Source: The Wrestling Observer
Austin Speaks on Cena Critics
During a recent promotion of his upcoming movie "Born To Fight," Stone Cold Steve Austin had the following to say about WWE, John Cena's critics and more:
"When I look at that company right now, John Cena is the guy who anchors it all. Some people get mad because they feel like WWE shoves it down your throat, but he's the main guy. Whether you love to hate him or you love to love him, you gotta respect him. If you're going to have him chase, you must have a heel worthy of chasing. No disrespect to Del Rio, but Cena is so far higher up on that ladder. Unless you give him a viable heel to chase, he should have the belt. I tell you John Cena has had some great matches with some great guys. Sometimes his body of work gets overlooked. The guy has proven himself over and over again. I call a spade a spade and John has done a tremendous job and he's got a few years left yet."
Stardust, I tend to agree. That's what I miss about Orton now being face. He was much better as a heel chasing Cena.
There are just no credible heels. Orton hates being a face, so why do they insist on keeping him in an uncomfortable role.
Shamus was a great heel. Edge was a great heel. HHH was a great heel. Mark Henry as heel???? I don't think so.
Stone Cold knows whats up, well said.
dangerousdaneerfan Wrote:Shamus was a great heel. Edge was a great heel. HHH was a great heel. Mark Henry as heel???? I don't think so.
IF, and I do mean IF, the WWE continues to give him the push and does not bail on him, Henry could be a good heel! He's everything that Vader was. Continue making him a Monster and he will win fans over!
Stardust Wrote:IF, and I do mean IF, the WWE continues to give him the push and does not bail on him, Henry could be a good heel! b Continue making him a Monster and he will win fans over!
Comparing Mark Henry to Vader is like comparing the back up point guard at the David School to Oscar Robertson. Vader,in his prime, could really move. He routinely did moonsaults and had an unbelievable presence about him. Granted, had he been put in the angles that Mark Henry had, it would have made him much less credible and it seemed like Vince did his best to bury Vader, as well. But from an ability standpoint, it isn't even close, I don't think.
I like what they are doing with Henry and, as you said if they don't bail on him, they could make him a viable opponent for Cena. I just don't think anyone in the office has the foresight to stick with it. More than likely, Orton gets the big win over Henry and he gets pushed back down the card. He is getting what I always called the "Meng Push." In WCW, every so often, they would build Meng up as a monster and then, shortly thereafter, he was back jobbing on Thunder.
I'll give you that Henry is not the athlete, but I'm not sure that he has ever been given the freedom in the ring to show anything, thus after 15 years we have this huge athlete with no charisma. Vince has always wanted his monsters to be just monsters and not show any athleticism. If the big guys are credible athletes, then in his mind he cannot sell the guys that are half the size of the monsters. It's his short-sighted thinking.
I think you really have to build up a truly great heel....You just can't say "O.K....here is the good guy and here is the bad guy..." Put a guy into some programs that will give him some heat, then keep pushing the envelop with the guy. A good heel has to be someone that you just want to reach into the TV and choke every week.
I think Del Rio could be a great heel, but WWE has dropped the ball with him so far. The first thing they did wrong was when they hot-shotted the title from him to Cena, then back to him. I think the title could elevate a good heel to a great heel....have Del Rio hold the title for several months, but never let him win clean at a PPV...even if some of his matches have to have a 'Dusty Finish'.
I can relate with people being tired of Cena. I can honestly say I have been watching wrestling for probably 25 years, but I don't watch it much anymore. I am so tired of Cena, Orton, & HHH. I think if given the right storylines and angles, these younger guys could really elevate the WWE. People look at Cena (or Super Cena as I like to refer to him as...) and they see another Hogan. People look at Orton and are tired of watching his 12 minute matches with 5 to 7 minutes of those matches being rest-holds. People are tired of HHH burying people.
There is a little validity to what Austin is saying about Cena having to have the title if there are no viable heel to chase, but on the other hand, look at the Undertaker. Of all the superstars of the last 15 years, he has probably held the title less than HHH, Austin, The Rock, Edge, etc. because Undertaker doesn't need the title to have a good program with somebody.
I think it just boils down to the fact that the WWE thinks Cena has to have the title to justify his gimmick....just my opinion.
I'll comment on the Undertaker. Taker is not a full-time wrestler and has not been for five years. He still has the comic book gimic, and the reason it is so over is due to the novelty of the act. Taker lost that swag and interest, and a lot of people forget about that. His title runs never came until 2007. Before that, his act had lost it's flavor during the Ministry of Darkness era. UT was so far down on merchandise sales, that they let him change his gimic to the Biker, or American Bad Ass theme. It got over at first, but then ended when his injuries started to pile up. They gave him the title in 2007 only because they thought he was going to retire. From that time on, UT only wrestles 2-3 months per year. This year it looks like WM will be his next appearance. When you have a novelty, you can live off of that and that alone. Plus, could anyone pull off the charecter of the Undertaker and survive very long? Others have tried similar gimics, but all failed. As for a title, not even the WWE would expect that a deadman charecter could have a legitimate title run!
I give crede to Autin's words and I do not downplay what Cena has done. You referenced Hogan in comparison to "Super Cena". That's very fair. But the reason that Hulkamania went for as long as it has is due to credible heels that fans wanted to see vanquished by Hogan. Austin had his share of credible heels as well. It's not Cena's fault that there has been no one to step up and take control. HHH could have been, but unfortunately, his health would not allow it during Cena's run.
I respect that Cena has surpassed Hogan, Austin and Rock as the all-time merchandise leader. No matter what we "smart" fans think, Cena is the one that the majority of wrestling fans want to see at the top. His run as the champion of the company is no different than Race, Flair, Sammartino, Backland, Bockwinkel and Hogan. All having the title in their runs for extended number of years. I would not downplay the fact that Cena needs the title without saying that even the purest in us recognize that others have been on top, with title in hand, for a heck of a lot longer!
With Austin, probably the most credible heel he was up against was Mr. McMahon...especially during his early runs back in the Attitude Era. Austin was a heel until the double turn @ WM13 and then from there really only had a year to run with the ball as a face until WM14 when he beat HBK for the strap. Mr. McMahon could plug in anybody in to face Austin to get the title off of him and it drew huge numbers. Think about this...the first 2 title defenses Austin had after he became WWF champ was Mick Foley with one of those being Dude Love. I don't know how well Stone Cold's gimmick would have worked if the other main focal character during his run wasn't Mr. McMahon.....Something to think about. Now, looking back and seeing Austin as a heel really didn't work for me at all....it was all really more comical than anything else.
I agree with the Hogan statement...he did work with a pretty good stable of heels, but he was also thrown down everybody's throat. He was portrayed almost in the same light as comic book super hero's...the all-american hero who vanquished all evil and did no wrong.
I am not blaming Cena for any of the Anti-Cena sentiments he is getting. I place the blame directly on the WWE for lack of character development and lack of risk taking. Cena is so over with the younger audience, especially the kids, that the WWE probably feels that the only way the seats will be filled will be if he has the title. Me, on the other hand, I don't agree with that....I would much rather tune in to watch my favorite wrestler chase down the bad guy (or the bad guy run like a chickensh*t from the good guy) every week. I always look back on The New Age Outlaws when I think of good character development. Road Dogg and Billy Gun where kind of in limbo until they were paired up with not only each other, but with DX. Their characters developed, they became major players during the Attitude Era and you genuinly hated them when they were tag champs....the things they did week in and week out made you want to tune in and watch what was next. Sure, a lot of that was riding the coat tails of HBK, HHH, and then X-Pac, but it worked.....the WWF took a chance on those 2 guys and they took the ball and ran with it.
Finally, to Undertaker....I can remember back to when Taker beat Hogan for his first title....I can remember the looks on the faces of those kids after the match....they were terrified and crying...legitimately scared of the Undertaker. This kind of goes back to the comic book/cartoon pedestal Hogan was put on. You're right, Taker's gimmick did get stale for a while, the whole corporate ministry thing was nutty and then the biker thing didn't make much sense, but if you take a step back, his other gimmicks didn't really venture too far from the original....think about it....Taker's character always seemed to be fighting for a higher power (Urn - Original gimmick.....Mr. McMahon - Corporate Ministry) and the biker gimmick was just him looking for a fight and being a tough SOB which he basically did during any one of his gimmicks. I think Taker's plus sides were his enourmous knowledge of the business, the respect he had in the back, and his cerebral approach to his gimmick and his matches. Need him to put over somebody....done. Need him to make somebody look good without losing his heat...done. Need him with the title....done. Need to take the title off of him....done. You never really heard much of the way of Taker having a problem with too much....most of the stories you heard were if he had a problem with someone in the lockerroom or something like that. Taker has always been the consumate professional who could take anything thrown at him and get the job done. It is a shame that injuries have hampered him the past few years, but I still say there isn't a better professional than him........