Where Does John Cena Rank Among The WWE/Wrestling Greats?

[GlitchMarner]

So I'm watching a bit of Smackdown, which is a rarity for me nowadays, and I hear all this talk that Cena is possibly the greatest of all-time in the WWE, prior to his return.

That can't be right, can it?

He's a guy who has very good if not great longevity as a huge star and attraction, but at the height of his popularity I don't think he was ever as big as Hogan in the 80s or Austin in the late 90s. He's never been a great technician like Flair (whose legacy is largely based on his work outside of the WWE) or Bret Hart or as entertaining in the ring as Michaels. He's never had the mystique/presence of The Undertaker.

I think of him as being more like HHH: A more divisive sort of star who has gotten his share of criticism and praise and has been a serviceable main eventer for years. At least in hockey some people try to use the argument that "the sport is a lot better now than it used to be." I don't think it justifies calling Crosby better than guys like Gretzky and Lemieux, but at least there's some substance to the notion of improvement in hockey. To me it's not like wrestling now is better than it was in the 80s or 90s. I do think match quality is better than it was during the Attitude Era, but Cena has never been the most talented wrestler anyway; I just don't see any argument that he's the GOAT. I'm sure that's not a popular notion among internet smarks especially.

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[Fro]

i'd think top 10ish all time

 

[Cor]

Rock, Austin, and Taker are all better. Cena could rank anywhere from 4-10 based on personal preferences.

He’s the greatest of his generation though.

 

[GlitchMarner]

Rock, Austin, and Taker are all better. Cena could rank anywhere from 4-10 based on personal preferences.

He’s the greatest of his generation though.

What about Hogan?

FTR: I'm not a big Hogan fan at all, but the guy over AF in his day.

 

[Cor]

What about Hogan?

FTR: I'm not a big Hogan fan at all, but the guy over AF in his day.

Hogan falls into the 4-10 range as well.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Think longevity has to be considered, here. Austin and Rock are undoubtedly the two biggest stars ever, but their runs also lasted about 5 years. That'd be like Cena stepping away in 2009.

He definitely ranks under those two, and Hogan as well. I think the real debate here comes with Undertaker. Both have a longevity that goes unmatched by nearly anybody, but I think Cena peaked higher as a draw.

Jericho is another guy that is pretty interesting in this conversation. He's never been the top guy, but he's always been able to reinvent himself over the last 25 years and stay relevant. If you track him every three years or so, his character almost completely changes through every period.

Side note, while Hogan was undoubtedly a draw, the guy was a horrible performer and a piece of shit human being. If his era were in 2018 he'd be even more hated than Roman, who can at least put together good matches and isn't a real life asshole.

 

[GlitchMarner]

Think longevity has to be considered, here. Austin and Rock are undoubtedly the two biggest stars ever, but their runs also lasted about 5 years. That'd be like Cena stepping away in 2009.

He definitely ranks under those two, and Hogan as well. I think the real debate here comes with Undertaker. Both have a longevity that goes unmatched by nearly anybody, but I think Cena peaked higher as a draw.

Jericho is another guy that is pretty interesting in this conversation. He's never been the top guy, but he's always been able to reinvent himself over the last 25 years and stay relevant. If you track him every three years or so, his character almost completely changes through every period.

Side note, while Hogan was undoubtedly a draw, the guy was a horrible performer and a piece of **** human being. If his era were in 2018 he'd be even more hated than Roman, who can at least put together good matches and isn't a real life *******.

Hogan basically took advantage of having the look and charisma of a superstar and portraying a gimmick that was simple but that wrestling fans of the time couldn't help but get behind in a time when people (well, mainstream fans anyway) didn't have nearly as much knowledge of things that went on behind the scenes.

He would have gotten all the shit Cena used to get from fans (if not even more) if he was around and being pushed the way he was in the 80s now.

 

[Kimi]

Assuming we're talking from the Hogan era onward (as it was a very different world before then).


Cena is the biggest star of his era, but a smaller star than the biggest stars of past eras. He's still top five at worst. Hogan, Austin, and Rock all clearly above him. You can make an argument for Undertaker over Cena, but I'd go with Cena.


The next tier you have guys like Bret, Michaels, Savage, and maybe half a tier below that you get a Jericho and HHH tier.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Cena ranks way up there just for the money that he's drawn for the company. I read somewhere that he's top 3 all time for that.

Bret drew a surprising amount of money because he bumped international business.

Surprisingly the WWE struggled drawing wise with HHH and Shawn Michaels.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Splitting hairs here, but I'd take Jericho over Triple H any day. Better wrestler. Better promo. And Triple H is almost the same exact character he's been since the late 90s.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

At the very tip top.

John Cena’s peak and longevity combined puts him right at the top. He’s a draw in the way only Hogan, Rock, and Austin were before but he did it for longer than Rock and Austin combined did.

Is he for us? Mostly no, but the product isn’t aimed at us.

I think it very easily could be argued he’s the biggest star of all time.

 

[Paris in Flames]

Somewhere comfortably in the top 10...possibly in the top 5.

He's far from perfect and while he's on his semi retirement tour of goodwill where he happily puts over guys like Bray Wyatt...it doesn't make me forget that he likely hurt the development of potential stars but eh. At the end of the day developing stars and making the IWC happy wasn't really his job.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

Worth adding that for all the "You can't wrestle" shit he went through, Cena almost never has a bad match (Or even just an OK match) unless it's with a truly shitty worker.

He may not do a lot of moves but he knows how to read a crowd.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

From Hogan on, Cena is #4 after the big three imo.

 

[BonMorrison]

I'd quite comfortably put him at #4.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I'd have Stone Cold, Rock and Taker as the top 3 at least in terms of all-around impact, talent and longevity. Toss-up between Cena, Hogan and HBK to round out the top 5.

 

[GarbageGoal]

Within WWF/E only

1. Hogan
2. Austin
3. Rock
4.Bruno
5. Cena

 

[Sheppy]

1. Steve Austin
2. Hulk Hogan
3. The Rock
4. HBK
5. Cena/Taker/Flair

 

[93gilmour93]

Cena is hands down the biggest star of of his generation. Definitely top 10 but unsure where to rank him. I have Hogan,Flair and Austin above him for what they did for professional wrestling in their time. When it comes to pure talent as an in ring performer HBK was the best. If it's by popularity and merchandise sales Cena is top 5

 

[Pinkfloyd]

He's not even top 10 for me.

 

[93gilmour93]

He's not even top 10 for me.

When it comes to actually wrestling he's not even in the top 50

 

[Falco Lombardi]

He's not even top 10 for me.

What is your criteria?

 

[Pinkfloyd]

What is your criteria?

Quality of work more than anything and impact on the business. They may have made a lot of money off of Cena but he wasn't some game-changing performer.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

1. Steve Austin
2. Hulk Hogan
3. The Rock
4. HBK
5. Cena/Taker/Flair

I can't put HBK up there because of his total body of work, not just his I found god aftermath.

He was a poor draw and he pretty much walked away from the World Title more then once for selfish reasons.

 

[Cor]

My personal top 5:

1. The Rock
2. Steve Austin
3. Undertaker
4. John Cena
5. Ric Flair

I'm tempted to make Taker #1, because it's pretty incredible how long and well that gimmick lasted. Even now, even if some people of HF hate it, people still love when the gong hits, and Taker makes his way to the ring.

Rock is the biggest star to ever come from the WWE, Austin is self-explanatory, so I dunno.