Can You See Me Now?

Can You See Me Now? John Cena once said, ~Stop looking at this bizz in black and white. I am not a “heel” or a “face”, I am me. I find it comical that you truly believe that archaic ideology still exists. Today, WWE fans cheer for who they please, which is why I love this company. I should mail you a pair of my shorts because you’re stuck in 1993.~ Without a doubt, John Cena became one of the most polarizing WWE superstars/characters amongst pro wrestling fans who either love or hate the guy since making his debut on the June 27th, 2002 episode of Smackdown when he accepted Kurt Angle’s challenge. In any case, Cena is most definitely considered a future WWE Hall of Famer who was partly responsible for ushering in the Ruthless Aggression Era and for the last 17 years lived by the following three words that became his motto: hustle, loyalty and respect.

As I said before, John Cena became one of the most polarizing WWE superstars/characters amongst pro wrestling fans who either love or hate the guy since making his debut on the June 27th, 2002 episode of Smackdown when he accepted Kurt Angle’s challenge. However, before his rise into professional wrestling stardom he certainly hustled his way to get by in life. Of course, when he started training to be a wrestler he lived off of $50 and got a free meal if he not only was able to eat a whole pizza from Zeppe’s, but have his name put on the restaurant’s wall. Hey, Cena was truly hustling back in the day on his part, which is a similar strategy WWE legends/hall of famers like Taker/Mark Calloway and Stone Cold Steve Austin did before they truly made it big in professional wrestling.

If you think about it, when you look up the word loyalty in the dictionary you’ll probably see John Cena’s picture next to it. Thinking about it further, he basically defined the word loyalty all throughout his illustrious pro wrestling career, especially in regard to staying loyal to his fanbase. It’s a fan base he never turned his back on and a “heel” turn was discussed when the opportunity presented itself after Wrestlemania 20 against The Rock but the trigger was never pulled, so to speak. Ultimately, Cena’s loyalty to his fans has garnered a Guinness World Record when it comes to granting more than 650 wishes for the Make A Wish Foundation since 2002, whereby establishing him as the most requested celebrity for wishes by children ages 2018 who suffer from critical illnesses.

Let me ask this question to my fellow pro wrestling fans out there and be honest, what is something about John Cena that you respect about him? Granted, it’s a thought provoking situation indeed knowing the amount of hate he’s gotten over the years from the IWC otherwise known as the Internet Wrestling Community. A community well known to be hostile, savage and toxic. Personally speaking, Cena earned my respect in honoring the military, as well as the veterans who are serving and/or have served being that I’m a child of a military veteran myself. Although Cena hasn’t actually served in the military, he has respectfully honored the military values/discipline/personal commitment of all the men and women of the armed forces whenever he saluted the crowd before he headed to the ring.

On March 1st, 2025 at Elimination Chamber, John Cena shocked the professional wrestling world and turned “heel” after winning it. The WWE universe waited years for this to happen and it unfortunately didn’t back then because of Vince McMahon. Thankfully, with Triple H and The Rock now in charge of the WWE combined with Cena retirement announcement at Money In The Bank in 2024, it’s going to be an interesting farewell tour to say the least. Yet, what makes his farewell tour even more interesting is the potential to break Ric Flair’s 16X champion record when he faces Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship tonight on night 2 of Wrestlemania 41. In the end, when…not if…Cena wins and breaks Flair’s championship as a heel, the words “you can’t see me” is a thing of the past because it will be replaced with “can you see me now”?