Reportedly, Cena and Edge were both in the dark about plans for a title switch until the weekend of New Year’s Revolution, and WWE made the decision after the crowd reaction to Cena in New Jersey on January 2. Edge had been talked about for a title run both in 2002 and 2004, but in 2002 he was again injured and in 2004 the plan was for him to be a heel going up against a babyface Evolution, and that never materialized.
John Cena was not told he would be winning the belt back quickly (often, if that is the case, the champ is clued in), and while he was very professional and did not complain backstage, many thought that you could see it on his face. Cena has been one of the hardest working champions outside of the ring, making promotional appearances constantly, and doing whatever WWE has asked of him. WWE had no heat with him, yet Vince was frustrated with crowd reactions and tried everything to get them to cheer the champ. Dave Meltzer opines that what may have turned the crowd against him is his in-ring abilities didn’t keep up with his charisma and ability to draw and sell merchandise, particularly after being moved to RAW which does not benefit from the post-production and editing that Smackdown gets.
Credit: Wrestling Observer Newsletter (click here for subscription information)
