10 Most Effective Wrestling Babyfaces Of The 21st Century
3. John Cena
John Cena was handed a thankless task in the mid 2000s.
The sudden promotion of Jinder Mahal - from total loser of a glorified enhancement talent to WWE Heavyweight Title contender in the space of seven days - reinforced the belief that Vince McMahon is impervious to wrestling trends and ultimately reverts to type, every time. Cena (and honourable mention Batista) ushered in a hard reset at the apex of the Ruthless Aggression era. He was the 21st century equivalent to Hulk Hogan, a man whose stratospheric success has never lost its currency with McMahon.
His incongruous underdog act was infamously polarising; the vocal adult males loathed what was perceived as a transparent callback to the passé Hogan formula, but the new generation of WWE fans, younger and far less knowing, had a massively muscled, impossibly larger than life, clean-cut square-jawed hero to pin their hopes to. For them, the act was a sensation. It was as much of a hit in arenas as it was on the pockets of their parents; Cena's so-called five moves of doom comeback alienated many, but the incredible merchandise revenue he drew was an objective measure of his success.
Cena's inconsistent quality as a performer warrants an article all of its own, but subjectivity aside, he was so popular among kids that WWE felt they had to refund their parents on the few occasions he couldn't make a house show. He was that popular.