Love Him Or Hate Him.

There's a lot to be said about John Cena. Good and bad. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the guy, so let's dissect this a little bit.

On the one hand, he has very limited ability in the ring. Unlike most of the big names in the WWE, Cena actually got into the business rather late in his life, and didn't come up on the independents at all. He was trained by one of the WWE's training schools, and broke out from there, although The Miz was much of the same story. I simply don't care for Cena's wrestling style whatsoever; you will never see anything unpredictable from him, and that's a good way to lose the intelligent wrestling fans quickly.

At the end of the day, all big decisions come down from the man himself, Vince McMahon, and I know that Cena's gimmick of 'Hustle. Loyalty. Respect. Never back down, never quit.' is the product of Vince and the WWE Creative Team, but unfortunately Cena is the messenger and I absolutely detest the creature that he has turned in to. The Doctor of Thuganomics was great TV. It was edgy, it was entertaining, and it was a lot more of Cena's actual personality than his current gimmick. Again, it may appeal to the little kiddies of the WWE Universe, who love seeing Superman save the day again, but the older and smarter fans like seeing Superman come up short every now and again.

On the other hand, though, there is no denying that John Cena may possibly be the hardest working man in the entertainment business. Not only that, but he manages to somehow remain one of the nicest as well, and this I can personally attest to.

I met Cena on September 18, 2006. I was down in Montreal, with my parents, to see the WWE Supershow that was rolling through town. The show was amazing, and is probably my second favourite of all that I have attended, and we were also staying at the hotel that a large portion of the WWE roster happened to be checked in to.

We were waiting down in the lobby, watching the WWE Superstars roll in to the hotel, and my mother was somehow lucky enough to find herself enjoying some friendly conversation with the one and only Ric Flair (Wooooh!). Stars like Carlito, Jerry Lawler, and a couple of Divas walked through the lobby, signing an autograph here and there, but suddenly, and without warning, a buzz began to make its way through the crowd, and before I knew it, everyone was outside; Cena had arrived.

Security cleared the fans to either side of the doorway, so Cena could get through, and when the limo door opened, all hell broke loose. Cheers, boos, taunts, and expletives flew at Cena from all angles, and the tension was almost unbearable. I couldn't believe some of the things people were saying to him, inches from his face. "Fuck you, Cena!" "You fuckin' suck!" It's never been put into clearer perspective for me what these guys go through on a day-to-day basis, and Cena did not look happy. After a PPV and RAW back-to-back, he was clearly beat up, and tired.

It was at this moment in time that a particularly idiotic fan decided it would be a good idea to reach out and grab Cena's shoulder. Cena turned on a dime, and went nose to nose with the man who violated his personal space. It took about five seconds of inaudible words out of Cena's mouth to put a sheepish look on the man's face, and also silence the entire crowd of people. Very tense moment.

Cena went inside the hotel, and waited in line with everyone else to check in to his room. Somehow (and I'll never really understand how) security managed to make every single Cena hater disappear, and by the time he had checked in to his room, he came over to the group of about 50 of us who were actually happy to see him. The guy had just been through a hellacious Tables, Ladders & Chairs match, and RAW the next night and had visible battle wounds.

No doubt the only thing he wanted to do was go to bed, but he came over and spent about an hour signing autographs and taking pictures with every single person who was there. And for that, as much as I can't stand him on my television, I have the utmost amount of respect for him. From his physical state, to the fact that he'd just been harassed and disrespected, I was totally impressed with how much he gave back to his fans.

So Cena, I'll almost always be cheering every time you get put on your back for the 1-2-3, but as a person your class and hard work goes a long way, and I'll always have a lot of respect for how much you give back to the business and to your fans.

(Now goddamnit Jericho, include Winnipeg on your book tours, because I need a picture with you next!)