m doing a live blog of an episode of Roseanne.
@DancingBaptist – almost all speeches and gesturing
Thank the Good Lord above (as the Rock said) for this column, and the comments section, too. Since when was Rock religulous?
Please keep writing it. Write about how crappy TNA is too.
For the record, Cena ain’t turning heal. Sells too many t-shirts.
I love this. I’m somewhere in the middle in that I do prefer Cena to Rock (especially in the ring) but I kind of like Rocky too. Maybe that IS nostalgia and rose-tinted glasses, but I’ve been entertained by him on many occasions. But yeah, Cena is better (and to wade in on the other talking point, Stone Cold is way better).
Awesome article, and again, one of the more sane and rational wrestling things on the internet. “Only kids and adults who think for themselves and don’t jump on the Internet to figure out what they should think” liking Cena (and others) is exactly right.
Also..
“I just want to be able to stand up at a sports bar on Sunday and yell YIP YIP YIP WHAT IF F**KING DO.”
Sports bars don’t show wrestling in my stupid country but ME TOO.
Great article. But Panther Joe let me know that half of the Road Warriors are dead…thanks for bringing that up in the WWE promo, guys…
Brandon, it is hilarious how much emotion you put into writing about something that is a piece of scripted entertainment. They discuss every part of what is said and done before they walk out there. I hope this was written as a joke, because there is no way this should be on a legit sports blog. Actually, why the hell is this on here? This is a blog about sports. Shouldn’t this be on “Warming Glow”?
@Kenny – Wait a minute, what are you saying? These guys are in a wrestling match against each other. Why would they talk about it beforehand?
Tell ‘em, Hawk!
I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Cena. Loved him as the douchebag rapper (albeit slow rapper) who wore jerseys and didn’t have to carry the company on those massively ripped shoulders. Hate him now as the cartoon character and never says anything memorable.
You make some great points about Cena but I’ve never tuned into WWE for his current character. He just isn’t interesting to me, in the ring or on the mic. He’s been this way for years and hasn’t done a thing to convince me he’s worth spending money on.
I understand your misgivings about Rock. Sometimes he got too comfortable with his catchphrases and just said them for a cheap pop. But whether he was a face or heel, he was always at his best when he incorporated those phrases into a narrative (e.g. his God promo on Billy Gunn) and he did that more often than not. Rip on him for his ring work, he wasn’t Steamboat or Daniel Bryan, but you can’t deny his work ethic, just like the Cena haters can’t deny his work ethic in the ring. The Rock sold like crazy and if Cena wasn’t booked like Superman I’m sure he would too.
But as this feud has played out, one thing became apparent, The Rock can still hold the audience in the palm of his hand, even after years of being away while Cena can’t. Cena had to revert back to his rap persona to credibly respond to Rock’s initial promo. It was the best thing he’s done since his Royal Rumble match with Umaga.
Rock > Cena