Mfonobong Inyang: Thank You, John Cena!

People fall in love with professional wrestling for many reasons. Some fans simply enjoy the idea of wrestlers throwing hands and the ensuing slugfest, while others view what wrestlers do as a form of entertainment. Some fans see wrestlers as real-life superheroes that mirror the eternal battle between good and bad. Then there are fans like us who are here for the storytelling.

Across the world of sports entertainment, regardless of whatever wrestling promotion you have been exposed to, you must have heard about a certain John Cena. John Cena is to my generation what Hulk Hogan was to the wrestling fans of the 1980s or what ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was to the Attitude Era. A superstar who successfully crossed over. Watching his last in-ring performance a few weekends ago was like witnessing the end of an era for someone whom I grew up admiring.

Hustle, Loyalty and Respect

From humble beginnings at the developmental programme as “The Prototype”, John Cena put in the work. There is something about consequential people; you can love them or even hate them, but you can hardly ignore them. Whether you are team “Let’s Go Cena” or team “Cena Sucks!”, it’s hard to be indifferent. From wrestling house shows and weekend matches to getting called up to the main roaster with his official WWE television debut against Kurt Angle, it has been a wild ride. Cena was asked by the Hall of Famer to state the one quality he possessed that made him think he could walk into the ring and face the best. His answer was emphatic and iconic: “ruthless aggression”. Signalling that he was willing to do anything and fight anyone to earn his spot in the big leagues. For those who know how gruelling and physically demanding that craft is, having 726 televised matches under his belt as a performer is remarkable. Thanks to Cena’s embodiment of these tenets, the words have taken on a life of themselves outside the squared circle.

The Champ Is Here!

As his stellar in-ring career has come to an end, Cena retires as a grand slam champion. He’s the never-seen seventeen-time World Champion, five-time United States Champion, four-time Tag Team Champion, two-time Royal Rumble Winner and one-time Intercontinental Champion. Beyond the titles he won or lost, what really made Cena the leader of the Cenation is his “Never Give Up” attitude. A lot of people can relate to a performer who gets back up every time he gets knocked down. Who could ever forget that one time when Cena tore his right pectoral major muscle from the bone while performing a hip toss, and the doctors ruled him out of action for at least a year, but his will to get back in the ring saw him make a full recovery after only a few months. He showed up for the Royal Rumble at Madison Square Garden and ended the match as the last man standing. That picture of Cena as a kid holding a mock championship belt, ever before he became an actual world champion, just goes to show that this thing is a mindset.

An Abnormal Attitude Adjustment

Typically, most wrestlers intermittently switch from baby face characters to heel characters and vice versa, not John Cena. For almost a quarter of a century, Cena played a babyface character. (The closest he came to being a proper heel was during his Doctor of Thuganomics run, where he would drop disses on his opps.)

Earlier this year, on his retirement tour, the unthinkable happened. Cena turned heel! It wasn’t just that nobody saw that coming, but also the way it played out increased the shock value. It’s one thing for Cena to turn heel, it’s another thing for him to turn on the babyface of the company and to do it in cahoots with one of his greatest rivals ever, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson was wild. It was indeed the heel turn seen around the world. Some of us could understand the kayfabe behind the creative direction, but convincing much younger kids that the Cena they had loved and adored was now a bad guy was almost impossible. Even when he was popping off on the crowds, kids like the one at the Belgium PLE were still chanting, “I love you Cena!”

It was a lot to take in during that run, which is why in the defence of the creative, they didn’t really get their ducks in a row because there was simply no frame of reference on how to book a heel Cena. The idea of Cena, who, throughout his career, had drawn more eyeballs to the product, now being the same person to ruin wrestling, was a hard sell. We wrestling fans could tell that this year’s Summerslam was a direct response to the fallout of Wrestlemania 42, which many considered an anticlimax. Credit to Cena, he did his best to remain as professional as he could, but I’m sure lessons have been learnt by those running Gorilla.

Their Time Is Now

For someone who was presented with great opportunities by those before him, it was only fitting that on Cena’s final show that he paid it forward by putting the spotlight on the next generation of superstars. Cena made the open challenge for the United States Champion a thing where younger talents could test their mettle under the lights; a tradition that Sami Zayn and Ilja Dragunov have continued. Earlier this year, when I shared my thoughts on Wrestlemania 42, I had to put in a word for the NXT talents who gave a good account of themselves at Stand & Deliver that same weekend. One of those upstarts clearly stole the show: I wasn’t even trying to glaze him when I mentioned in that piece that people should watch out for the ruler, the bringer of war, the destroyer and champion of NXT, Oba Femi. To quote the great Booker T: “This brother got no bread, no water, just meat!” The past weeks have been buzzing because most wrestling fans found out what some of us have been saying for a long time: This guy is a generational talent. Bro has some insane aura; his mic work has greatly improved, and going mano-a-mano with the QB1, Cody Rhodes, was no small feat. Shout to Sol Ruca, Jevon Evans, Leon Slater and Joe Hendry, who also showed up and showed out. They should know that the main roaster is calling; so if they want some, they should come get some!

G.O.A.T.

The term “greatest of all time” has been used these days in ways that the essence has been lost; it has almost been reduced to a colloquial usage instead of a functional and objective description of what or who a person is. Regardless of how you slice it: in-ring work, merch sales, crossover appeal outside wrestling, connection with fans, most recognizable or relatable entrance music, quality of rivals, work rate, ability to cut a promo, dedication to non-wrestling obligations such as Make-A-Wish, longevity, ability to carry the company on his back, the influence on other wrestlers’ careers in terms of putting them over or mentoring them, John Cena’s overall contribution to the product makes him a compelling candidate for being described as the GOAT. He’s definitely on pro wrestling’s Mount Rushmore and is a certified first-ballot Hall of Famer.

We Can Finally See You!

For years, John Cena’s “You Can’t See Me” hand gesture has come to symbolise many things, including the fact that his rivals cannot see him coming. However, for the Cenation, it also represents the invincibility of their favourite character. We will miss the five moves of doom, which include the famous Five Knuckle Shuffle, the different t-shirts, the jorts, the sneakers, the patriotic salutes to the men and women in uniform, the signature run down the ramp with Stu and many other memories that came with Big Match John. I totally understand why most fans are crashing out owing to how the match with Gunther ended; they wanted to hold on to that image of Cena being the guy who never gave up. Gunther seemed to rob them of that closure. Despite the real-life heat he got, the Ring General even dared to show up on RAW like the Grinch who stole Christmas to rub it in some more by taking a victory lap and taunting the crowd. It further proves how invested the fans are in Cena and their eagerness to protect his legacy.

Thankfully, Cena will be involved in different capacities, and we will still get to see him, even if it may be in a suit. For all you have done for our childhoods and wrestling, thank you, Cena!