I’m not a particular fan of John Cena. But then again, I am not one of those fans who hates everything he does and blames him for all the ills (be they real or perceived) of the current WWE product. Let’s face it he has a strong work ethic, does an awful lot of good corporate and charity work and can actually take part in some fantastic matches from time to time. I don’t care how good Shawn Michaels is; not everyone could go for nearly an hour with him and keep up with HBK.
So whilst I was not particularly itching to see this re-released disc I did come to it with an open mind. This one disc release is a budget price release of the opening disc from the previous 3-disc John Cena Experience so what you are getting is the “documentary” from that release with none of the bonus matches etc.
The problem is, this isn’t a “documentary” in the sense you would hope for. A genuine look at the career and/or life of Cena might be entertaining and interesting. What isn’t very interesting is a series of vignettes that purport to take us into the depths of Cena’s life but are actually completely superficial.
Wow as the Movie Star version of Cena rehearses fight scenes for the Oscar winning Legendary. Thrill as Cena sits still enough for his features to be scanned in for an action figure range. Try not to get overly excited as he records a (dreadful) song for the aforementioned movie. Swoon as Cena appears on a number of TV shows whilst revealing very little of any interest. The Tribute to The Troops section does at least attempt to show the drudgery of the WWE schedule and you can’t really say anything bad about the scenes where they visit injured soldiers, but there is far too little of this kind of stuff and a lot more powder puff segments where Cena advertises stuff or takes you through his day at the “Fiesta Bowl”.
Things also pick up slightly with an “in-depth” look at his WrestleMania 26 build up to the match with Batista…but only slightly. The sight of Cena signing thousands of promo pictures is as thrilling as it sounds but we do at least also see some rather touching Make-A-Wish scenes from a Pizza Party he hosts. It’s interesting (up to a point) to see him rehearse his Mania entrance too, if only to show how much promotional thought is put into he biggest show of the year. And if nothing else, these segments do make the match (not shown fully) come alive as a pivotal and momentous moment in his career.
This, however, is followed by the worst segment on the disc as we follow Cena to a Car Auction. If you’re a big, erm, fan of cars there may be a modicum of interest for you. If not you will probably be as bored as I was. We finish with a least a bit more wrestling as Cena is shown on (and preparing for) Raw.
As you might have guessed, I am not a fan of this DVD. There is the potential to do something special with a Cena release (and I presume we will get one eventually) but this dated collection of out-of the ring “events” is just simply boring. You learn very little about Cena’s real-life nor much more about his personality. As alien as it may sound to his critics, this was much better as a three disc collection where some good match choices made up for the banality of the main feature. Cena comes across as a thoroughly decent bloke. But the activities we are shown him doing do not make for a thrilling two hour journey.
Unless you’re a really HUGE John Cena fan, I’d avoid this.
– By Matthew Roberts | @IWFICON
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch.fm for providing our copy of The John Cena Experience. The John Cena Experience is available DVD from Monday 19th May.