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

[Dr Pepper]

Did you see The Rock’s finishers? lol

There's plenty of finishers that don't really pass the sniff test upon closer inspection. The People's Elbow is definitely one of them, as is the Rock Bottom.

Look at the Choke Slam. Much like the Rock Bottom, it is 90% based on the victim doing most of the work or jumping into it. Kind of takes away from the effect once you keep seeing it every time. Double choke slams are even worse.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

I can't remember who said it, but he basically said that the Choke Slam is the go to finishing move for big sh%%%% wrestlers.

I also remember when Paul Heyman was on the Stone Cold Pod cast and he talked about some of the older finishers like the Sleeper and how to sell them as legitimate moves.

I mean Mick Foley had a sock in the mouth finisher and it was terrible but JR made it a million dollar finishing move.

I remember in Stampede Wrestling the Great Gamma had a sleeper as his move. And they sold the hell out of it, but the coolest part of the sell job. The winner had to revive the loser at the end of the match or else serious brain damage would occur to the unconscious victim.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I can't remember who said it, but he basically said that the Choke Slam is the go to finishing move for big sh%%%% wrestlers.

I also remember when Paul Heyman was on the Stone Cold Pod cast and he talked about some of the older finishers like the Sleeper and how to sell them as legitimate moves.

I mean Mick Foley had a sock in the mouth finisher and it was terrible but JR made it a million dollar finishing move.

I remember in Stampede Wrestling the Great Gamma had a sleeper as his move. And they sold the hell out of it, but the coolest part of the sell job. The winner had to revive the loser at the end of the match or else serious brain damage would occur to the unconscious victim.

Who was it who used the Heart Punch as their finisher? Basically just a punch to the chest, which was apparently enough to score the win.

Ox Baker. Whattamanoeuvre!

Here's some pretty bad ones as well: The 25 Worst Finishing Moves in Pro Wrestling History

Knew Santino's Cobra Strike would make an appearance.

If this list didn't predate Finn Balor's WWE career, I bet the Coup de Grace would make the cut. Just seems so basic.

 

[Disclose]

if anything Coup de Grace , to me looks like the one move that hurts the most.
its a guy stomping you from the top rope. looks brutal i dont know how one makes that safe.

 

[Dr Pepper]

if anything Coup de Grace , to me looks like the one move that hurts the most.
its a guy stomping you from the top rope. looks brutal i dont know how one makes that safe.

Oh I can see how it would be very painful, just the act itself seems basic. Like there's not much to it, y'know? Most top rope moves involve flips, or flying elbows, whereas Finn just looks like he's jumping down from a fence.

Like, comparing the Coup de Gras with a Shooting-Star Press, or PAC's Red Arrow? Not even in the same ballpark.

 

[Pinkfloyd]

I’d argue that’s because nobody else was in his league... Cenas biggest rival was Randy Orton throughout his prime

Cena's had plenty of people in his league to work with and you've never seen anything innovative out of him from ring perspective nor a character perspective. And the only person Cena has to blame for others not being in his league is Cena himself since undercut numerous people instead of elevating them until he started to see brighter lights elsewhere.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Cena's had plenty of people in his league to work with and you've never seen anything innovative out of him from ring perspective nor a character perspective. And the only person Cena has to blame for others not being in his league is Cena himself since undercut numerous people instead of elevating them until he started to see brighter lights elsewhere.

Yup. I still remember Jericho on Edge's podcast (or was it Edge on Jericho's podcast?), going on about how Cena single-handedly buried Wade Barrett and the whole Nexus movement.

Talked about how it made no sense for Cena to "hulk up" and overcome the odds when it'd be better in the long run to put them over and go forward. Cena wouldn't listen and figured everyone wanted to see him win, all the time.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Who was it who used the Heart Punch as their finisher? Basically just a punch to the chest, which was apparently enough to score the win.

Ox Baker. Whattamanoeuvre!

Here's some pretty bad ones as well: The 25 Worst Finishing Moves in Pro Wrestling History

Knew Santino's Cobra Strike would make an appearance.

If this list didn't predate Finn Balor's WWE career, I bet the Coup de Grace would make the cut. Just seems so basic.

I remember that one of his opponents basically died in the ring from a ruptured appendix. But they used his death to sell Ox Baker as the man who killed a man with a Heart Punch.

I saw an interview with Santino where the Cobra was a originally a house show joke, but after using it on John Chena at a house show Cena told him to use it as his finisher.

 

[Dr Pepper]

I remember that one of his opponents basically died in the ring from a ruptured appendix. But they used his death to sell Ox Baker as the man who killed a man with a Heart Punch.

I saw an interview with Santino where the Cobra was a originally a house show joke, but after using it on John Chena at a house show Cena told him to use it as his finisher.

I still wish he had scored that Rumble win over ADR after hitting the surprise Cobra on him. Who would've thought, Santino Marella being the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

I still wish he had scored that Rumble win over ADR after hitting the surprise Cobra on him. Who would've thought, Santino Marella being the last man eliminated in the Royal Rumble.

Actually he addressed that idea in his interview and said that he was really happy that he was the guy that never got those wins. He had fans and even Mick Foley tell him that his children jumped up and down when they thought he was going to win and were sad that he lost. He said that made him more interesting to the fans.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Actually he addressed that idea in his interview and said that he was really happy that he was the guy that never got those wins. He had fans and even Mick Foley tell him that his children jumped up and down when they thought he was going to win and were sad that he lost. He said that made him more interesting to the fans.

Yeah, I knew it was too much to expect, all that talent on the roster and they put over the class clown in Santino. Never gonna happen.

I always liked watching Santino's work in WWE - aside from his work as "Santina", coulda done without that, lol.

But teaming up with Beth Phoenix, his "Honk-a-Meter" tracking the progress of his title reign, his feud with Sheamus, even his attempt to copy Melina's ring entrance. Just so much more entertaining than, well, Drake Maverick pissing on a robe.

 

[CaptainCrunch67]

Yeah, I knew it was too much to expect, all that talent on the roster and they put over the class clown in Santino. Never gonna happen.

I always liked watching Santino's work in WWE - aside from his work as "Santina", coulda done without that, lol.

But teaming up with Beth Phoenix, his "Honk-a-Meter" tracking the progress of his title reign, his feud with Sheamus, even his attempt to copy Melina's ring entrance. Just so much more entertaining than, well, Drake Maverick pissing on a robe.

He originally saw himself as a tough guy brawling wrestler, a role that he played in I think it was OVW, he was part of the famous Jim Cornette slap that got Cornette fired.

The best moment for me was when Subway was sponsoring Raw, and they always had a open sandwich on the broad cast table, and Santino stole the sandwich that cracked up the broadcast crew at the time.

I didn't know that his neck had been badly compromised from his amateur wrestling day and he worked in tremendous pain.

I'm glad that his BattleArts school is doing well, but its still hard to listen to him on Aftermath without the accent.

I just want to see him threatening to punch out Jean Chena one more time.

 

[Dr Pepper]

You're right about the Jim Cornette angle......I think the story goes that Santino was supposed to jump out of the way of the Boogeyman and act afraid of him, but he didn't. Guess Cornette didn't take too kindly to that.

Also, much like the Iron Sheik, Santino had a talent for intentionally mispronouncing names.

John Cena became John Cheyna.
Sheamus became Shamoose
The Honky Tonk Man became The Honky Tonky Man
Melina became Melanie
Freddie Prinze Jr. became Freddie the Prince Joon.

I'm sure I'm missing a bunch too, he did it with everyone.....and then Jericho returned the favour

 

[tony d]

Top 10 all time IMO. Def the top guy to debut since 2000.

 

[Mulletman]

I'm having a hard time finding anything positive to say about Cena. Cena is the reason I stopped following wrestling on a regular basis. Cena is the face of the downfall of professional wrestling. He was just in the right place at the right time and got a mega push when there really wasn't anyone else to push.

And with WWE starting to care more about their public image and Cena being the ultimate Company yes man, they forced him into the top guy role. If you want to say anything nice about the guy, you could say that he has a good build, has been durable and has been reliable for the Company. But of course you're going to be durable when you wrestle a safe style like Cena.

And when it comes to the character there's not much there to excite us. Cena never had the charisma like many of the other top guys before him. Cena wasn't good as a heel and he was way worse as a face.

Cena was basically mooching off of what others had built before him. He was a smaller and more boring and uncharismatic copy of Hulk Hogan.

When you think about memorable moments and matches with Cena there's not much there. My "best" moments of him are the I quit match against JBL, the parking lot brawl against Eddie Guerrero and the TLC match against Edge. And I absolutely hated the ending to the JBL match and how super weak they made him look. But when you put those moments in an all time list of great WWE moments and matches, they don't stack up well.

So basically Cena isn't high on my list when it comes to ranking top guys. Cena isn't high on my list when you rank actual wrestling and wrestling matches. Cena isn't high on my list when you rank wrestling characters in general. Cena isn't high on my list as a guy that could cut a great promo. And Cena isn't high on my list when it comes to guys who actually put their body on the line to entertain us.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

Hogan falls into the 4-10 range as well.

No, just no.

Hogan is on a level all by himself.
As big as Austin was, and he's the only person who's close, he was nowhere near Hogans 84/88 run no matter what Vince or anybody else wants to say or make others believe.

Hogan made pro wrestling a legitimate form of entertainment to the masses.

Austin made wrestling cool again.

The Rock made wrestling a stepping stone for talent to transition into other forms of entertainment.

 

[Cubs2024WSChamps]

I'm having a hard time finding anything positive to say about Cena. Cena is the reason I stopped following wrestling on a regular basis. Cena is the face of the downfall of professional wrestling. He was just in the right place at the right time and got a mega push when there really wasn't anyone else to push.

And with WWE starting to care more about their public image and Cena being the ultimate Company yes man, they forced him into the top guy role. If you want to say anything nice about the guy, you could say that he has a good build, has been durable and has been reliable for the Company. But of course you're going to be durable when you wrestle a safe style like Cena.

And when it comes to the character there's not much there to excite us. Cena never had the charisma like many of the other top guys before him. Cena wasn't good as a heel and he was way worse as a face.

Cena was basically mooching off of what others had built before him. He was a smaller and more boring and uncharismatic copy of Hulk Hogan.

When you think about memorable moments and matches with Cena there's not much there. My "best" moments of him are the I quit match against JBL, the parking lot brawl against Eddie Guerrero and the TLC match against Edge. And I absolutely hated the ending to the JBL match and how super weak they made him look. But when you put those moments in an all time list of great WWE moments and matches, they don't stack up well.

So basically Cena isn't high on my list when it comes to ranking top guys. Cena isn't high on my list when you rank actual wrestling and wrestling matches. Cena isn't high on my list when you rank wrestling characters in general. Cena isn't high on my list as a guy that could cut a great promo. And Cena isn't high on my list when it comes to guys who actually put their body on the line to entertain us.

What?

Cena has more charisma in his pinky then the entire WWE locker room.

Cena is one of, if not the best WWE style wrestler of all time.

Cena is still the best promo outside of the Rock atm.

Cena was pushed to the top because he;

Sells merch
Can talk
And can work (see Umaga match)
And can create a classic when paired with a better wrestler(see AJ trilogy)

Cena is up there

 

[Mulletman]

What?

Cena has more charisma in his pinky then the entire WWE locker room.

Cena is one of, if not the best WWE style wrestler of all time.

Cena is still the best promo outside of the Rock atm.

Cena was pushed to the top because he;

Sells merch
Can talk
And can work (see Umaga match)
And can create a classic when paired with a better wrestler(see AJ trilogy)

Cena is up there

Cena might look better if you compare him to todays roster full of uncharismatic vanilla midgets. But put him up against the best from the late 90s and early 2000s and he doesn't even come close.

Like I said Cena just came along at the right time. Stone Cold quit, Rock left for Hollywood and Brock left for Football. Triple H dominated on Raw. Angle was banged up and living on pain killers and would leave a few years later as well. Eddie died and Benoit killed himself. Booker T was seen as a WCW guy and he was probably the wrong shade to make it in the WWE as well. Steiner, even if he was past his prime at the time, was buried by Triple H after Stephanie got turned on by the mere presence of Steiner on Smackdown. And Goldberg was never allowed to shine and left after a year.

And the newer top guys either sucked or were just old midcarders that had already been jobbed out to the previous stars in the attitude era. Edge would've been a good choise but the company never believed in him. In the first feud with Cena, Cena totally destroyed Edge and Edge was never seen to be on the same level again. And outshining guys like Randy Orton and Batista is not really anything to brag about...

 

[BGDDYKWL]

Top 10 no question, but part of the (admittedly somewhat arbitrary) criteria for me personally is how much of a pop do you get when you've been gone a while and your music unexpectedly hits. Definitely a handful of guys I'd put above Cena in that regard .

 

[Morozov]

This really depends on your own criteria, there isn't a clear way to measure who the best fake wrestler is when there's so many different factors and some value certain aspects over others.

Of course there's talk when watching that he might be the greatest ever because that's what they wanted to build and that's what they tell everyone he is

In my own measurement, I can think of 10 easily that I consider "better". Where he fits after that I don't know and it doesn't feel like it matters enough to determine if he is 15th or 25th.

But top 10 definitely not.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Who was it who used the Heart Punch as their finisher? Basically just a punch to the chest, which was apparently enough to score the win.

Ox Baker. Whattamanoeuvre!

Here's some pretty bad ones as well: The 25 Worst Finishing Moves in Pro Wrestling History

Knew Santino's Cobra Strike would make an appearance.

If this list didn't predate Finn Balor's WWE career, I bet the Coup de Grace would make the cut. Just seems so basic.

2 feet in the chest from 10 feet above seems basic? Okay.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Oh I can see how it would be very painful, just the act itself seems basic. Like there's not much to it, y'know? Most top rope moves involve flips, or flying elbows, whereas Finn just looks like he's jumping down from a fence.

Like, comparing the Coup de Gras with a Shooting-Star Press, or PAC's Red Arrow? Not even in the same ballpark.

Yep, the Coup de Gras looks way more painful and legit than those.

 

[Dr Pepper]

2 feet in the chest from 10 feet above seems basic? Okay.

Compared with PAC's Red Arrow?

Absolutely.

Let's review, shall we?



Finn gets up on the top rope, jumps up, and stomps on his opponent below. Painful, sure, and probably even effective. But in terms of move difficulty? Not really.

At least not compred to this.



See what I mean?

 

[Dr Pepper]

Moves like the Coup de Grace, or the Diving Headbutt that Benoit and D-Von used to do, they're just boring to me. Give me something with more athleticism.

 

[ManofSteel55]

Moves like the Coup de Grace, or the Diving Headbutt that Benoit and D-Von used to do, they're just boring to me. Give me something with more athleticism.

That's fine, some want more realism, some want more flips.

 

[WingsMJN2965]

In terms of Santino moments, this is still the best one for me.

"WHERE'S PUNK?!"

"Did you try the Pepsi machine?"

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Bret
Hbk
Austin
Hogan
Rock

 

[The Shadow]

What made Austin great was he had a perfect heel to go against in Vince

It was the perfect storm as they say