Austin says Cena isn't challenged; Austin/Cena would've made big money in AE

[Chael Sonnen]

On John Cena Thriving in the Attitude Era: John Cena in The Attitude Era. Man, that's a good question. Yeah, had he been placed in it, and been dealt with accordingly, the John Cena you see now — the face of the franchise, the leader of the pack? Not so much. But I guarantee if you'd have gotten him face to face with "Stone Cold" in an interview, and you know John cuts a good interview himself, if I slapped the s*** out of that son of a b****, I think we're off and running to make a lot of money. All he needs is to be poked and prodded in the right way. I think John Cena has a hell of a lot of fire and he needs to be in the ring with the right opponent, or the right cat, to bring that out. So in the current environment, you really don't see that in him. Place [Cena] back 10 years in the ring with "Stone Cold"? You'd have rung the cash register, big time.

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/ne...-Era,-More.htm

Heel Cena in the Attitude Era would've been fun.

[kevinsane]

I watch Raw and Smackdown hoping that one day Cena will have an EPIC opponent, a challenge that builds over a year and places stresses on him that reveal chinks in the "Super Cena" facade. As much as I like The Rock, you can't just dictate that scenario. It has to percolate, and have more believability.
I worry the WWE is wasting its greatest talent, exhausting his character to the point of caricature and disdain.
I don't watch to see a role model, no matter how genuinely awesome he is publicly. I watch to see larger than life BATTLES.
Nobody gets enough of a push, or recognition they deserve one, for this to happen. Instead, Vicki gets a new fiancée. Yawn.

[chuckdobbins]

Originally Posted by kevinsane

I watch Raw and Smackdown hoping that one day Cena will have an EPIC opponent, a challenge that builds over a year and places stresses on him that reveal chinks in the "Super Cena" facade. As much as I like The Rock, you can't just dictate that scenario. It has to percolate, and have more believability.
I worry the WWE is wasting its greatest talent, exhausting his character to the point of caricature and disdain.
I don't watch to see a role model, no matter how genuinely awesome he is publicly. I watch to see larger than life BATTLES.
Nobody gets enough of a push, or recognition they deserve one, for this to happen. Instead, Vicki gets a new fiancée. Yawn.

Well said

The Punk/Cena feud that peaked at MITB 2011 was the last really good feud in a couple years. Larger than life, as you put it. Hasn't really been one since that point. As much as they tried with the WM28 Rock v Cena feud, it fell short of expectations because the Rock wasn't making enough live appearances, and when he was in the ring during the build he certainly wasn't involved in anything physical.