WWE: 7 Ways John Cena Can Win Over His Critics

John Cena is arguably the most controversial man in pro wrestling—not controversial in the sense that he often gets himself in trouble but because there's an incredibly clear divide between his fans and his haters.

You can see or hear it any time you watch a WWE TV show or pay-per-view. Half the crowd cheers, "Let's go, Cena!" while the other half responds with chants of "Cena sucks!"

For the most part, Cena is over in a huge way with women and children (though it's not all females and little kids like some people think), and he's despised by the older males.

I often wonder how Cena can change that, how he can get the respect of everyone in the WWE Universe rather than just those who love his child-friendly gimmick.

Well, today I'm here to try to solve Cena's biggest problem.

Here are seven ways he can win over his critics and turn that chorus of boos into cheers.

7. Get a New Finisher

Not counting Rey Mysterio's 619, the Attitude Adjustment—formerly the FU—might be the worst finisher for a WWE Champion since Hulk Hogan's leg drop.

It's simply a fireman's carry into a takeover, and realistically speaking, it should have roughly the same affect on Cena's opponent as a regular bodyslam.

The only time I can take the AA seriously as a finisher is when it's done from the second rope, which rarely happens. Other than that, I can't see how anyone can consider it a legitimate finishing move.

It should be part of Cena's move set but not the final blow. I know a lot of anti-Cena wrestling fans, myself included, hate the fact that Cena wins with a move that looks the exact opposite of devastating.

While we're at it, the STF (or STFU) isn't all that great either. Maybe if Cena added a new submission finisher and dropped the AA, it would be more believable when he wins a match.

6. Stay Away from the World Title Scene

John Cena isn't always in the World Title scene, but he's pretty damn close to it.

He's already held the WWE Championship nine times and the World Heavyweight Championship twice, and at 11 total reigns, he's going to make Ric Flair's 16 World Title reigns look like nothing by the time he hangs up his boots.

He has to do something about that.

We all know that Cena has as much backstage stroke as anyone in the WWE, and if he really wants to show that he cares about the future of the company, then he'll use his influence to stay out of the World Title scene for a while and give someone else a chance to carry the strap.

Cena has had six WWE Championship reigns since the beginning of 2009, and it'd be a nice change of pace to see him put on a quality feud that didn't involve a World Title for a change.

A top star should be able to keep fans invested in his feud without having the WWE title as the focus of the rivalry.

5. Wear Actual Wrestling Attire

My brother hardly ever watches wrestling, but when he does, he always comments on John Cena's outfit.

It usually goes something like this: "Dude, why the hell does Cena wear jean shorts? I can't take him seriously."

Me either. 

If my friend were to show up at a bar wearing jorts, I would get on the DJ's microphone and make fun of him until he ran home crying. They're jean shorts for crying out loud--I'm pretty sure they went out of style right around the time the Backstreet Boys got together.

I would love to see Cena drop the jorts and Under Armour tennis shoes and then put on some tights and a pair of wrestling boots.

Then he'd actually look like a wrestler instead of a jacked-up guy who just took his shirt off and hopped in the ring.

4. Quit with the Corny, over-the-Top Promos

Honestly, a lot of the corny crap that John Cena says on the microphone probably isn't his fault—it's likely written by the WWE writers, who, for some reason, think it's hilarious or creative.

About 90 percent of the time, though, it isn't.

When Cena calls Sheamus a "human jar of mayonnaise," it sounds like a second grader telling his classmate that he's a "poo poo head." This isn't the fault of the PG era, either.

You can still write effective baby-face promos without cursing up a storm. You just have to give faces a bit of an edge rather than trying to turn Cena—who can cut some really good promos when he's serious—into the WWE's No. 1 comedian.

Again, I want to stress that I definitely can't blame only Cena for these campy, over-the-top promos we've been seeing from him. But I would love to see the guy do what CM Punk's done and start being a bit more clever with promos that he himself comes up with. 

As Punk proved, a little bit of leeway in the promos can really go a long way, and you can still be a baby face when you take shots at whoever you're feuding with. 

3. Lose Clean and Put over the WWE's Up-and-Coming Stars More Often

John Cena isn't the only WWE star who hardly ever loses clean—Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and The Big Show are booked the same way.

But I'm not going to cut Cena any slack because of it.

Other than CM Punk, I can't remember the last time Cena helped one of the WWE's up-and-coming stars by losing clean to him. In fact, Cena often does the exact opposite: he buries people.

Again, this is largely because of the way the creative books him. But I don't care.

There comes a point when Cena's lack of clean losses and his inability to put other guys over really start to aggravate the living hell out of wrestling fans. I'm at that point.

As someone like Chris Jericho proves, you can lose to the younger stars and not lose any momentum whatsoever. Who remembers when Y2J lost to Heath Slater on NXT? How about when he was beat by Evan Bourne? 

He still remained one of WWE's most-hated heels, even though he was defeated by two guys who usually job on WWE TV.

Why can't Cena do the same thing?

2. Put on Better Matches When Not Wrestling the WWE's Top Stars

John Cena is not a bad wrestler. At all.

I hate when I see people write, "Cena can't wrestle," when he's actually one of the best in-ring competitors in all of the WWE. However, I do think that there's some merit behind fans saying that his best matches come against his best opponents.

The top four matches of Cena's career, in my opinion, came against three great wrestlers: Shawn Michaels (on Raw in 2007), Edge (Unforgiven 2006) and CM Punk (Money in the Bank and SummerSlam).

That's not necessarily a knock on Cena, because no matter who he's wrestling, he still has to do 50 percent of the work in the match. But Cena would get a ton of respect if he put on some four-star bouts with guys who aren't among the top workers in the business.

When Cena wrestled someone like R-Truth, The Miz or Wade Barrett, the matches were less than stellar to say the least. Can he change that?

1. Turn Heel and Start Rapping Again

Maybe an obvious choice here, but it's the clear-cut No. 1 problem that most wrestling fans see with John Cena.

I actually think Cena could succeed as a face if he tweaked his gimmick, but the only way he's going to win over those guys who chant, "Cena sucks!" is to turn heel. It's really that simple.

Personally, I'd love to see Cena go back to his old gimmick as the "Dr. of Thuganomics" because he can actually rap, and it's a good way to get heat from the crowd. He doesn't even have to do that, though.

Cena just has to turn heel. Somehow, some way.

His character has been exactly the same since I can remember—wear bright colors, preach about "Hustle, Loyalty, Respect" and be the honorable good guy—and we just want to see the guy change.

Rip on the crowd, rap about the WWE's top baby faces—just do something that makes you stand out as a hated heel.

You don't even have to do anything else on this list to win over your critics. Turn heel, and your problem is solved.