WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff has laid out why he thinks one of John Cena‘s recent promos was “weak.”
At Elimination Chamber, John Cena shocked the world when he turned on Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and sided with The Rock. In the weeks since, Cena has appeared on Raw to explain his actions, claiming his relationship with fans has been “toxic” for 20 years, and he has had enough.
One man who isn’t convinced by the message is Eric Bischoff. On 83 Weeks, the former WCW President questioned whether having Cena do his promos on the European tour might have hurt them.
“You go to Europe now, you go to Germany – 70% of the people you meet on the street speak English to one degree or another. It’s not a second language, but it’s damn close…So you’ve got to assume they kind of understood, but certainly not to the — and then you’ve got the audio issue.
“You know how it is when you’re at the airport? If you happen to be at an airport and you get somebody on that’s native tongue is not English, and they’ve got a heavy accent from wherever they are. And then you’ve got the audio, you know, because it’s not the greatest speakers in the airport. You can’t hear all that well anyway, even if it’s perfect English and an accent you’re used to. So that could be it.
“It could have been some of that promo, a lot of that promo, and the emotion that should go with it. Could have been lost on that audience. Between the audio and the English challenge, yeah. Somebody should have thought of that one.”
Turning to the content itself, Bischoff believes the ‘why’ of Cena’s heel turn is still to be answered, and the promos were weak because of that.
“There’s got to be a reason why. And if you start an angle out in that element of the story, that inciting incident, that thing that happens that sets you upon your journey, if that’s a dud, it’s a little harder to gain that momentum later on.
“You need to start out strong with a ‘why’ that people can relate to, understand, connect with, whatever. And I agree with you. It was exciting. John Cena’s turning heel. Oh, the potential. But there wasn’t anything dramatic about it other than the fact that he turned heel.
“It was interesting. Even, you know, I did see the clip of his promo. I didn’t see it live. I saw the clip of it. It was okay, I mean the delivery was great but just the message was kind of weak for that.”
John Cena Plans To Ruin Wrestling
John Cena claims he wants to ruin wrestling for everyone. The legendary star says he will defeat Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 to capture his record-breaking 17th World Title. After doing that, he will simply retire, meaning that nobody has the chance to beat him for the gold, forcing the company to create a “brand new toy belt.”
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.