WWE pushed John Cena as the face of the company for over a decade. Cena was a promising prospect from day one, with the company seeing great things in him. Numerous character changes and various forms of improvement led to his legendary run as one of the greatest wrestling performers in history.
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Names like AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Edge and even Randy Orton reached the next level of their careers by feuding with Cena. WWE trusted that Cena would help other talents get a better place on the card after teaming with him. Unfortunately, Cena was unable to convince the following wrestlers during the teaming.
Baron Corbin was buried during his feud with John Cena
Cena has embarrassed Corbin several times
- Cena was originally supposed to promote Corbin
- Plans changed after some backstage problems with Corbin
- Corbin lost his money at the Bank Cash-In and Cena defeated him decisively at SummerSlam 2017
WWE initially put John Cena in a feud with Baron Corbin to help the latter become a better main event heel. Corbin’s clash with a backstage doctor led to WWE changing course and ending his Money in the Bank briefcase push.
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Cena caused Corbin to lose his title shot to Jinder Mahal in an embarrassing manner, and WWE then destroyed Corbin in a short SummerSlam match to take away any credibility from his established push.
Rene Dupree should become a bigger star
Cena’s first PPV singles title defense was against Rene Dupree (Judgment Day 2004)
- Rene Dupree was a member of La Resistance on Raw
- He came to SmackDown first in the 2004 WWE Draft
- His feud with Cena was not impressive
La Resistance was an underrated tag team in the Ruthless Aggression Era of Raw. Sylvan Grenier and Rene Dupree formed the original duo but WWE eventually brought in Rob Conway and moved Dupree to the SmackDown brand.
The feud between John Cena and Dupree was meant to elevate Rene as a singles competitor, as he showed great potential at a young age. However, WWE fans did not believe Dupree was a worthy challenger to Cena, so Rene teamed up with Japanese star Kenzo Suzuki in another anti-American team.
Bobby Lashley had difficulties in their feud between Babyface and Babyface
They had a good match at the 2007 Great American Bash, but it still wasn’t enough
- Lashley was supposed to be a big star in 2007
- Cena defended the WWE title against Lashley at the Great American Bash 2007
- It was ultimately Lashley’s last PPV match of his first WWE run
WWE has a lot Time and effort to push Bobby Lashley in 2007 . Lashley had a long feud with Vince McMahon over the ECW Championship and moved to Raw for the rest of the year, where he took on a much larger role.
In a rare face-vs-face feud against John Cena, Lashley stepped into the ring looking to impress. Unfortunately, the lack of personality or a defined character kept him from really taking off. Lashley figured out what he was missing in the time between his WWE stints and had an incredible run in TNA.
Bull Buchanan couldn’t keep up as Cena’s buddy
The Doctor of Thuganomics did it better on his own
- Bull Buchanan was Cena’s enforcer in his first months as a rapper
- It didn’t work and Buchanan was released in January 2003
- In the Attitude Era, Buchanan was a member of the right to censor
The intimidating presence of Bull Buchanan saw him trying to find the right role in the WWE . Until the end of Censor’s faction and a failed tag team with Big Boss Man, Buchanan was relegated to a subordinate position.
John Cena came on as a villain early in his career with his rap gimmick. WWE hired Buchanan as an enforcer to help him cheat, but the chemistry wasn’t right. Buchanan was eventually released shortly after participating in the 2003 Royal Rumble Match, and Cena fared better on his own.
Jesus had a big storyline with Cena that was forgotten
Carlito’s bodyguard never did anything noteworthy after the encounter with Cena
- Cena was taken off television after being stabbed by Jesus
- John Cena fought with Carlito for the US Championship
- Cena defended the US title in a street fight against Jesus at Armageddon 2004
WWE had a plan to take John Cena off television and bring him into the film industry. The Marine film. A storyline was booked where Cena is stabbed in a nightclub to explain why he had been off television for over a month. Carlito’s feud with Cena led to his enforcer buddy Jesus being named as the mystery man.
Fans had no reason to get involved with a random new talent with lackluster creativity. Cena beat Jesus in one match and that was the end of him. Rumors that New Jack was being considered could have been a better option than a character with no future.
John Laurinaitis won a PPV victory over John Cena in 2012
WWE’s hopes for Cena’s feud between Austin and McMahon backfired
- John Laurinaitis was General Manager of Raw and SmackDown
- Cena lost to Laurinaitis in the main event of Over The Limit 2012
- Laurinaitis was fired after Cena defeated Big Show at No Way Out 2012
John Laurinaitis was one of the most controversial employees in WWE, as many talents hated him as Vince McMahon’s right-hand man. The reality that Laurinaitis fired talent or made other hated decisions was used on television to become an authority figure .
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John Cena got into a feud with Laurinaitis and even saw a match between the two. WWE had Laurinaitis help Big Show defeat Cena in a ridiculous maneuver since credible villains couldn’t even put Cena on the mat once. The feud, patterned after Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, failed miserably and Laurinaitis was gone from the position less than a month later.
Orlando Jordan didn’t help take the US title from Cena
Jordan won the title only so Cena could advance to the WWE Championship
- Orlando Jordan was a member of the JBL Group, the Cabinet
- WWE Champion JBL was in dispute with United States Champion John Cena
- Orlando Jordan won the title before Cena vs. JBL at WrestleMania 21
John Cena was the US Champion at the beginning of his feud against JBL for the WWE Championship. WWE had to find the right way to take the midcard belt away from Cena without making him look weak before the biggest win of his career.
JBL’s buddy Orlando Jordan defeated Cena with JBL’s help to logically continue the larger feud. Jordan’s title reign wasn’t very successful, so an important win over a big name couldn’t be wasted. WWE lost interest in pushing Jordan after the title reign ended without much impact.
Alberto Del Rio was never on Cena’s level during their feuds
Del Rio has won various titles from John Cena over the years
- Alberto Del Rio is a four-time WWE World Champion and two-time US Champion.
- Del Rio won two titles from Cena – the WWE title at Hell In A Cell 2011 and the US title at Hell In A Cell 2015
- Del Rio made his WWE comeback against Cena, but his second run was not good
Vince McMahon was a huge fan of Alberto Del Rio and wanted him to become one of the top heels in the company. Del Rio wins the WWE Championship from CM Punk led to a feud with John Cena for the title.
The feud ended with Del Rio as champion after a win swap, only to lose him to Punk again as fans didn’t take him seriously. WWE tried again when Alberto defeated Cena for the United States Championship to begin his second reign, but this time fans didn’t care even more.
John Cena faced Austin Theory again at WrestleMania 39.
There were better options for Cena in one of his last Mania matches
- It felt strange that Cena would be taking part in a US title fight in 2023
- WWE wanted to make Theory a main event heel after the feud with Cena
- Theory defended the title, but it was clear that he was not ready for a big push
John Cena returns for a match at WrestleMania 39 should have given the entire show a huge boost. However, pitting him against Austin Theory proved to be a terrible decision as the latter simply wasn’t ready for a push in the main event.
Vince McMahon appreciated Theory’s work, which is why he won Money in the Bank in 2022 and defeated Cena at Showcase Of The Immortals. Theory showed a disappointing performance against Cena and didn’t feel like a bigger star even though he scored a point against a legend.
Lord Tensai’s great advance failed
The victory over Cena did not make fans like his new foreign heel gimmick
- WWE wanted Lord Tensai to be a top heel in 2012
- Tensai won big victories over Cena and WWE Champion CM Punk in some of his early matches
- The run flopped and he formed a comedy tag team with Brodus Clay, Tons Of Funk
WWE brought back former talent A-Train under a new gimmick of Lord Tensai. Success in New Japan put him back on WWE’s radar to return with a character that aims to develop a Japanese background.
Most fans were confused about the gimmick and Japanese fans found parts of the action offensive. WWE had Tensai defeated John Cena by using green mist but fans did not respond to him as a star. The Tensai experiment flopped and he switched to a dance comedy act with Brodus Clay
