Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2014 13:23:39 GMT -6
www.foxsports.com/other/story/john-cena-s-a-polarizing-figure-because-of-wwe-s-failure-to-build-around-him-081114
I don't agree with JR on this still. He has to concede that in 2014 John Cena's babyface character the way it is now just doesn't work for the 18-49 yr old male demo. I'm not saying to change Cena, but if you produced Hulk Hogan the way he was in the 80's over the last ten years on TV every week, he'd get boo'ed too. Hell, he was getting boo'ed in 91-93 from time to time.
The issue with John Cena's character is incredibly flat; he's two dimensional. Cena never grows, changes, has more to what we see on the surface. He's the same fucking guy. That just doesn't work in hardly anything - movies, television, literature. This is where I will fault both WWE creative and Cena. This to me is why Cena is stale. If Cena had this run in the 80's acting the way does now, he'd be beloved by most. Something should have changed John Cena the character after going through what he did with Wyatt. Bad, good, indiffrent. Something should have changed his character from here on out on how he looks at the world, what he represents, how he approaches what he does. They teased it. And in the microcosm of the feud he questioned it. He never learns and grows from his in-ring experiences. Times have changed and call for different things.
I actually am fine with Cena never turning heel or leaving alone a guy who is catered to kids making a ton of money along the way. I actually don't think anything would change.
I will disagree about the money thing. For one to automatically assume that WWE and Cena's merch sales suddenly plummet if he goes heel is ignorant to the past. Would it be risky? Absolutely. Is it a guarantee they make less money? Highly disagree. The nWo made a shit ton of money with the biggest babyface at that time over the last ten plus years turning heel. They sold MORE merch. Their rating went UP. People everywhere were talking about Hogan. And during all of this, Hogan was somewhat "cool" again. I'm not suggesting a repeat of history should take place or would work today, but too simply say it would be detrimental to generating revenue is a huge mistake. During nWo's run, how many faces got major TV time? How many were generating big revenue? Not many...until Goldberg came along.
Maybe, just maybe a Cena heel turn might be worth a shot with the product getting stale and subscription revenue tanking. His first heel run made him very popular. He was considered cool. I think if positioned right, it wouldn't hurt his brand all that much. Again, I'm not saying they should do it. It is worth kicking the tires over.
For JR to claim Cena hasn't had any decent heels to tango with is a slap in the face to CM Punk, Randy Orton, Edge, Triple H and even Batista quite frankly.
I don't agree with JR on this still. He has to concede that in 2014 John Cena's babyface character the way it is now just doesn't work for the 18-49 yr old male demo. I'm not saying to change Cena, but if you produced Hulk Hogan the way he was in the 80's over the last ten years on TV every week, he'd get boo'ed too. Hell, he was getting boo'ed in 91-93 from time to time.
The issue with John Cena's character is incredibly flat; he's two dimensional. Cena never grows, changes, has more to what we see on the surface. He's the same fucking guy. That just doesn't work in hardly anything - movies, television, literature. This is where I will fault both WWE creative and Cena. This to me is why Cena is stale. If Cena had this run in the 80's acting the way does now, he'd be beloved by most. Something should have changed John Cena the character after going through what he did with Wyatt. Bad, good, indiffrent. Something should have changed his character from here on out on how he looks at the world, what he represents, how he approaches what he does. They teased it. And in the microcosm of the feud he questioned it. He never learns and grows from his in-ring experiences. Times have changed and call for different things.
I actually am fine with Cena never turning heel or leaving alone a guy who is catered to kids making a ton of money along the way. I actually don't think anything would change.
I will disagree about the money thing. For one to automatically assume that WWE and Cena's merch sales suddenly plummet if he goes heel is ignorant to the past. Would it be risky? Absolutely. Is it a guarantee they make less money? Highly disagree. The nWo made a shit ton of money with the biggest babyface at that time over the last ten plus years turning heel. They sold MORE merch. Their rating went UP. People everywhere were talking about Hogan. And during all of this, Hogan was somewhat "cool" again. I'm not suggesting a repeat of history should take place or would work today, but too simply say it would be detrimental to generating revenue is a huge mistake. During nWo's run, how many faces got major TV time? How many were generating big revenue? Not many...until Goldberg came along.
Maybe, just maybe a Cena heel turn might be worth a shot with the product getting stale and subscription revenue tanking. His first heel run made him very popular. He was considered cool. I think if positioned right, it wouldn't hurt his brand all that much. Again, I'm not saying they should do it. It is worth kicking the tires over.
For JR to claim Cena hasn't had any decent heels to tango with is a slap in the face to CM Punk, Randy Orton, Edge, Triple H and even Batista quite frankly.
