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| Cena Vs Edge |
Matt Barnes |
Both men had a great year, but who's worth more to WWE?
Superficially, John Cena returning from surgery and Edge returning from... well, beyond the grave, we guess, wouldn't normally be particularly huge stories. They'd likely be big, granted, but not huge. Coming as they did on the same night, however, upped the ante considerably. Both men winning heavyweight gold on that same fateful night served only to add to the importance of their respective reunions with the WWE faithful. But whose return will ultimately mean more bang for our WWE buck? Does Cena's passion outweigh Edge's beard? Did Edge screwing Hunter and Hardy outdo Cena merely beating Chris Jericho? And moreover, which return will mean more to the 'WWE Universe' at large? Whatever the fanboys say, it's not as clear cut as you'd think…
Much has been written about John Cena - covering both his successes and Epic Fails~! as a WWE main eventer - and we’ve been as much at the heart of the for/against discussions as anybody else. What can never be denied, however, is Cena's incredible passion for this business. Like Adam Copeland, being a WWE champion is John Anthony Felix Cena's childhood dream and he loves it. But, unlike Edge with his deranged, maniacal persona, the man you see when John Cena enters a wrestling ring is the man his family see when they sit down together around the dinner table.
In that respect, it's a real shame that Cena has had such a hard time in clicking with the fans, because it must be incredibly hard to go out on television on a weekly basis and be hated for being yourself. The thing is, much like with The Rock back in the day, it's become cool for fans to rebel and boo Cena - perhaps even more interestingly though, WWE has responded to this by rebelling right back and pushing Cena harder than ever.
The irony is that this has resulted in more buys than a Cena heel turn ever would have done. Had WWE taken the obvious path and turned Cena, the whole thing would have become passe with fans very quickly and, ultimately, all of the momentum he'd spent years building would have been lost. Instead, by keeping Cena a babyface and sending him out there to play the hero role each and every week, WWE have created a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' scenario that makes him more hated than any 'out of the closet' (ahem) heel on the entire roster. It was an intelligent, bold move and one that's certainly paid off for WWE.
But why is such a passionate performer so reviled? Some blame his 'fake-looking punches', others the fact that he connects so well with the kids (case in point: saving young fans from Santino Marella revealing a secret about Santa Claus on a recent RAW) and thus alienates older viewers. The reality though is that it began with fans believing that Cena hadn't earned his spot and snowballed from there. At first, fans were full of hope for him and were initially behind his white-rapper gimmick, but they eventually became disenfranchised (especially when his rapping lost its hardened edge and became rather more flaccid) and, in the end, used booing Cena as a way to rebel against the overall crappy standards of WWE booking in 2006 and 2007.
For the rest of this feature, check out issue 37 of FSM - available at WH Smith and all good retailers. (For US readers we are now carried at Borders and Barnes & Noble, so check for local availability or click here to subscribe.)
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