Views from the Hawke’s Nest: John Cena – Superstar Collection

Armageddon
December 14, 2008

John Cena(c) vs. Chris Jericho [World Heavyweight Championship]

Chris Jericho’s two (yes, two!) world title reigns in the autumn of 2008 combine to form the definition of a transitional reign. They did not want the belt on CM Punk, and they knew Cena was coming back. Insert Jericho. Thus, the idea of Jericho getting an immediate rematch after dropping the belt at Survivor Series just seemed very uninspired and very WWE. It was a bit of a pleasant surprise at least that this match ended up being as fun it wound up being.

Jericho took most of the match and loosely targeted Cena’s injured neck. Cena did not look all that comfortable during his comeback, and he seemed to be working with a lot less personality and natural movement. (My unfounded speculation would be that Cena was a little off coming back from the neck surgery, but I remember no information from that period that would back that up.)  It was odd for sure. I do not remember a lot of matches from 2006 onwards where that was the case. Regardless, they did some fun reversals and sequences down the stretch to ensure that this one turned out quite fun. This came off like a fun television match which is fine for the spot it was in. (***1/2)

 

Survivor Series
November 22, 2009

John Cena(c) vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H [WWE Championship]

This match infamously had one of the worst builds in WWE Championship history, as the focus was all on Hornswoggle for unknown reasons. They attempted to course-correct right from the start as the match kicked (pun not intended) off with a superkick from Shawn to HHH. While that set the (much-needed) serious tone for the match, it also established that the whole match would be contested with the “two men in, one man out” match structured that has plagued way too many triple threat matches over the years.

Unlike a lot of those matches though, I did not find this match to be lazy. They worked hard, and they tried to make the structure work in their favor. It did not work though, as you were constantly wondering why one participant was seemingly taking a nap for minutes on end. The structure also caused a lot of the urgency to be sapped from the match, as you knew nothing was coming to an end until all three got somewhat involved at the same time. If they managed to produce some work of true substance during this time, it would be one thing. Instead, it just felt like they were stalling until the finish. This was watchable but no good. (**1/4)

 

Raw
December 14, 2009

John Cena vs. Randy Orton

The winner of this match would be given the Slammy for Superstar of the Year. That sounds unimportant on paper, and these two wrestled the match as such. There was no intensity or sense of urgency at all. It felt like two guys just going through the motions. Nothing was screwed up or looked bad. It was soulless though and an insult to audiences for its lack of ambition.

Coming off their ridiculously lengthy feud, there was nothing left to say in the ring between these two, and it absolutely showed. I am not sure why it was included in this set, and no one should watch it. (1/2*)

 

Extreme Rules
May 1, 2011

The Miz(c) vs. John Cena vs. John Morrison [Cage Match for the WWE Championship]

This was a very weird match by WWE standards. It was very heavy on movez (Morrison did the C4 on Cena, which was quite the sight) and stuff happening, and it came off as unpredictable as a result. That makes for a nice change of pace given that so many WWE matches feel like they have formed in a lab and designed for mass consumption. That does not necessarily mean it was good though (and it wasn’t), but it did mean it was very watchable. The highlight of the match was clearly when Morrison and Cena accidentally gave Miz a doubleteam brainbuster off the top of the cage because Miz forgot to full rotate for the superplex. Late in the match, Morrison looked like he was on the verge of winning, but R-Truth interfered. Cena then won a few minutes after that when he gave Miz a super AA. This was fun, I guess? Sure, let’s call it fun (I guess). (***)

 

Watch John Cena matches for free!

John Cena vs. Kurt Angle

John Cena vs. CM Punk

John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio

John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Kurt Angle [Great match.]

John Cena vs. Chris Jericho

John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton vs. The Big Show

John Cena & Randy Orton vs. THE ENTIRE RAW ROSTER*

John Cena & Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker & Batista [Lots of fun.]

John Cena, Batista, & Rey Mysterio vs. Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, & The Big Show

John Cena & The Undertaker vs. D-X vs. Jerishow

John Cena, The Undertaker, & D-X vs. CM Punk & Legacy

John Cena & Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk & The Ryback

John Cena vs. #AxelMania

John Cena vs. Carlito

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

When I think of how many good-to-great matches John Cena has had (just on television alone) over the the course of the last decade, it is a bit disheartening to see WWE release a single-disc DVD where most of the matches are not that memorable (for positive reasons). It is still John Cena though, and he is still one of the most fun wrestlers to be a WWE main-eventer. That helps a little, but this should have been better.