John Cena: Extreme Makeover Addition

At his core, John Cena is an average wrestler. He's not great but he's not a complete stiff like Chris Masters either. He once had a gimmick and enough mic skills that covered his ring deficiencies. However, once he made the jump to Raw, Cena was placed on live television for the world to see week after week. On Raw, mistakes can't be edited out like they would be on Smackdown. In this new age of the smart mark, fan support can turn quickly and these fans can be very unforgiving.

What happened?

Like many that start off with a wave of popularity and then flame-out, Cena was overexposed. Cena put out a rap album. He was performing concerts on Raw. WWE tried everything at its disposal to make Cena the next crossover star. But in doing so, the WWE writing team turned Cena into a bland whitemeat babyface, the type fans love to destroy. Ask Shawn Michaels. Only Shawn Michaels was a great wrestler and at the core fans knew that. But when you're a John Cena and you can't improvise in the ring; when you wrestle the same basic match over and over; when you finish the match the same way every time, the new breed of wrestling fan picks up on this very quickly.

Much like Rocky Maivia before him, Cena must be stripped down and rebuilt.

I would have Dean Malenko, Finlay or maybe even Ric Flair take this guy under his wing. Teach him how to vary his offense. Let him learn a few new moves and put them in different spots during his matches. That might help the wrestling part.

But it is Cena's gimmick that needs the biggest overhaul. Hulk Hogan knew about five wrestling moves yet he was the biggest babyface of all time. The WWE creative team has made Cena into a quasi-Marine character and just like the movie Cena starred in. the character itself is a flop. In addition, they've taken away one of Cena's biggest strengths: his improvisational skills on the microphone.

I say bring back the hardcore Cena. The one that rapped. The anti-hero. The one that wasn't afraid to embarass his opponents on the mic. Get him out of whatever shirts he's trying to sell this week and back into the throwback basketball and football jerseys he used to wear. Bring back the chain with the masterlock on it. Bring back "word life". Trade the five knuckle shuffle for something a little more hardcore. Middle fingers and crotch chops usually work, just asks Michaels and Austin.

I hear many smart marks calling for the return of the Prototype which was Cena's gimmick in Ohio Valley Wrestling. I think that would be a mistake. It would mean Cena would have less mic time which is his greatest asset. It would make Cena robotic with blond spiked hair. And the traditionalists would reject it as an attempt to rip off the old school Sting.

Cena had something that worked, all the writing team needs to do is let Cena be himself and quit putting words in his mouth. Feuds with Randy Orton and Edge as of late have helped Cena regain some of his fan base. However, an upcoming Wrestlemania date with uber-popular Shawn Michaels could have fans turning on Cena again. If WWE wants Cena to be a star of the future on par with Rock, Austin and Hogan then it's time to let Cena go back to his rapping ways.