https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEYcnqiRcVM Despite Hulk Hogan and John Cena sharing the same amount of syllables and rainbow-colored anything, their respective debuts and pushes were quite different. In 1979, Hogan victoriously debuted for the then WWF against unknown Harry Valdez...a wrestler almost as hard to locate as Sasquatch. Hogan was slowly built thereafter, floating non-exclusively between promotions like New Japan Pro Wrestling and the American Wrestling Association. When Vince McMahon purchased the WWF from his father to untie the territories, he handpicked Hogan as the companys keystone. Hogan looked perfect and was full of catchphrases endorsing three wholesome tenets of train hard, say your prayers, and eat your vitamins! Hogan was built against unstoppable monsters and ultimately claimed WWF gold from the villainous Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden in January 84. However, John Cena didnt have it so easy. Cena, unlike Hogan, was not invincible at first. Vince learned that a hero needed to be flawed, that everything couldnt come too easy or else the superhero gimmick wouldnt run wild, brother! John Cena made his formal TV debut in 2002 against a much more reputable Kurt Angle. But unlike Hogan, Super Cena lost his TV debut and floundered during Vinces effort to establish a new brand of superstars during the Ruthless Aggression movement. Yet Cenas colorful charisma was chock-full of one-liners and just as entertaining, especially during his fan-favorite Doctor of Thuganomics run. It was Cenas popularity, not necessarily his wins, which catapulted him up the ranks to claim his first WWE title at Wrestlemania 21. While Hogan held his first world title for an incredible 1,474 days, Cena only held his for less than a year. Hogan steamrolled competition, often burying developing superstars along the way, whereas Cena earned his stripes over the course of several years: he juggled various titles, fluctuating between the main event and mid-card. Cena was forced to endure ridicule from avid ECW fans in his feud with Rob Van Dam and being pinned by Kevin Federlineyes, remember Britneys boorish boo? Neither did I. But everyone did remember Cenas tireless workrate.
