CENA!
About two years ago, before my return to WWE, I saw John Cena deliver a very good, emotional promo, and thought I'd mention that fact on my fledgeling Twitter account - I think I was closing in on 70K followers at the time. So I tweeted something along the lines of, "Great promo by @John Cena - I think it's about time more people recognized his legacy of great matches in @WWE" Two minutes later, i turned to my daughter and said, "I just got over a thousand messages."
"But Dad", she said. "You only sent that out two minutes ago."
"I know", I said. "Let me try it again." So I sent another tweet, aimed at the 50% or so who thought a Cena compliment of any kind was nothing short of sacrilege. The other 50% - members of the Cenation - absolutely loved my comment, and now felt like they had a newest and bestest buddy in The Hardcore Legend.
So, realizing that I had touched on some hot-button issue, I sent out a follow-up tweet, "oh yeah, then try to find a bad John Cena match on PPV", then sat back with my daughter and watched the interactions come flooding in - like i was racking up some kind of huge score on an old fashioned pinball game. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Over 800 more messages - split almost down the middle, with 99% of the negative ones pointing to the match with R-Truth as the proof that Cena had bad matches on PPV.
"But that's the exception that proves the rule", I wrote back, and so on and so forth, until, by thew end of the night, for better or worse, I had become a high-profile John Cena fan - making me a hero to many, a heretic to others.
I know that many of you are probably thinking, "that's all fine..but where's the bad stuff about Cena?" Don't worry; I'm getting to that. I first had to establish a historical bond between me as a Cena supporter, and his avid fan-base - The Cenation.
Ready for that old-fashioned Foley anger? Think of this in ECW "Cane Dewey" mode now, because I am really fed-up, and having listened to "Stay Hungry" by Twisted Sister in the past few days, I have a little of that "We're not gonna take it" vibe going on. Look, I had a nice exchange with a twitter follower this morning, where I explained to him that the best way to ensure you don't get a follow from someone is to send out constant requests for a follow. Because, once you do follow that person, you find that his twitter feed consists largely of constantly asking other people for follows. I guess it's the same way that people feel when they follow me and find out all I do is put out plugs for shows that are not in their part of the country or world. Plus, I get the thrill of the whole "follow" thing. I put a nice tweet out about actress Jennifer Blanc-Biehn ( @JenniferBlancB ) helping me out when I was lost and confused (actually physically lost - I couln't find my way to The Artie Lange Show) and was THRILLED to see that she'd just followed me. Every few months, I click on @ZooeyDeschanel's profile, just to see if she MIGHT be following me. So, I get that. But if I want to get a follow from Zoeey, I have to believe that constantly asking her for a follow would be the WORST way to accomplish that goal. Because as much as not being followed by Zooey might not feel as good as being follwed by her, it's a heck of a lot better than finding out I've been blocked by Zooey Deschanel for constant follow requests.
I'm getting off track. You want some Cena dirt, right? Well here it is - even if it has very little to actually do with Cena, and everything to do with The Cenation. It's just become increasingly hard for me to believe that many of these follow requests, coming from people claiming to be my "biggest fan" can actually be coming from my biggest fan, when their Twitter handle has the words "CENA" or "CENATION" in it! Come on guys, a simple click of a button showing me a caption that reads, "John Cena is my hero, my idol and my God. I live and breath for him" is a likely indicator that the person repeatedly asking for a request is, in fact, not likely to be my biggest fan. In fact, I often get repetitive requests for follows from people claiming to be my biggest fan, check out their profile, and find that I'm NOT EVEN ON THEIR list of favorite wrestlers.
You know what would make me feel better? Hearing from John Cena himself that he is being inundated by requests for follows from his "biggest fans" - coming from members of The Folenation, or The Association of Little Micksters.
There it is: my Cena rant. I still like the guy, respect him, think he's a great representative of WWE, and think more people should take note of his legacy of great matches in WWE. But his fans are driving me crazy.
In conclusion: follow me Zooey! Follow me, follow me, follow me!
About two years ago, before my return to WWE, I saw John Cena deliver a very good, emotional promo, and thought I'd mention that fact on my fledgeling Twitter account - I think I was closing in on 70K followers at the time. So I tweeted something along the lines of, "Great promo by @John Cena - I think it's about time more people recognized his legacy of great matches in @WWE" Two minutes later, i turned to my daughter and said, "I just got over a thousand messages."
"But Dad", she said. "You only sent that out two minutes ago."
"I know", I said. "Let me try it again." So I sent another tweet, aimed at the 50% or so who thought a Cena compliment of any kind was nothing short of sacrilege. The other 50% - members of the Cenation - absolutely loved my comment, and now felt like they had a newest and bestest buddy in The Hardcore Legend.
So, realizing that I had touched on some hot-button issue, I sent out a follow-up tweet, "oh yeah, then try to find a bad John Cena match on PPV", then sat back with my daughter and watched the interactions come flooding in - like i was racking up some kind of huge score on an old fashioned pinball game. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Over 800 more messages - split almost down the middle, with 99% of the negative ones pointing to the match with R-Truth as the proof that Cena had bad matches on PPV.
"But that's the exception that proves the rule", I wrote back, and so on and so forth, until, by thew end of the night, for better or worse, I had become a high-profile John Cena fan - making me a hero to many, a heretic to others.
I know that many of you are probably thinking, "that's all fine..but where's the bad stuff about Cena?" Don't worry; I'm getting to that. I first had to establish a historical bond between me as a Cena supporter, and his avid fan-base - The Cenation.
Ready for that old-fashioned Foley anger? Think of this in ECW "Cane Dewey" mode now, because I am really fed-up, and having listened to "Stay Hungry" by Twisted Sister in the past few days, I have a little of that "We're not gonna take it" vibe going on. Look, I had a nice exchange with a twitter follower this morning, where I explained to him that the best way to ensure you don't get a follow from someone is to send out constant requests for a follow. Because, once you do follow that person, you find that his twitter feed consists largely of constantly asking other people for follows. I guess it's the same way that people feel when they follow me and find out all I do is put out plugs for shows that are not in their part of the country or world. Plus, I get the thrill of the whole "follow" thing. I put a nice tweet out about actress Jennifer Blanc-Biehn ( @JenniferBlancB ) helping me out when I was lost and confused (actually physically lost - I couln't find my way to The Artie Lange Show) and was THRILLED to see that she'd just followed me. Every few months, I click on @ZooeyDeschanel's profile, just to see if she MIGHT be following me. So, I get that. But if I want to get a follow from Zoeey, I have to believe that constantly asking her for a follow would be the WORST way to accomplish that goal. Because as much as not being followed by Zooey might not feel as good as being follwed by her, it's a heck of a lot better than finding out I've been blocked by Zooey Deschanel for constant follow requests.
I'm getting off track. You want some Cena dirt, right? Well here it is - even if it has very little to actually do with Cena, and everything to do with The Cenation. It's just become increasingly hard for me to believe that many of these follow requests, coming from people claiming to be my "biggest fan" can actually be coming from my biggest fan, when their Twitter handle has the words "CENA" or "CENATION" in it! Come on guys, a simple click of a button showing me a caption that reads, "John Cena is my hero, my idol and my God. I live and breath for him" is a likely indicator that the person repeatedly asking for a request is, in fact, not likely to be my biggest fan. In fact, I often get repetitive requests for follows from people claiming to be my biggest fan, check out their profile, and find that I'm NOT EVEN ON THEIR list of favorite wrestlers.
You know what would make me feel better? Hearing from John Cena himself that he is being inundated by requests for follows from his "biggest fans" - coming from members of The Folenation, or The Association of Little Micksters.
There it is: my Cena rant. I still like the guy, respect him, think he's a great representative of WWE, and think more people should take note of his legacy of great matches in WWE. But his fans are driving me crazy.
In conclusion: follow me Zooey! Follow me, follow me, follow me!
You are correct Mick.
We requested loads and Zoe didn't follow us.
Posted by: TATTA | 05/29/2013 at 12:38 PM
@realmickfoley I am fan of yours since the cactus jack era, and plus my name is mic, I will leave it at that bang bang
Posted by: Mic Christensen | 05/29/2013 at 12:39 PM
thats more of a fan rant or twitter rant rather than a cena rant... but still, entertaining read and so so true.
Posted by: Shut | 05/29/2013 at 12:41 PM
I never watched wrestling "in your day", but YouTube has allowed me to watch the Attitude Era days and I'm now a big fan of yours and of course "The Rock". I loved the Rock & Sock Connection. No need to follow me..just wanted you to know.
Posted by: RockPhilosophy101 | 05/29/2013 at 12:56 PM
You're onto them! They're just trying to get to Cena through you.
Posted by: evisruc | 05/29/2013 at 01:10 PM
I'm a John Cena fan but I am also a fan of yours! As of right now John Cena is my favorite WWE wrestler. But if you were still in the WWE you deff would be my favorite. I have not seen anyone like you with so much heart and soul for wresting. You gave 150% every fight you've done. I have watching almost all of your wrestling matches. The most memorable is with the undertaker in the steel cage match. I have never ever seen anyone wrestle the way you do. But out of all wrestlers in/out of the WWE you are defineity number one and one of my favorites!
Posted by: Jessica De Franceschi | 05/29/2013 at 01:21 PM
I can honestly say that I've never asked anyone to follow me on Twitter or Facebook or any other social media site. I try my hardest to limit the followers I have to people I either know or respect. On Facebook, with just a couple of exceptions, every one of my 44 friends is someone I personally know. If someone wants to follow me, I tend to wonder why...
Posted by: Eric C | 05/29/2013 at 01:23 PM
Oh, and I am a big fan of yours, and have been for a long time. I just don't care if you follow me...
Posted by: Eric C | 05/29/2013 at 01:25 PM
Kind off topic here but just wanted to note that I would love to see a Cactus Jack vs John Cena fight, Not some WWE PG stuff but like ECW Cactus Jack.
Posted by: Ryan | 05/29/2013 at 01:56 PM
There's a folenation? Am I that out of the loop? Mick, how do i get in on this. Is there a Funknation too? Or should it be a chainsaw charlienation? (Way to disgrace a legend,WWE) Anyways, c'mon Mick, I want in, this will be the best nation ever.
Posted by: chris m | 05/29/2013 at 02:20 PM
I like a lot of Cena's matches, but prefer his promos. Calling his PPV matches "great" is in many cases stretching it.
As for you, wearing my Foley T-shirt, have 2 Sockos, an autographed book, & a pic taken with you.
Posted by: Tim Church | 05/29/2013 at 03:16 PM
FOLEY FOLEY FOLEY
Posted by: mk | 05/29/2013 at 03:38 PM
I agree with this 100% I follow hulk hogan on twitter and probably everyday I see people begging for a re tweet or a follow and as you have touched on most of there handles dont even mention the hulkster
Posted by: c d | 05/30/2013 at 12:18 AM
That Deschannel v Cena match really stunk the place up!! Talk about cow palace more like cow chip palace.
Posted by: Rich Pan | 06/01/2013 at 12:37 PM
Excellent post. I enjoy watching Cena.....but over the years I enjoyed watching you more Mick. The thing I always admired most about you was that you are real.......and this post is real......nuff said.
Posted by: Sean M. | 06/01/2013 at 12:54 PM
Haha this reminds me of the Bill Goldberg story from "Foley Is Good". That Said, sir, let me just give props for the honest appraisal of fandom in general, and as somehow who has maybe read Have a Nice Day an...unhealthy amount of times (to the point where I was told I had to stop writing so "casually" throughout high school, and now write that very same way semi-professionally), I can't say I'm your 'biggest' fan, but I think I'm probably up there in terms of appreciation and inspiration factor.
Posted by: MeekinOnMovies | 06/01/2013 at 01:31 PM
You have always been one of my favorite wrestlers.your matches were unforgettable.setting yourself on ,tacks,landing on glass or being thrown off the top of a steel cage.I watched TNAonly when you were there I am glad that you were finally inducted into the hall of fame you deserve it keep up the good work
Posted by: BaggattaR | 06/01/2013 at 08:22 PM