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

8. John Cena Didn't Pay His "Territorial" Dues

John Cena and Samoa Joe feuded against each other in independent promotion and then WWE feeder Ultimate Pro Wrestling (UPW) in 2000-2001. Somehow, Cena ended up getting signed by 2001 and seemingly having a rocket attached to him in WWE from the moment he was signed. Comparatively, Samoa Joe has largely wrestled in Ring of Honor and TNA/Impact for 13 years, and in many ways while equaling Cena's success, to die hard wrestling fans has exceeded Cena in regards to connecting as a performer in the ring because he "paid his dues." There's a worth to "paying dues" in wrestling that can't be understated. There's something important in hitting the road, putting in the miles and making very minimal money for a certain period of time that tests a performer in the fire of having to make decisions that feel more like life and death than yes or no. There's a level of emotional endurance that makes a performer's ability to connect more honest and pure because quite literally, when you're an uncontracted and/or uninsured independent/non-WWE wrestler, you're more heart and balls more than talent and presentation. By comparison to Samoa Joe (and those like him), Cena never really paid those dues, and it clearly affected both his in-ring performances as well as his ability to organically connect with the WWE Universe, too. A decade later now, Cena's finally put in the time and had the emotional and physical challenges to where the WWE Universe can see that he's not a corporate puppet, but moreso a truly hard-working guy.