Readers choose sides in the John Cena vs. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson debate, Jake Roberts, stale WWE matchups, plus editor reaction

I'm so sick of hearing Cena talk bad about The Rock. I find it real interesting John Cena is talking about The Rock yet again. He's like the ex-girlfriend that just won't move on in life. He talked about Rock not giving back to the fans, yet that's all he did. Every time he did come back, he put other people over and entertained them like only he could.

I miss him being in the ring but let's face it: $5 million per film and being on location for the film three or four months or make about half that working three times as much and destroying your body? Not to mention all the things that have gone down in the business these last few years, I don't blame him for leaving. Seems like Cena's a little jealous (got a little Triple H in him in my opinion) of Rock's success. Let's do the math.

Box office numbers based off of the first film of each person:
The Rock—"Scorpion King" Worldwide Gross: $164,529,000
John Cena—"The Marine" Worldwide Gross: $22,161,958

Mainstream notoriety:
The Rock (SNL - 2000)
John Cena (Mad TV)

People that The Rock put over or elevated:
Brock Lesnar (2002)
Booker T and Hurricane (2003 with the interaction between him and Hurricane being some of the best material ever),
Evolution (2004), Eugene (2004)

People that John Cena put over or elevated: I can't think of any, help me out if you can.

It seems to me that Cena is destined to fall into the Triple H and Shawn Michaels category of well known to wrestling fans but can't seem to breakthrough into the mainstream world. Words would be different if The Marine was a hit.

Adrian L. Finley

Powell replies: In fairness to Cena, he was asked to clarify his comments in both interviews. I just wanted to make it clear that he's not going out of his way to bring it up, nor is he backing down when the subject comes up. I've never heard any stories about Cena objecting to doing a job, so I think Vince McMahon and the creative team are more to blame than he is for him not elevating other wrestlers.

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John Cena is coming off really jealous in these interviews. All he has to do is stay professional and not say anything negative about The Rock. When the The Rock was at his hottest fame in Hollywood, he did come back. More then once! Is he supposed to come back every year when he's busy making a movie one after the other? I think he's making things worst for Rock's fans so they would accept him more. Talk shit about the Rock and make it seem like he really cares so he can be as big a superstar as him. Memo to John: White guys doing urban gimmicks don't appeal to everyone!

Vincent Mercado

Powell replies: I don't think Cena is jealous. I really don't. I think Cena genuinely believes what he is saying, plus it probably doesn't hurt his standing with the Vince, Triple H, and others.

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Interesting thing Jim Ross said about Jake Roberts being a manager (JRsbarbq.com blog). It goes with something you wrote earlier this week about Randy Orton needing a manager. Those two together (if Roberts was sober and willing) would be an awesome draw. I was a WWF fan during Roberts run, with the feuds with Randy Savage, etc. Some of the best heel promos ever. He could help take Orton to a whole new level.

John Agliata

Powell replies: The idea of Jake cutting promos for anyone who struggles on the mic sounds like a good idea, but he needs to have chemistry with the person he speaks for. I'm not saying he wouldn't have chemistry with Orton, but it's not necessarily a slam dunk that they would gel on the air.

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You are not alone with your thoughts on the main event picture. I like Randy Orton I like Triple H. I am OK with John Cena. But I am getting tired of the same matches month after month. They need to infuse fresh blood. I don't care who. I am not ordering this weekend for that reason. The quality of the matches are good, and they should be as often as they work together. I hope they do a draft this year, it's time to move some people around.

Josh Marino
Eau Claire, Wisc.

Powell replies: I'd like to see a draft, but even if they don't hold one that doesn't mean they can't shake things up by adding some people to the main event mix. I think there will be plenty of people who skip the pay-per-view for the same reason, Josh.