rather have seen him in crappy
matches with Kane and semi-boring
iron man matches with Triple H, or
would you have rather seen him in IC
title matches with Edge or Shelton
Benjamin? I vote for secondary
matches. Because they lend more to
his style.
John Cena’s style is custom built for the
WWE main event scene because he
doesn’t have to downgrade his style for
anyone. He’s a brawler and has an
established formula that can be
followed by anyone regardless of their
level of talent. Chris Benoit, who was a
technical marvel, had a style that
people had to adapt to, and not every
wrestler, including those in the main
event, are capable of doing that. In
Cena’s case, this is why bad wrestlers
have good matches with him, because
they simply have to do John Cena’s
thing using their moves.
The term used in the industry is ‘ring
general’ but the label somehow seems
wrong. I wouldn’t, for example, say all-
time reigning ring general champion
Ric Flair was a technical marvel or
really excelled in any one aspect of
wrestling. What made him so
successful and his matches so fun to
watch was his formula, which was
incredibly simple and anyone could
follow it. This is why bookers were able
to put midcard guys like Ron Garvin,
Ricky Morton, Road Warrior Hawk, and
Barry Windham in matches with him
and still draw huge money. Flair’s
simple rhythm and flow in matches
meant a wrestler could do their thing
without changing anything up or
having to adapt to a form of wrestling
that was uncomfortable for them.
In a statement that I’m sure will earn
me more hate mail then anything I’ve
previously written, I’m going to say that
Cena is in essence a modern Ric Flair.
His style is simple, easy to follow, and
nobody has to dumb themselves down
to follow his lead. Thus, he has good,
7 The online magazine for pro wrestling fans worldwide
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