This comes on the heels of the WWE doing some market research about Summerslam asking who people would like to see face Brock Lesnar in the main event for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Lesnar and Cena had a fantastic match right after Brock made his initial return from the UFC. It was a match that Cena won coming off a loss to the Rock at Wrestlemania the month prior.
It was perhaps the best match Cena has had in the last five years with the lone exception being his match with CM Punk at Money in the Bank in I believe it was 2011? The one where Punk wins takes the title and drives home and puts it in his fridge. Two very different styles of matches as the Lesnar vs. Cena match was a war and brawl.
What also might be alarming especially seeing as this could be a very short title run if Brock is set to win the title at Summerslam. Lesnar is booked the following month so many have speculated he will win the title and drop it on the next PPV. Not that this is what is even rumored to happen at this stage but just for a moment let’s say both of those matches are with Cena.
If this plays out I believe that makes John Cena a 16-time World Champion tied with the legendary Ric Flair. Am I the only one that the thought of John Cena some day surpassing Ric Flair’s historic record of title reigns makes me ill?
It is not like John Cena on surface is not a better human being than Flair in many respects. It is no secret the many things not so great that Ric Flair done over the years. In fact at this time you feel a little sorry for Flair to be honest. The idea that John Cena the corporate face of WWE would beat the record of the legendary Ric Flair just seems so wrong to any long-time wrestling fan.
We all probably should respect Cena but for whatever reason we don’t. I think there are a lot of reasons why we don’t. It begins with the loss of "Kayfabe" in our world and thus it is not hidden that Cena is the company’s choice to be its face. Hulk Hogan while he clearly was favored by WWE it was through storylines and the in-character President of the World Wrestling Federation Jack Tunney. It was not nearly as obvious.
The fact that he fails to admit or accept that he is not over with a large and growing portion of the WWE Audience is annoying to say the least. It is a fact that under his era of wrestling the audience has taken a massive free fall in terms of ratings. Yes all shows do not get the ratings they once did but Cena was the face of generation after the Attitude Era and the Business has in some ways suffered as a result.
It is kind of like Barry Bonds or Mark McGuire breaking the home run record. It just feels wrong in some way and not natural. This isn’t making some accusation about what Cena may use or not use to look the way he does. It is not a comment on his amazing Superman like recovery power either. We will leave those types of questions for you to decide.
It is more that putting John Cena next to a legend although on paper he has the resume he just doesn’t feel like he belongs in their class or company. I have heard many of these legends try and put John Cena over and I am still not buying it. John works hard I get this but I question the results he gets based on that work. I also question how many other guys he has damaged that could have easily passed him by on the way to taking his top spot. I could have lived with Triple H beating Ric Flair’s record of title wins because I know how much Paul Lévesque the man truly respects Ric Flair. I know how much that would mean to him to surpass that standard. I look at it in a way of how much respect and love Emmitt Smith had for a Walter Payton when beating is all-time rushing record.
John Cena for me comes off as plastic and corporate and I really don’t believe he cares about anything other than himself and doing what is best for him and in addition his employer the WWE. Maybe it has been jammed down my throat so much all of John Cena’s good deeds and the fact he grew up a wrestling fan it all rings fairly hollow at this point.
I just don’t believe that John Cena deserves to beat a record that is held by Ric Flair. The sad reality is that sooner or later it is likely to happen with Cena not looking like he plans on going anywhere any time soon.
So not just because it is the wrong thing to do right now for the WWE, but for the sake of history I really hope that we don’t see John Cena at the top of a ladder holding two title belts. He is not the legend that Ric Flair is and never will be.
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