John Cena: Seven Years Later
This past weekend marked the seven year anniversary of John Cena debuting in the WWE. I remember he came out and gave Kurt Angle a run for his money impressing a lot of people as well. His first few months he made an impact but it wasn’t until October of 2002 that we say the break out of John Cena.
John Cena turned heel and began to wear baggy jeans, chains, throwback jerseys and hats. He also began to rap, and poke fun of superstars such as the Undertaker, Brock Lesnar and Rikishi. He taunted Brock Lesnar so bad he called his finishing move the F-U instead of Lesnars move called the F-5. It was in November of 2003 where he became a fan favorite again. One of his biggest moments was Wrestlemania 21 when he became United States Champion by defeating the Big Show. John Cena had a remarkable year in 2004. This was also the year he filmed the Marine which began the rise of John Cena. In 2005, he went to Wrestlemania 21 to win the WWE Championship from JBL. He feuded with Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle after being drafted to Raw. John Cena held the title for nine long months until New Years Revolution of 2006.
At New Years Revolution 2006, Edge cashed in Money in the Bank to defeat John Cena thus starting one of the biggest feuds in the history of the WWE. He also defeated Triple H at Wrestlemania 22. However John Cena defied the odds in 2006. He went into a hostile crowd at ECW’s One Night Stand, he defeated Edge in a TLC match and he seemed to be on a roll. John Cena held the WWE Championship for a year until he suffered an injury in September of 2007. He miraculously returned to the WWE at the 2008 Royal Rumble as the last superstar the entered. He won and went on to have a pretty quiet year in the WWE. At Summerslam he fought Batista in which he suffered a severe neck injury that should have kept him out for a year. However at Survivor Series he returned to defeat Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. He regained the World Title back at Wrestlemania 25 before losing it to Edge a month later.
For all of John Cena’s critic, I being one of them at times, I will say this. John Cena has so much passion for pro wrestling it’s ridiculous. A lot of people claimed that they were going to be bigger then Hulk Hogan like for example The Rock but John Cena is getting closer and closer all the time. People know who John Cena is. Think about this. He has appeared Jimmy Kimmel multiple times, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Fox Sports Net’s The Best Damn Sports Show Period, MADtv, MTV’s Punk’d, 2005 Teen Choice Awards, Nashville Star, 2007 Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards.
Cena has also been featured on Fast Cars and Superstars: The Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race, Subway commercials, Gilette’s shaving products, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and Deal or No Deal. I hate to say it but John Cena might just be bigger then Hulk Hogan. Cena also came out with a Rap Album and has been featured in two movies that sold well on DVD. There is no slowing down John Cena. He is only 32 years old and has a lot of years ahead of him.
So at the end of the day, will John Cena be bigger then Hulk Hogan? Or will Cena fall short of the bar Hogan set? My money is on Cena because he revolutionized pro wrestling much like Hulk did in the 80’s. Only time will tell.
