10 Wrestlers John Cena Would Not Put Over

7. Alberto Del Rio

John Cena Bray Wyatt Extreme Rules 2014 STFU
WWE.com

Alberto Del Rio was pushed as an entitled rich pr*ck with a destiny of becoming World Heavyweight Champion. For a while, he carried himself as such; a good-looking guy who also looked the part, it was easy to buy the premise of Alberto Del Rio, International Playboy - until Cena, on the August 22, 2011 RAW, dressed-down the newly-minted WWE Champion as a pretender who wore "flea market scarves" and drove "rented luxury cars". This was a shallow cut, but Del Rio essentially bled out as a result of it; instantly, he was positioned as just another character on a TV show. Stripped of his opulent aura, Del Rio was now ordinary. In short order, the dreaded "boring" accusations swelled among the fandom.

Is it nitpicking? If this were an isolated incident, then perhaps - but throughout his full-time career, Cena ritually reduced his opponents to stumps with this sort of insult. If a wrestler beats an opponent who isn't worth a sh*t, who cares? Word life. This is basic f*cking wrestling promotion.

It's just as well Cena is barely around in 2018. He'd tell that miserable goth Aleister Black to blast "Can't Stop The Feeling", or inform Andrade Alma that he is "nothing but the next failed attempt to replace Rey Mysterio".

He's even worse in this capacity offscreen...

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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!