50 Ruthless Aggression Era Superstars Ranked From Worst To Best

3. John Cena

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Pros:

1. Great worker

2. Had lots of charisma

3. Did well as a heel, but was outstanding as a face

Cons:

1. He was very much in Brock Lesnar’s shadow until Lesnar left

2. His matches were underwhelming, especially considering SmackDown’s impressive roster at the time

3. Never fully embraced the look of a wrestler

Clearly someone in WWE’s management saw something in Cena, despite the fact that he was secondary to a certain Beast in almost every respect; because he was given quite a bit of prominence from the moment he debuted on SmackDown.

Immediately after his first match, he shook hands with many WWE veterans, including the Undertaker himself. From then, it was obvious that Cena would become a big star in the company.

After turning heads with a white rapper gimmick, Cena was at the right place at the right time to fill in for a departing Brock Lesnar in 2005. It was Cena who ended JBL’s historic 280-day reign as WWE champion, and ushered in a new age for Vince’s company.

Cena was very different from today's PG character. He had aggression, made fun of people, and in general behaved like an actual human being with negative emotions, instead of being the ever-smiling superhero with nigh an evil thought in sight.

WWE made the right choice in putting the belt on Cena in 2005; the company has been raking in money hand over fist ever since.

Final Rating: ****3/4

Contributor

Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.