JBL Explains Why Fans Turned On John Cena
John Cena recently returned to WWE and received a hero’s welcome from the fans, but it wasn’t always like that and now JBL has explained why the fans once turned on Cena.
Following his early days of “ruthless aggression” in WWE, John Cena adopted his “Dr of Thuganomics” persona marking a shift to the villainous side of his character for the first time.
It wasn’t long however before fan support grew for the rapping star who represented an edge that had some of the hallmarks of the vaunted Attitude Era. By WrestleMania 21, when John Cena captured his first WWE Championship from JBL, he was the most beloved star in the whole company. But these things don’t last forever.
It wasn’t long into Cena’s first reign as champion that the boos and jeers from a section of fans could first be heard. The more success Cena had in WWE, the louder the boos reigned down, although John Cena remained loved by his biggest group of followers, children.
At ECW One Night Stand in 2006, the Cena hate reached its peak as he walked into the lion’s den to defend his WWE Championship against Rob Van Dam. Thankfully for all concerned RVD picked up the victory, negating the fans’ need to riot.
Now speaking on Busted Open Radio, John Cena’s old rival JBL has explained why he thinks some fan support deserted Cena during his illustrious career:
“I think it was because he was just too good. He’s this good-looking guy, he’s got this great body, he puts out great matches, and he has incredible promos … Cena would go out there and he had the entire crowd chanting either ‘Let’s Go Cena’, or ‘Cena sucks.’”
“By the time he’s five minutes into that promo, everybody is into whatever he’s saying … I think people just disliked him, for one, they couldn’t control it, and two, it was a great departure from the beer-drinking, middle finger, and the cussing from The Rock and Stone Cold in the Attitude Era.”