The Turn Of Cena
Man, wasn’t it amazing. You know, seeing Cena finally do something worthwhile, FUing Teddy Long. One of the greatest character developments in recent pro wrestling history. Now all that matters is what they do next. Because over the next month or so the creative team will have to walk a pretty fine line. I mean, we all love Teddy Long. But we also want someone to root for, someone like Cena. And Cena and Long will have to play their cards just right to pull this shit off.
That fine line will include Long possibly having to forgive Cena pretty quickly, but also doing or saying something inadvertently to piss Cena off in the process. The audience will have to understand why Cena is reacting so negatively to this incident. And this will have to lead to JBL taking advantage of the two men’s conflict, because he is the one clear bad guy. And the whole scenerio would play out like one great comic book epic.
I want to say Batman, but that’s not quite right. You’re Gordon and you have a vigilante in your city. You’re a straight and narrow cop and you play by the books. But this new vigilante gets results. So, you don’t know if you should love or hate this new force to be reckoned with. You don’t know if you should hunt this guy down, or use him in the good fight against crime. And ultimately, you will find yourself doing both in accordance to the situation. That ultimately should be the new Long - Cena relationship. With JBL playing the Joker.
Which is why I think JBL should keep the belt at Wrestlemania. A good hero is only good when he’s fighting the good fight. Take the Rock. There’s a reason he was known as the People’s Champ. Because he could rarely get his hands on the real thing. The Rock only became legendary when he found his archnemesis, Triple H.
If you look at most of those matches, the Rock lost. He was always on the losing end. But that was only because he was always getting screwed over by Triple H, and the McMahons, and DX, and Stone Cold through some sort of foul play and trickery. It was always somebody. Which is why it always felt so good when he would eventually win. The audience had been along for the ride, and had been through the bumps and bruises, and the ups and downs, that when the Rock would eventually win, it felt like everybody had won.
Of course, none of this matters unless Cena stops play acting in the ring. It always looks like Cena is going through the motions when he wrestles, and he’s always playing to the crowd. And that finisher just doesn’t look like much, which can all be attributed to Cena’s wrestling skills. He just hasn’t been able to sell his own moves.
Hulk Hogan had a leg drop for a finisher. The Rock dropped an elbow. At least on the surface, these aren’t two of the greatest finishers in history. But trust me, when you saw these two men use’em, it was electrifying. And that’s because they sold the hell out of the move. They forced their opponents to act accordingly. They knew just when to hit that finisher. They both had whole acts set up before the big move. The Rock’s shit was the best, stripping the arm band off and tossing it in the crowd, the little dance afterwards with that kick. And BAM! Shit was over.
Why can’t Cena pull this shit off. He has the FU and the 5 knuckle shuffle. And he can’t sell either one. Because he’s too busy playing to the crowd, pumping his shoes up and shit. It’s sickening. What’s also sickening is the racism shown towards his character.
Cena, like Stone Cold before him, took a role type and expanded it. Stone Cold was the redneck, backtalking, beer drinking, yokel taking it to the man. And Cena is the trailer park, hood raised, street kid, well, uh, taking it to the man. Would people tell Stone Cold to stop acting so white trash? Nope. Because that’s part of his appeal. But I read shit about people not wanting Cena to act so street or ghetto.
It’s bullshit. Do I believe Cena over does it with the pronunciations? Yep. But would I ask him to drop the personae that brought him to the dance? Hell no. It’s a part of his appeal. He’s the first wresling character to fully adopt the new street culture, the street culture that was first introduced by the Rock. And yeah, it’s unfortunate that it had to be a white guy to truly do it. But it’s America. Ain’t it always a white man. Still, if he were to completely change now, it would be a slap in the face to all of the people who have stuck by his character over the passed few years.
And you know how much I hate traitors.
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