About this episode
As The Lapsed Fan’s 30-week WrestleMania journey unfolds, your hosts have come to the point in WWE history where the curious rise of John Cena began to provoked unique fan responses. Crowds in major markets across the country began to vociferously rejected Cena, all while his merchandise sales and other metrics signaled he was by far the man for the franchise position and the star of the moment. As TLF reached WrestleManias 22 and 23 – both headlined by Cena, where he turns away challenges by Triple H and Shawn Michaels – hosts Jack Encarnacao and JP Sarro felt it appropriate to pause and focus on why it was (and is) that Cena is rejected by a such sizable portion of the audience, and how it connects to WWE’s contemporary struggles to elevate Roman Reigns. The Lapsed Fan Solar System weighed in with their thoughts and “Top 3 Reasons Why” lists, and your hosts chop up that feedback in a quest to identify just what it was, and continues to be, that rubs so many people the wrong way about the WWE’s franchise player through the late 2000s. Enjoy this special supplemental look at John Cena and the milieu of 2006/2007 WWE, as The Lapsed Fan’s week-by-week trudge to WrestleMania 31 continues!