WK BLOG 5/18: Why I have John Cena ranked above Randy Savage among all-time WWE stars
May 20, 2011 - 10:06:31 PM |
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BY WADE KELLER, PWTORCH EDITOR
In the reader comments area of my blog earlier today on Randy Savage, I said:
Savage's ranking on the WWF All-Time Greats list will be debated for years to come. He's just under Steve Austin, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Bruno Sammartino, and John Cena in a top ten discussion.
I didn't expect it to be quite so controversial, but here are some of your comments:
-ClassicsGuy: "Great blog Wade. I disagree with one small thing you wrote though - Savage was unquestionably (in my opinion) a bigger star than John Cena... I really don't see the argument for Cena at the moment. Maybe 10-15 years down the line, but not at the moment. Savage was not just a top wrestler, but a cultural icon and household name of the 1980s and 1990s."
-Mitch Lucas: "Love your writing and coverage, Wade, and I agree with about 80 percent of everything you say. You're way off on Cena being a bigger star, though. Just check out all the places Savage's passing was reported on Friday -- it led cnn.com and usatoday.com for quite some time."
-Shaun: "Hey wade are u high???? John cena really?? Yea maybe for the kids he is the alltime great. But overall macho man was an icon and a wrestler and could cut promos and be different and not say the same crap over and over macho was diverse he could do it all.. macho king man rip u will be missed."
-Steve: How Wade can even put Cena in the same league as Savage is offensive. He could fight the monsters or the small guys, was great as a face, and imho greater as a heel. Crazy unforgettable interviews, and a wedding on a PPV that even the most cynical fans enjoyed. A legend of the sport. RIP."
All right, since you were all so nice (except for Shaun and Steve!), I'll explain my rationale.
First, ask me in a month, I might have then flipped. Once you get past Steve Austin, The Rock, and Hulk Hogan, it's a tough call among a handful of past big stars. This is arbitrary to a point, and I do understand the sentiment among a certain age group who grew up with Savage and resent or just dislike Cena to scoff at those two even being in the same sentence. I also understand well thought out analysis that has Cena below Savage.
But I wrote what I wrote earlier because Cena has been a singular centerpiece for WWE for several years now. He's not playing back-up or even co-star with anyone right now. When he goes away, ratings go down. When he's on house shows, merchandise sales and attendance go up. He's not the top draw ever, but unlike many others on a top 20 list, there's some distance between Cena and no. 2. There's Cena, and then part-time Undertaker, part-time semi-retired Triple H, in-and-out Chris Jericho, guest appearances by The Rock, and the next level of main eventers such as The Miz, Randy Orton, and formerly Edge.
With Randy Savage, he almost always had someone at his level or higher who carried the weight of the promotion. He was part of a star-studded ensemble cast in the WCW Nitro era. He was a notch under Hogan as a draw during their days in the WWF.
Where Savage has the advantage is being an iconic crossover star. Bruce Mitchell and I talked about this in our two hour VIP Bruce Mitchell Audio Show recorded earlier today. Other than Hulk Hogan and The Rock, is there anyone in pro wrestling history who is known by more people than Savage? Possibly "Stone Cold Steve Austin and Andre the Giant. Maybe "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, although probably not. A case could be made for Jesse Ventura.
Savage at his peak was a better wrestler and a better athlete than Cena, but if you stack up their best matches, while the best of Savage are better than the best of Cena, I think Cena has had more very good high-profile matches than Savage at this point in sheer quantity, but he's part of an era where main event matches are given away on TV regularly and he's on PPVs once a month. Savage had a better array of more experienced wrestlers to work with, from Jerry Lawler at his peak to Tito Santana at his peak to Ricky Steamboat at his peak to Ric Flair when Flair was still good to Dallas Page when he was breaking out. Both Cena and Savage had some hum-drum high-profile matches along the way.
I think the Top WWF/WWE Stars ever begins with Hulk Hogan and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Then at a solid no. 3 is The Rock, with generational debate beginning regarding Bruno Sammartino, John Cena, Undertaker, Randy Savage, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Roddy Piper, and Bret Hart. One of them doesn't make the top ten cut.
I get that there's a debate. I did put more stress on someone carrying the weight of the company for many years over the "cool factor" and the "iconic crossover" stature of Savage. While they're different wrestlers, and I'd probably rather watch the top ten Savage matches over the top ten Cena matches, I think the top 50 list of available matches would probably be better starring Cena than Savage for reasons stated above.
Last June, Bruce Mitchell and I did a two part audio discussion formulating the Top 25 WWE Stars of All-Time, our top ten in order was: Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, John Cena, Undertaker, Bruno Sammartino, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Bret Hart, and Randy Savage. Roddy Piper then came in at no. 11. We went into a lot of historical detail justifying the placement and also, importantly, explaining our criteria. (Note to VIP Members: The shows were dated June 11 and June 12, 2010 if you want to look them up in the archives.)
(Even WWE, in their awful, historically oblivious list last year had Savage at no. 14 and Cena at no. 16.)
[Randy Savage photo credit by Wade Keller (c) PWTorch]
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