10 Years and Counting: John Cena's Decade of Criticism in WWE

John Cena was brought into WWE during a confrontation with Kurt Angle, and ever since he has been getting criticized for one thing or another.

Everyone who dislikes Cena has a reason. Whether it be personal or professional depends on the person, but there is always something.

No one can deny the impact Cena has had on the business. He is ultra-popular among women and children, and his merchandise sells more than any other superstar on a regular basis.

The things people have issues with are not so much Cena's success or personal life, but rather specific things about his gimmick, mic skills or in-ring ability.

When Cena first arrived in WWE he was wearing trunks with the team colors of whatever city he was in. He would do this to try and get on the crowd's good side, and it worked for a time.

After some time passed, he began to experience a similar effect to what The Rock felt when he was Rocky Maivia, smiling and laughing with the crowd.

Fans began to boo Cena just because he was the clean-cut good guy, and it pushed him to reinvent himself into something no one ever thought would get over.

The Thug Life gimmick was born, and Cena took out his frustrations by insulting the fans and his opponents in freestyle rap verses during his promos and entrances.

At first it seemed like this gimmick was the first nail in Cena's coffin. Many believed that the Eminem wannabe would never be popular with the gimmick, but Cena proved them all wrong.

He evolved and got better at his lyrics to the point where fans were cheering him for his humor and creativity during his promos and entrances.

Once WWE saw this, someone knew they had something special and they decided to turn Cena baby face.

His gimmick did not change much other than the fact that now he was a fan favorite, but there was still something missing which would elevate him to main event status in WWE.

He had the looks, the crowd support and the strength to do things no normal man would ever dream of. It seemed like a recipe for success, but WWE did not feel comfortable allowing this wrestler with a rapper gimmick to become a full fledged leader.

They slowly began to turn Cena from a rapper into a soldier. The release of Cena's first major film, The Marine, helped Cena to push the military based gimmick.

As he evolved further it started to feel like Cena was settling into a specific rhythm, or at least WWE was in a rhythm for how it was using him.

There was even a relatively predictable formula that followed all of Cena's major feuds. The challenging heel would make a promise, Cena would appear to be the underdog for about a minute and then he would pull out the win with some miraculous comeback.

As this pattern began to wear on fans, Cena started to receive less and less positive reactions. There was a time in Cena's career when he would get the most deafening pops I had ever heard, and now it is a toss up as to how any given city will respond to him.

If you were to ask most Cena-haters why exactly they hate him it would probably come down to one of four things.

• He sucks in the ring.
• His gimmick is stale.
• He never says anything new in promos.
• He doesn't deserve his spot.

I am sure there are more reasons, but these seem to be the main four, and one of these can't be fully blamed on Cena.

He has some control over his gimmick, but everyone knows that Vince McMahon has the final say on everything, and if he wants things one way they will never go the other.

Cena is a cash cow for WWE, and Vince would be stupid to risk changing that with a monster heel turn or severe change in gimmick, as much as the hardcore fans may want it to happen.

Cena's record of criticism from fans is well documented, and it will probably be that way until he hands up his jean shorts and calls it a day, but one thing is for sure, you will never see him walk away because of these criticisms.

If Cena has proven anything he has proven that he has skin thicker than most and can take whatever the snarky snarks want to dish out to him.