John Cena: Latest Rumors, Media Buzz and House Show Notes for Week of March 17

Steel cages, offers from Hollywood and shots at his wrestling ability made up a busy week for John Cena.

A former WCW tag champ had little good to say about Cena, while Jim Ross wrote of his excitement about his upcoming WrestleMania match. WWE traveled to the Lone Star State, featuring Cena heavily, and the leader of the Cenation may leave the ring briefly to add to his filmography.

The following is a look at all those stories as well one writer picking apart Cena's exaggeration of how often he's gone to battle in a WWE ring.

Praise and Disparagement Aimed at Cena

Just like when Cena enters an arena, he receives both cheers and boos on the Internet. The latest critic of Cena's ring work is Scotty Riggs, who wrestled for ECW and WCW.

The Undisputed Wrestling Show (h/t WrestlingInc.com) recently did an interview with Riggs. He had the following comments about Randy Orton's and Cena's ring work:

"There have a pattern to their match. Every single match is almost the same, and it is sickening. The way I see it, there are five simple moves that they do every single match."

Riggs also said that Cena doesn't intertwine his signature moves in matches well. Too often, we can see his finisher coming.

Those critiques are nothing new for Cena. They are some of the common complaints among the portion of the audience that chants "Cena sucks!" during WWE events.

With as successful as Cena has been and for as much as WWE puts him in the spotlight, there's little incentive for him to change things now.

Despite his color-by-numbers approach to wrestling, he has produced a number of classic matches. He may well add another one to his collection when he and Bray Wyatt face off at WrestleMania.

Hall of Fame announcer Ross is among those most looking forward to that clash.

Ross wrote the following about Cena and Wyatt's upcoming bout on his blog:

"

A fresh match with an up and coming new star vs. the face of the company is an announcer's dream. Wyatt vs John Cena is a match that certainly has my interest I think it will kick ass. I know it will be physical because that what two, former, college football offensive linemen do.

"

Cena is sure to prove both Riggs and Ross right in that collision. Fans will likely see the same order of moves when he makes his inevitable comeback, but there's a great chance of Wyatt vs. Cena stealing the show.

It's a fresh match, as Ross mentions, and Wyatt has a chance to catapult himself up several rungs, which should mean him pouring every last bit of himself into it.

Wyatt's limited resume already has an instant classic on it—his battle with Daniel Bryan at Royal Rumble. Cena has been at this for much longer. The total number of times he's stepped into the ring has been a point of debate in the last few days, though.

Cena's Match History

On Monday's Raw, Cena talked about his extensive experience. He mentioned that he'd been in 3,500 matches throughout his 12-year career.

Don't go believing those inflated numbers, though.

Chris Harrington of WhatCulture.com writes that Cena has actually had more like 1,800 matches in his career.

That still averages out to about 150 matches a year. A lot of those aren't two-minute squashes, either. Cena has consistently been asked to be the headliner, which requires lengthier, more taxing performances.

The number he threw out on Raw was typical WWE exaggeration for the sake of a story.

Andre the Giant didn't go undefeated for 15 years, as the company tried to tell fans. The history of the World Heavyweight Championship and WWE Championship isn't anything like what WWE spun last year.

House Show Notes

WWE traveled to Texas this week, and Cena was at the top of the card, adding to his match total.

Before he confronted The Wyatt Family on Raw in San Antonio and worked the SmackDown tapings in Houston, he traveled to two smaller Texas cities.

On March 14 in Waco, Cena faced Orton in a cage match. Wyatt cracked him on the head with the cage door, leading to an Orton victory. 

PWInsider reports that "Cena looked like he was limping a little."

It's hard to tell in this situation when a limp is just part of the theatrics in the ring and when it's born from a legitimate injury. The fact that Cena worked the very next night points to either the former or it being nothing more than the usual wear and tear a WWE Superstar suffers each night.

Orton and Cena entered the cage once more on March 15 in Austin. "The Viper" won again, this time via a low blow, per PWInsider.

A Potential Movie Role for Cena

Cena may be soon joining the cast of a new film—and no, it's not The Marine 5.

Judd Apatow reportedly asked the former champ to be a part of his upcoming comedy, Trainwreck. As reported by Variety, Cena is in talks to join the cast.

Barkhad Abdi, Tilda Swinton, Jon Glaser from Parks and Recreation and Amy Schumer are also possible cast members. Schumer is known by many WWE fans for being Dolph Ziggler's ex-girlfriend.

Cena's previous movie experience includes Legendary, Fred: The Movie and 12 Rounds.

His fans will be excited about him working with the man behind Freaks and Geeks and The 40-Year-Old Virgin, while critics who agree with Riggs' assessment of his wrestling skills will be looking forward to Cena taking some time off from WWE to go work on the film.