The Reality of Wrestling: John Cena (not) Going to SmackDown!
By Phil Clark
NOTE: This was supposed to be posted last week, but due to computer problems, it wasn’t. Still, the content is still topical and because of that, here it is”¦
This past Sunday, at The E’s Unforgiven PPV, John Cena won his third world title beating Edge in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs (TLC) match. The stipulation going in was that if Cena lost he would have to go to SmackDown! This left the result of the match very much in doubt for the weeks leading up to the show. People pondered whether or not Cena should go to SmackDown!, what would happen on RAW if he did, who would benefit more, etc. Well, now that the result is in, it’s time to ponder what could have been and maybe what should have been.
P.C. Says: Cena leaving RAW would have been a “for the greater good” decision
It would have been better for everyone involved. John Cena winning his third World Title at Unforgiven more than likely won’t benefit anyone involved. First off, after beating Cena at SummerSlam, I believe people were starting to see Edge as a legit champion as the spector of him losing to Cena once again was thought to be behind him. Also, does Cena really need to hold a title to be in the main-event? First off, titles mean nothing on RAW (not that they mean that much on SmackDown!), but if you look at the main-event circle on RAW you have Edge, Cena, DX, the McMahons, and even Umanga may be up there by Survivor Series. Edge is the only one of those listed to have a title going into Unforgiven. DX hasn’t challenged for any title since they reformed and they were in the main-event of Vengeance and their match with Vince and Shane was what RAW was promoting as their main-event for SummerSlam. Right off the bat, putting the belt back on him was a worthless move.
Cena leaving also would clear up a spot in the main-event for someone else. Carlito and/or Orton are two guys that could easily be moved into that spot–Carlito would have more credit with the audience since he’s never been in the main-event yet–and their match at Unforgiven may be a sign of such a thing happening in the near future.
Cena’s leaving would also have been a way to move DX into a main-event world title feud. Any people who’ve read my column on a week-to-week (or every other week) basis knows that I’m not a fan of DX right now. I was a fan back when they were cool, but now it looks for like a mid-life crisis than a youthful rebellion. Anyway, since DX are being booked as the star attraction on RAW, I say it’s time they put someone over. In the case of Cena leaving, Edge would’ve easily been the guy. Would Edge/Michaels be that crazy of a RAW main-event for Survivor Series. Not only that, but Michaels jobbing clean (an act of god in itself)
would immediately make Edge’s title reign in the eyes of many. Not only that, but the rub that Edge would get from DX during the build to the match would be worth it.
Cena leaving RAW would also have greatly benefitted SmackDown! To put it simply: Cena still sells merchandise. In wrestling, that’s 1/2 the battle and Cena is still kicking ass at it. So with that in mind, why not give the “B show” someone who can help. Not only that, but if he’s vindicating his push by being such a draw, they should send him just to help boost the T.V. ratings. Batista has not worked out since his return, period. His workrate has been lower than usual, the act is getting old and with new people in the main-event circle getting over (Lashley, Finlay, Booker), Batista looks like he’s falling behind. Bringing in Cena would not only give SmackDown! their one dream match in years (Cena/Batista), but it would give Cena a chance to regain some face with the smarks. Cena first got big because he spent the first two years of his WWE run against guys like Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, and The Undertaker–guys who were guaranteed to make him look good–and had plenty of good matches. But when the time came for him to carry the load by himself in the ring, he became exposed as someone who was not learning while feuding with people who could teach him. I’m sure Cena knows this and considering what Finlay’s done for Lashley this year, I think a Cena/Finlay feud would be just what the doctor ordered.
Also, when did Cena start to get booed? When he came to RAW. SmackDown! is able to (for the most part) keep things pretty black and white in terms of who’s a heel and who’s a face. RAW, on the other hand, has always been gray in that area and Cena’s act didn’t click. Also, this time around when he faced Jericho and Angle, the fans weren’t buying that Cena was helping the matches and knew who was really carrying things. That was the problem. He didn’t change his character, granted his raps weren’t as good since The E stopped letting him write his own stuff, but it was because he was not over enough to get away with being poor in the ring, and the fans did expect more out of him since he was not only against someone on the level of Angle and Jericho, but it was also in the main-event.
The Reality is…Cena’s title win is what Vince wants. Cena has been Vince’s pet project since he brought him in in 2003 (as opposed to Batista being HHH’s pet project). Instead of turning him heel when the boos started and it would’ve been effective, Vince decided he would whether the storm and get his future flag bearer face champion despite what the fans were saying. Well, Vince did whether the storm and thanks to the fact that Edge has grown into an effective heel (thanks mainly to the Matt Hardy angle last year) the cheers are coming back to Cena. With a possible scenario for Mania being Hogan/Cena, there’s little room to say that Vince will stop pushing Cena or take the belt off him. Trust me, it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing Vince has done.
This week’s “FUCK YOU!” goes to:
KEIJI MUTOH & JUN AKIYAMA
in this case for booking the two shock title changes that dominated the Japanese press and the Japanese wrestling world this month. Granted these changes happened of September 3rd and 9th respectively and I’m a little late, that doesn’t mean I’m not as irritated. I’m not as pissed as I normally would be for something that gets the “FUCK YOU!” for a week of The Reality because the two guys that won the titles (Minoru Suzuki-Triple Crown, Naomichi Marufuji-GHC Title) I’m fans of; Suzuki I’m a HUGE mark for as I think he could be a top notch heel in America without ever giving an interview. All of that aside, the way the two promotion went about doing these title changes is what got me so pissed. Taiyo Kea’s Triple Crown title reign had a terrific beginning with his well received title win over Kojima and his win over Kawada at Sumo Hall (All Japan’s biggest show in two years) gave Kea all the momentum he needed to at least pound out two or three more defenses before the year was done. Instead, they turned him into a transitional champion six days after the Kawada match and once again derailed his push. For someone who Mutoh said was the “future of All Japan” he sure as hell isn’t booked like it. In Marufuji’s case, this was supposed to be (and is) the catalyst for the new generation (Marufuji, KENTA, Morishima, Rikio, SUWA, Go Shiozaki) to take control of the main-event. Rikio had a GHC title reign last year that was not well recieved because he was deemed unready for the main-event. The same could happen here as Marufuji is 2-1 against heavyweights this year, but he’s still not a legit heavyweight and (knowing Misawa, Kobashi, and Akiyama) may not get a long title reign to prove people wrong. Simply put, I would accept both title changes only if they were done differently because by doing it the way they did, All Japan and NOAH missed out on two terrific and possibly money making title change builds.
