Examining John Cena's response to burial claims

#5 The Truth

So what does this argument boil down to?

While Cena’s last words did make Reigns look foolish, the fact remains that his response to this type of promo never necessarily addressed the issue discussed. Cena said that everyone says these things about him and runs down his opponent, but he never actually addresses the burials on WWE programming.

The closest Cena has ever come to answering whether he buries talent came in his interview with Tony Maglio of The Wrap where he said the following.

"It's not that I sink their ship, it’s that they fail to operate at an elite level."

He turns the criticisms of his alleged burials on its head by saying that nobody’s ever been able to keep up with him when the opportunity knocks. Yet, the argument from fans is that the opportunity has come for many wrestlers, but that Cena’s words backstage, coupled with the company’s desire to keep their top guy strong is what leads to them “not keeping up.”

It's easy for a big main eventer like Cena to say the wrestlers just aren't keeping up with him, but there's a big difference between the era he became a star in and the current climate wrestlers operate under.

Cena became a star in the Ruthless Aggression Era; an era that wasn't as raunchy as the Attitude Era, but was far from PG. He also didn't have to deal with a big team of writers scripting his lines word by word, and he didn't have to deal with a top guy potentially holding him back.

After all, SmackDown didn't have any big names in the main event and Triple H's reign of terror ended long before Cena even made it to Monday Night Raw.

Whether he wants to admit it or not, Cena's booking over the years has caused the downfall of a few wrestlers. And as for his idea of wrestlers keeping up, I pose this question: how can you be expected to keep up with a man with a head start?