10 Reasons Why John Cena’s WWE Legacy Is Disastrous

3. It's A Laugh

John Cena Raw
WWE.com

Cena's refusal to take anything seriously contributed much to the mentality that nothing of real consequence occurs in the fiction of WWE.

When Cena lost to The Rock at WrestleMania XXVIII, eerie music soundtracked his next appearance on RAW. This was a shaken Cena lacking in confidence. He then defeated, cleanly, Brock Lesnar at Extreme Rules and had a whale of a time whaling on John Laurinaitis before headlining several pay-per-view events. This was his annus horribilis. It was typical of the Cena character, who never seemed fazed by defeat. His greatness was as assured as his next "Championship Opportunity". Was this a creative edict, directed at the kids, to soften the blow of their hero losing? Or did Cena simply clown around for the fun of it?

When he defeated Bray Wyatt a couple of years later, at WrestleMania XXX, the rematch culture demanded they meet again. Ahead of what used to be a violent attraction, a Steel Cage match, Cena gallivanted on RAW as if everything was a big laugh - a once-special and mythical bout included. He loved mocking Wyatt up in drag on the Titantron. So many other modern WWE Superstars "just love to have fun out there" now.

Was this strange and stupid mentality in place before John Cena was?

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!