Kue’s Korner: Romance and Attitude (WWE, The Rock, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, CM Punk, Chris Jericho)

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It’s Kue. It’s my Korner. And I’m very much looking forward to this Otunga/Henry/Santino match to come to a quick and anti-climatic end.

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Blunt

Though I agree with most of you that the primarily advertised match for this year’s upcoming ‘Mania has cooled down greatly, it’s interesting to note the dichotomy of fan reaction for both Rocky and John. Let’s face facts: Cena has, logically, bested Rock on promos these past few weeks. He’s not only brought his “thugonomics” to the table, but also legitimate retorts. The People’s Champ, on the other hand, has brought a list of one-liners and stuttered catch phrases. It’s been a clear-cut match-up between content and charisma. Thing is, the latter is winning. And thoroughly.

Cena played the nostalgia card last night. He even spouted a decent “freestyle” about his beef with Rocky. And, as he’s done in the past few weeks, he stayed on point. Let’s be honest. Many of us were happy to see a Cena that reminded us of when he was fresh and exciting. Still, even with all that effort, that (excuse the pun) throwback, and that logical pick-apart, his reaction was lukewarm at best.

Which brings me to the closing segment of last night’s show. Rocky came out and hit his one-liners through melody. Was the content a bit juvenile? Yes. But the crowd reaction was immense. There’s something that the Rock’s charisma caters to that Cena’s content does not. And it’s been evident ever since these two have started feuding. So, no matter how ‘E tries the skew half the crowd toward Cena’s favor, they ain’t having it. But there’s a broader point coming out of this feud.

To put it bluntly, the talent pool that ‘E has to work with right now is shallow. Sure, we have the exceptions in Punk and Jericho, and it was easy to delude ourselves into thinking that stars like Rock and Austin may have risen out of the roster we have now. Until the Rock came back, with half of the charisma he had at his peak, and still eclipsed the rest of the workers when it came to getting any sort of reaction from the crowd. And that includes Cena.

As of late, I’ve heard a lot of talk about many fans “romanticizing” the Attitude era. While that may be true, the company, and quite frankly the “sport” of wrestling, has never achieved the success that it had during that time. And the major reasons behind that were the talents and charisma of Austin and the Rock.

I’m sorry, but there’s no one on the roster that has that level of charisma to garner that level of reaction from the crowd. Until there is, those comparisons and that “romanticizing” will continue.

‘Round the Bend

I’d like to give a thank you to Rey Mundo, James Carter, and CW Sanders for being great sports in regards to my article from last week. I believe that wrestling fans in general get a rep (and not without good reason) for being overemotional idiots who scream their opinions at each other. It’s always good to see that there are fans and writers out there who can have a balanced discourse and do it with a great amount of respect. Thanks, guys.

Speaking of which, Mr. Carter has an interesting view of how many of our current wrestlers are categorized in his latest edition of “My Pinterest is Piledrivers“.

The Rager” argues about the need for Money in the Bank at ‘Mania. Check it.

Emotional investment is something we’ve been missing towards this ‘Mania season. Mike Gojira tackles this (and his love for women with flat asses) in “The Stomping Ground“.

Emotions run deep as Rey Mundo lets you know exactly how he feels in his soapbox entitled “Suspension of Disbelief“.

Give Mr. Leonard some props, as he tries to do the impossible in his latest edition of “No Chance“: Make this whole GM vs. GM storyline the slightest bit interesting.

The closest thing to a martyr we have on Pulse (because nobody else is going to consistently cover Impact on a weekly basis), Blair A. Douglas, has a great read about the de-evolution of the WWE and World Titles. Check out this week’s “Air Up There“.

CB the Great hits the nail on the head about WWE’s inability to close storylines in his latest “CB’s World“.

My boy, Kyle Fitta, also elaborates on a truth we all know: Heel are a dying breed in WWE. Well, good ones, anyway. Check out his new “The Wrestling Backfire“.

And Mr. Martin Shaw splits sides on wrestling-based movie ideas on his “Martyrshow“.

And if not Cena, then who? Ralph Hardin tries to answer that question in “The Common Denominator“.

Next week, I’ll take on the evolution (or de-evolution) of the spectacle known as Wrestlemania.

Adieu.

I like my wrestling almost as much as I do my coffee. And I do love my coffee, as you can tell how much it's affected my skin tone.