10 Reasons Why It Took John Cena 16 Years To Get Good At Wrestling

9. Early On, He Didn't Have That "Ring General" Heel In A Main Event Feud

Let's all imagine what would've happened to John Cena's learning curve as a main event level wrestler if say, Steve Austin were healthy enough to have dropped Cena with a stunner on the Raw that followed Wrestlemania XXI. Austin was a shell of his former self in 2005, but him instead of Kurt Angle would've likely been a great choice to increase Cena's abilities insofar as being a top guy. Instead of working with a talent like Steve Austin, Cena worked with Chris Jericho and the aforementioned Angle, two wrestlers who were great insofar as teaching an advanced level of hold-for-hold grappling, but as far as learning the finest art of working 30 minutes and keeping people entertained, a moment was lost. As good as Austin was as a technician, he was even better as someone who got how to weave in some brawling at points as a way to keep things fresh, but also to turn the heat up on the crowd's response. The difference in Cena if he had the interactions he had with Triple H in 2006 after working with a performer like Austin in 2005 would likely have been extremely noticeable. Instead, at a key juncture in his career, Cena was presented with the difficult challenge of learning things he did not know instead of accentuating skills he could develop more.