11 Popular WWE Stars John Cena Has Tried To 'Steal' Heat From
2. Zack Ryder
The effort to tie John Cena to a super-popular wrestler was in full effect in 2011 as Zack Ryder gained steam among WWEs smart fanbase. The Ryder Revolution was going strong as the year progressed, and Ryder slowly got more and more face time on Raw. And often times it was Cena who would appear in backstage vignettes with Long Island Iced Z as Zack would interact with Cena, including teaching him how to fist pump. Zack developed into Cenas friend in storylines, as John lobbied for Ryder to get a United States Championship match, even surrendering his world title opportunity (which he earned by beating Ryder) to give Zack another shot. Cena befriending and then bailing out a ridiculously popular underdog was a surefire way to get fans to cheer him, right? Well, maybe not. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOg7P3QM3nI Of course, being John Cenas friend didnt turn out so well for Ryder, as he lost his girl Eve to Cena and got beat up repeatedly by Johns adversary Kane. But hey, he shared camera time and taught Cena how to fist pump!
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
