Wow, Raw was absolutely huge, with the goodbye to the newly fired John Cena, the Miz cashing in his Money in the Bank, and the futures of both Nexus and Randy Orton up in the air, all in the same angle. Add in next week’s King of the Ring and we have a huge early start to the “Rumblemania” season. Let’s save KotR next Monday and take on the WWE Title picture (for the record, with what’s announced, I expect Alberto Del Rio, Rey Mysterio, Jack Swagger and Cody Rhodes to go with Daniel Bryan, Ezekiel Jackson, and Sheamus, with one more Raw star being added last minute).
Going forward, the only thing obvious is that Miz has the title now and Randy Orton is going to want it back. I’d assume these two face off at December’s TLC, although I am rooting heavily for that to not be a match with stipulations since 1) Orton is really injury prone, and 2) It’s their first real singles match for the belt. They could do a chair match as a way to get the Miz the win (Alex Riley), but we’ll see.
The obvious is to include Wade Barrett of Nexus. Wade was finally made to look like a real star against a top guy last night on Raw. He arguably had Orton beat before Cena interfered and, as such, come off as a wronged party, in line for another title shot. Usually, this would be a no brainer, but between the fact that Cena will be hunting and harassing him, we will be going with rogue Cena apparently, and that there are both a Triple Threat PPV and Tables being necessitated for this show, I don’t think Barrett gets in the title match. So what does he do?
Well, John Cena is the most over he’s been in years. He just delivered his best promo and his return would be huge business. WWE could and should really wait to capitalize on that- keep him out of the ring for awhile, let the anticipation build. Unfortunately, current WWE is not a company with anything approaching patience. The next PPV is TLC and Cena’s supposed weakness is Tables matches. He can harass Barrett into putting up being reinstated vs. leaving Barrett alone and another title shot for Wade in the match Cena is worst at. Cena’s career on the line, after all those tears, should boost the sluggish 2010 financials quite a bit.
So going forward we have the Miz as champion, likely facing Randy Orton, while Barrett ends up facing John Cena. Miz will, somehow, keep his title vs. Orton, while Cena will actually probably lose to Barrett and then go away for awhile (we don’t need him for Rumble, that sells itself). Out of this entire affair, Barrett is cemented as the most hated heel on the roster, Miz gets to take his first steps towards being the top heel in the company, Orton can face both Miz and Nexus to try and become the next Austin, and Cena’s character gets a rest, more over than it’s ever been.
Stay tuned tomorrow for how I would change this entire affair, as I reveal my theory on the Raw GM, Nexus and the Miz-termind.
