The Many Opponents of John Cena

Are WWE trying to convince us of John Cena's versatility as a headline wrestler? I ask because I cannot remember the last time his pay-per-view schedule was as varied as it has been lately.
 
The Royal Rumble (WWE’s January PPV offering) saw Cena battle Kane in what was a fairly standard Cena outing. That was followed at February’s Elimination Chamber with an arena-touring Ambulance match brawl. At WrestleMania he had a mildly underwhelming but still very well received sports entertainment extravaganza with The Rock and Extreme Rules saw him tackle Brock Lesnar in a gripping pseudo-worked-shoot affair that was a far cry from anything WWE has done for a very long time and was an even further cry from Cena’s comfort zone.

Nobody else on the roster has had anywhere near as much variety throughout 2012 as Cena.
 
Last Monday night's RAW brought us the news that Cena will be facing John Laurinaitis at Over The Limit on May 20^th. While the Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and permanent General Manager of RAW and SmackDown may be a former wrestler he is to all intents and purposes a non-worker. That means this match will likely have some sort of relaxed rules gimmick applied to it before the event rolls around. It’s highly likely Lord Tensai and his manservant will play a role in the match too, considering they joined the GM in a beatdown of the company’s top star on the April 30^th RAW. This means there are already plenty of shortcut options visible for this match.

This is what WWE thinks its audience wants to see...

Why WWE has made the Laurinaitis v Cena match remains unclear. It’s possible it will turn out to be a stepping stone to a Cena v Tensai feud. That’s been rumoured since before Matt ‘Tensai’ Bloom returned to the organisation. Their meeting on the April 16^th RAW was enjoyable by Cena standards, which makes me hopeful that that’s WWE’s long term plan.

If this isn’t their plan then it’s a very peculiar direction to go in. It’s well established that Cena is a limited worker so putting him in the ring with a man even more limited is not a smart way to get a good match. By extension that means the overall quality of the pay-per-view will be lowered. At a time when WWE is finding the numbers for its secondary shows falling quality is something they should have an eye on.

Hopefully Over The Limit will give us another chance to observe Laurinaitis's superb selling

Does anyone anywhere actually want to see a Laurinaitis v Cena match? I know I don’t. I’d much rather see Cena make an attempt at elevating some new talent. You also have to ask what ‘Big Johnny’s’ storyline logic for making this match will be (presumably that will be revealed on the May 7^th RAW). Why would he want to book himself in a match with someone who is tougher and (supposedly) better at wrestling? Why would he want to get rid of the promotion’s most successful draw? It just doesn’t make any sense.

But that’s WWE storylines for you, they rarely worry about logic.

Can WWE convince us that Cena is a varied worker with their recent booking of him? In fairness I can’t be sure that that’s their goal but it certainly seems like it is. Personally it’s going to take more than a bearable match with ‘Mr Excitement’ to convince me Cena has suddenly turned into an amazing worker but it could be a nice diversion on a B Level pay-per-view, if it’s given a logical reason for happening. The show is still a few weeks away so there's enough time for that to occur.

I will say this though: if Laurinaitis hits an Ace Crusher on John Cena the bout will be closer to success than failure.

Legitimacy

When Brock Lesnar first returned to WWE he stated that he intends to return legitimacy to the promotion. At Extreme Rules he certainly went a long way towards accomplishing that goal.
 
Cena v Lesnar was different to any pay-per-view main event WWE have ever promoted. I cannot remember the company ever promoting such a realistic worked encounter. It wasn't just the reactions from the crowd, it was the layout of the match itself. Cena bled hard way for starters. Not only did that contravene the company’s self-imposed no blood rule but it also marked the first time in years Cena has bled by design during a match.

It was peculiar for a WWE match to involve blood but not blades too. Usually when a WWE performer is required to bleed they take that approach as it is the safest and most effective way of obtaining the desired effect (and almost always guarantees a good visual too). That’s the case in most wrestling promotions, but particularly so in WWE. The decision to have Lesnar bust Cena open with a carefully placed punch not only gave the bout the realistic flavour WWE craved but also avoided Cena (not the world's most skilled worker, let's be honest) attempting to blade.

The Brock Lesnar Campaign for Legitimacy in Wrestling continued in the days following his match with Cena. It was conveniently leaked that ‘The Pain’ had trashed John Cena's dressing room following the Extreme Rules and he was booked to break Triple H's arm on the following evening's RAW. That was, of course, pure storyline but it still makes Lesnar seem like a dangerous, unpredictable and unscrupulous individual.

  

Would you argue with that expression?

 
That Lesnar supposedly destroyed Cena’s dressing room after their Extreme Rules clash has been a hot topic over the last week. Rumours have conflicted on how and why it came about. Some sources state that management informed Lesnar that Cena would be stretchered out of the arena to sell the beating he had taken. Lesnar was said to be angry that the stretcher job failed to happen and also that Cena pulled himself to his feet to cut a promo directly after the match.

Others feel that Lesnar was going to go wild backstage all along and that management were in on it, the idea being to have Lesnar look dangerous and unpredictable to both fans and talent. I imagine the truth is a combination of the two rumours: WWE likely told Lesnar to act up backstage so news of his outburst would leak online and he was probably a little miffed that Cena failed to sell the beating as much as he did. I would guess the stretcher debacle is an exaggeration and that Lesnar’s annoyance stems more from Cena being upbeat after taking such a pounding.

WWE will need to be careful to give Lesnar a victory soon but I don’t think a loss to Cena harmed him.  The argument that having him lose his first WWE match in eight years has weakened him is understandable but it isn’t true. The truth of the matter is that Cena took a pasting at Extreme Rules and won only after Lesnar got cocky. ‘The Pain’ was clearly the dominant man in the match.

Cena got one lucky shot and captialised on it perfectly. It was essentially a fluke win for Cena. Had he gone through his standard routine of awful punches, a Five Knuckle Shuffle and an AA than it would be a different story. But he didn’t: he scored one AA and got an immediate cover.

It’s also worth remembering that Cena is WWE’s top star. No matter how tiresome he may be he’s the guy that beats everyone. It’s not as though Lesnar is being jobbed out to a random mid-carder with no long term plan in mind.

WWE’s aim is clear: they want to make sure Brock Lesnar is seen as a different sort of attraction. They don’t want him to be just another returning star or face on the roster. They want to emulate the UFC method as closely as possible and portray him as an animal and a machine in an attempt to replicate the box office success Lesnar enjoyed there. It’s the smart thing to do and they’ve made a very good start.

Extreme Rules preview

Last time WWE went to Chicago to put on a pay-per-view it produced the superb Money in the Bank 2011. In addition to being headlined by the hotly anticipated CM Punk v John Cena WWE championship match that show also featured two exciting ladder bouts that set Alberto Del Rio and Daniel Bryan on their paths to world title glory. It was a very successful show and WWE are going to have to pull out something very special to top it when Extreme Rules rolls around on Sunday.

Placing CM Punk in a street fight with current nemesis Chris Jericho should ensure the hometown boy gets a lively reception. I can’t see the match going on last but it should be high up on the running order. Unfortunately I don’t think the Chicago crowd will be as into this feud as they were with Punk’s war against John Cena. Part of the problem is that ‘The Second City Saint’ is going into Extreme Rules as the champion so he cannot be presented as the underdog.

Another, larger, part of the problem is that the Jericho v Punk programme has been a let-down. Had the two kept their rivalry focused on which of the two is “the best in the world” it would have been far more enjoyable. All the stuff with ‘Y2J’ trashing Punk’s family and smashing whiskey over his head has been too much and not what the feud should have been focused on. They just need to wrestle. That’s it.

I’m hoping Punk wins the match and he’s my official pick but I won’t be massively surprised if the man from Winnipeg leaves with the gold. WWE has a nasty habit of having people lose in their hometowns. Punk dodged that bullet last July, can he do so again at Extreme Rules?

SmackDown’s World Heavyweight title will be defended in a two-out-of-three falls match. Current champion Sheamus will face challenger and former champion Daniel Bryan. While the stipulation may not fall into the extreme bracket it’s still an intriguing aspect to the match. There are a couple of interesting things WWE could do here.

They could start off with Sheamus catching Bryan unaware with the Brogue Kick, as he did at WrestleMania, for a surprise early lead. The trouble there would be that it would place Bryan, the heel, at the disadvantage and make him the underdog, encouraging fans to rally behind him. Considering how popular he is and the fact that the company wants to get Sheamus over as a strong babyface that may not be the wisest of moves.

The other thing I can imagine happening is Bryan and Sheamus getting one fall each with the story of the final fall being Bryan trying to get Sheamus to attack the referee (because it’s been ruled that if Sheamus lays his hands on an official again he will be fired). I’d love to see Bryan regain the championship at Extreme Rules but I don’t think it’s going to happen. That Alberto Del Rio is lined up as a title contender makes me pretty sure Sheamus will be leaving Extreme Rules as champion.

Big Show v Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title has been announced but as yet has had no gimmick attached to it. I expect that will happen at the SmackDown tapings or on the night itself. It doesn’t matter what they decide on, I fully expect ‘The World’s Largest Athlete’ to keep hold of the belt and for Cody to move on to bigger and better things once the feud has concluded.

Interestingly WWE have announced their pre-show match, something they are not in the habit of doing. Santino Marella will defend his United States title against The Miz. It’s not going to be on the pay-per-view but I’ll give a prediction for it anyway (as it’s been announced and all). I cannot see Santino losing the title because he’s so over right now and a mid-card belt would be a comedown for ‘The Awesome One’. Santino to retain.

Kane and Randy Orton will clash in a Falls Count Anywhere match. I hope this marks an end to their tedious feud. It hasn’t been enjoyable. Their matches are awkward and both would be better served feuding with younger guys, giving the newcomers a boost and audiences something new to watch. I’ll pick ‘The Viper’ to win because Kane (surprisingly) went over at WrestleMania.

The match I’m expecting to go on last is John Cena v Brock Lesnar. I originally thought the match would have no special rules or stipulations added to it but that turns out that was wrong. Not only have WWE decided to make it an Extreme Rules match (hardcore rules, basically) but Monday’s RAW also saw the inclusion of various stipulations should Lesnar win. If ‘The Pain’ overcomes John Cena he will have access to Vince McMahon’s private jet, be able to show up on WWE programming if and when he chooses, and RAW will be renamed Monday Night RAW: Starring Brock Lesnar.

WWE replaced their original poster, featuring Kane, with this. It's an improvement I think

What should have been a simple match has become an overbooked slice of utter nonsense. Had WWE kept this as a regular match or, at a push, merely limited themselves to the Extreme Rules gimmick I think the match would have been more enjoyable. The stipulations could (and should) have been saved for a rematch at Over The Limit or another pay-per-view later on in the year. Lesnar’s been back less than a month and this will mark his official return to a WWE ring: the whole process feels incredibly rushed.

Picking a winner for this match is tough. I’m largely ignoring the stipulations added on Monday because I don’t feel they will have a bearing on the outcome (I can all too easily imagine the Starrign Brock Lesnar tagline being added to RAW for a few weeks before a stipulation match is made to reverse it). I’m thinking more about the fact that Cena, the company’s biggest star, no matter what the Lesnar storyline would have you believe, lost a very high profile bout to The Rock at WrestleMania less than a month ago. He could easily survive another loss to a big name like Lesnar but would WWE want to do that to him? Ultimately I think they’ll want to establish Lesnar as an unstoppable force to set him up for the rest of the year and worry about rehabilitating Cena later.

Lesnar to win then.

That’s the announced card for the show. I’d expect a Divas match to be added to the show. Nikki Bella surprisingly won the title on RAW and could theoretically defend it against any member of the roster on Sunday. Whoever they go with I’d be surprised if a title switch happens so soon. Bella to retain in any match that happens.

There are plenty of options available for additional bouts. Brodus Clay, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio don’t currently have anything announced for the show, and with Christian fully healed from injury it’s possible he’ll crop up for something too. And I’ll be surprised if all of the new additions to the roster (Ryback, Lord Tensai, Damien Sandow and Antonio Cesaro) are left off the show.

Extreme Rules looks a bit generic on paper, a whopping four of its five announced bouts are WrestleMania rematches and only the Lesnar v Cena contest helping to provide something new. Whether or not it’s a memorable affair may well hinge on whatever additional bouts WWE adds to the show. That’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing.

Predictions summary:

Brock Lesnar to defeat John Cena

CM Punk to defeat Chris Jericho
Sheamus to defeat Daniel Bryan
Big Show to defeat Cody Rhodes
Randy Orton to defeat Kane
Santino Marella to defeat The Miz

Man of the Peeps

On Sunday May 1^st at WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view fans witnessed something that many thought would never happen: Christian won a WWE world title.

For years Christian has been considered “a good hand” by company chairman Vince McMahon, a polite way of saying his work is sound but he doesn’t have that special something to set him apart and allow him to connect with the masses as a main event star. For years it has seemed that Christian’s lot in WWE was to be an upper mid-card talent used in an enhancement role for others. This was the thinking form WWE management even though fan reactions had directly contradicted it for years.

Christian first made a name for himself alongside childhood friend and storyline brother Edge, in stunt-filled tag team ladder matches against the Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz. This was at the tail end of the Attitude Era, when business was at its strongest and younger acts were getting the chance to shine. While it was clear that Edge and Jeff Hardy were the men with the best chance of advancing to singles stardom, Christian earned himself a loyal fanbase who wanted to see him make it to the top too.

When the inevitable split with Edge came the resultant feud was a mild disappointment. Their matches weren’t bad, but they were anti-climactic. The two had been involved in such memorable matches as an act that I think audiences expected the same thing from their singles feud. It wasn’t until it was over that Christian really began to hit his stride as a cocky, arrogant heel, honing his ability to turn crowds against him with clever touches to his already strong promos. His ring work stayed solid too, and Intercontinental, European, Hardcore and tag team titles all came his way. None of those belts were “the big one” but it showed the office trusted him in a prominent position on the card.

The real sign that Christian was someone fans would embrace as a top guy was the reaction he got when he began calling out John Cena in 2005. For months RAW wrestler Christian taunted SmackDown star Cena, until the Draft finally brought them face to face in June. Even though Cena was a babyface (back when audiences were generally fairly pleased to see him) the fans sided with Christian and wanted to see him given a WWE championship. At Vengeance 2005 the planned Christian v John Cena singles match had Chris Jericho added to it when management realised that fans would completely turn on Cena if he were in a fair match with Christian.

While that may sound par for the course now, it was a big decision in 2005. It was the first time a major pay-per-view matchup was changed to protect Cena from an undesired crowd response. It not only shows how unpopular the Cena act was becoming but how ready fans were to embrace ‘Captain Charisma’ as a headline act.

Christian left WWE for TNA later that year, and became the NWA world heavyweight champion the following February. But it wasn’t the significant world win his fans wanted for him. The NWA title hadn’t been the important title it once was for decades. While having it showed TNA’s faith in him, he wasn’t going to win a significant world title without returning to WWE.

That’s what he did. It took two years wasting time in WWECW and treading water on RAW, but ‘The Instant Classic’ finally got the chance he deserved when Edge was forced to retire and he was picked as the man to replace him as the face of SmackDown. I think they’ve made the right decision. Christian’s proven his dedication to the company, he’s a great worker, a better talker, and fans (a.k.a. the WWE Universe) are keen to embrace him.

If his reign is given the attention that The Miz recently received then he could establish himself very quickly as the newest member of the company’s main event club. Ideally this would involve him holding the title beyond SummerSlam so as to give him a lengthy run and establish him as someone the fans are right to put their faith in. Reports that Mark Henry is to be Christian’s first challenger don’t sound promising, but I think the new champion should be able to carry him to at least a decent match on pay-per-view.

I will end by offering my congratulations to Jay ‘Christian’ Reso. An entertaining, hard-working wrestler who finally has the chance to crack the big time. I’d wish him luck, but he doesn’t need it.

Extreme Rules predictions

This Sunday WWE brings us Extreme Rules. It’s their annual pay-per-view of gimmick matches, booked whether feuds really require them or not. I’m against a couple of aspects of this show. I think using gimmick matches because of what a show has been named is detrimental to the match type, the wrestlers, and the show itself (you can read more of my thoughts on the subject here). I’m not a fan of the name either. It doesn’t sound like a pay-per-view name, it sounds like a subtitle. That’s because that’s exactly what it started as. I preferred Backlash as a name for WWE’s post-WrestleMania event as it would often feature rematches and fallout (the backlash, if you will) from ‘Mania. It made sense. Sadly, Vince McMahon prefers Extreme Rules.

At the moment there are six matches scheduled to take place (one of which will be announced on SmackDown so stop reading now if you don’t want any spoilers). I believe at least one more will be added, or a lengthy in-ring angle or promo will take place, to bulk the show up a bit because the current card won’t fill the typical amount of air time the company usually gives such shows. I’ll run through the announced matches and then suggest a few extras we could see added before show time.

Falls Count Anywhere – Cody Rhodes v Rey Mysterio

The fact that this feud still has legs having started in January shows how well it’s been received by both fans and the creative team. As I’ve said several times before it’s been good to see Cody get a push. With Rey moving to RAW this will be the feud ending bout, and as much as I’d like to see Cody go over I think Rey will get the win. Cody won on the bigger stage (WrestleMania) last month so it will be his turn to lay down here. There was also some sort of mask thievery teased by Cody on RAW, which makes me think Rey will need to be physically capable of fighting the heel off after the match concludes.

This match should really open the show as the rules mean they can go all over the building and get the crowd involved straight away. That’s how Paul Heyman used to book ECW and it worked out okay for him. It should be one of the best matches of the night and will hopefully keep Cody strong in defeat to set him up for his next feud (ideally against Daniel Bryan).

Prediction: Rey Mysterio

No Disqualification – Layla v Michelle McCool

I’m not really looking forward to this one very much. I think the two women worked better as a unit. Layla is a good wrestler but isn’t too good on the stick (though I suspect Cody Rhodes would disagree) while McCool is a very good talker but only average in the ring. They complemented one another well and won’t be as enjoyable as separate acts.

There’s an additional stipulation that the loser must leave SmackDown. Presumably that means they’ll end up on RAW. There’s been talk that Undertaker is going to be moved to RAW at some point so I think McCool (Undertaker’s real life wife) will lose here and resurface on RAW after a couple of months at home with ‘The Dead Man’. I’d be happy if that happened as I think Layla has more to offer SmackDown than McCool. It’s not going to be the best match of the show, but it could be decent if they’re given enough time. With the card looking light that could happen, and they could give us a good match.

Prediction: Layla

World Heavyweight championship Ladder match – Christian v Alberto Del Rio

I think this has the potential to be the best match of the night. Both men are very good workers and elicit the right reactions from the crowd, while Christian’s experience in ladder matches should ensure some good spots are thrown in. The winner of this one is more about which show’s going to have the World title than anything else. If Del Rio gets it then it means both WWE’s world titles are on RAW, while if Christian has it the shows continue to have one each. If the rumours that the company is planning on unifying the world titles are true (they’ve been going on since last summer, so there’s probably something to them) then Del Rio winning the belt and eventually getting into a champion v champion match on RAW would be the most likely way of booking it.

I don’t think that’s going to happen though. Having two world titles benefits WWE far too much for them to want to get rid of one. Del Rio could win at Extreme Rules without it meaning a title unification is happening, but I think this could be the start of an experiment with Christian as a headliner. If it is then I hope he succeeds. He deserves a spot at the top and SmackDown as a show needs him there.

If Christian does leave with the belt then I think he’ll be in a program with Randy Orton for SummerSlam. They’re the brand’s two biggest stars and WWE is reportedly thinking about SummerSlam now, showing they’re serious about making it a big show this year.

Prediction: Christian

Last Man Standing – Randy Orton v CM Punk

I’m a big fan of Punk, but this feud has dragged on too long. Their match at WrestleMania was good but aside from that nothing really memorable has happened. Punk’s given his regular strong promos, Orton has played the valiant babyface battling overwhelming odds, an actress pretending she’s married to Orton has watched agog as Punk stomped Orton’s head onto a concrete floor, and Orton’s kicked some lackeys in the head. The feud’s been going since the Royal Rumble and they’ve had one good match. I’m not blaming the workers, I’m blaming the writers for not playing to the men’s strengths and booking them to wrestle more often.

This should be another decent outing for the two, and with the Nexus having resurfaced on RAW they will probably make an appearance. This will most likely happen at the conclusion of the match, with the group doing something to prevent Orton from standing up without having been knocked out by Punk. Orton would be kept strong because it wasn’t a clean loss and Punk would get the win by cheating, keeping him over as a heel.

Prediction: CM Punk

Country Whipping match – Michael Cole and Jack Swagger v Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler

To quote JR, this match will be bowling shoe ugly. JR injured his hand on RAW by punching Cole so hard in the face that Cole’s tooth went through to the bone of his hand, limiting JR even more as a performer. With Michael Cole in there as well it doesn’t stand much hope of being a Match of the Year contender. That said Cole always gets a massive amount of heat so the fans will almost certainly be into it.

A few weeks ago there was talk of turning Swagger face by having him attack Cole. I think that would be for the best: Swagger shouldn’t be in his current role for much longer as he’ll end up looking weak. I imagine Lawler and Swagger will carry the majority of the match and JR and Cole will get more involved when it comes to the finish.

My prediction is JR and ‘King’ to win, setting up another berating of Swagger by Cole, which will lead to Swagger snapping and laying out Cole. There may be an Ankle Lock involved too. Having said all this, the WrestleMania match involving ‘King’ and Cole featured some of the most illogical booking ever, so just about anything could happen in this one.

Prediction: Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler

WWE championship Cage match – John Morrison v John Cena v The Miz (c)

This is the second Miz pay-per-view bout in a row in which a winner’s been hard to predict. WWE are apparently set on Cena and Del Rio clashing for a world title at SummerSlam, which would indicate that Cena will win a belt sometime in the next few months. But I also think they want to keep the belt on Miz for a lengthy title reign. He’s had it for five months now, which is not an insignificant amount of time in today’s WWE, but I’ve felt for a while now that they want to give him something more epic. That would mean having him retain in this match.

What about John Morrison? A lot of fans think he’s ready for the main event and want to see him as champion, but the key WWE decision makers disagree. I think he could progress to the championship sometime this year, but I don’t think it will be as soon as this Sunday (something I wrote about in greater detail at this link). More surprising things have happened in WWE before though, so it’s not impossible.

I’m going to predict Miz as the winner of this. If they want to have the belt on Cena for a summer feud with ADR they have months left to do it. Miz to win, with the feud continuing until at least Over the Limit on May 22^nd.

Prediction: The Miz

Will there be another match added to the broadcast? A four-way bout between the Corre for Barrett’s Intercontinental title doesn’t strike me as impossible. Neither does anything involving Daniel Bryan, Sheamus or Mark Henry, because I expect all of those men to start being featured prominently on SmackDown.

It’s also worth noting that the Friday night brand currently has both the US and Intercontinental championships. That’s not something I imagine will go on much longer, so an inter-promotional match between either champion and a RAW star like Kofi Kingston or Evan Bourne in which SmackDown loses a belt could happen. Of those scenarios I think Kofi taking the US title from Sheamus is most likely, as Kofi got knocked out with a boot from Sheamus on this week’s SmackDown.

One final note: Chris Jericho has been eliminated from Dancing With The Stars and has implied through Twitter that he may make an appearance at Extreme Rules. I don’t think a comment on a social networking site is enough to say he’ll definitely be in Tampa on Sunday, but it is a possibility. If he does return I expect it will be as a face, and probably on RAW. We’ll see him cut a promo before a RAW heel comes out to interrupt and start a feud.

On the whole Extreme Rules strikes me as distinctly average on paper and I don’t think there’s enough potential to change my mind once it’s aired. Orton v Punk, Rhodes v Mysterio and the ladder match should all be watchable, but the women’s and commentators’ matches will drag the show down. There’ll be highlights, but nothing major. And there certainly won’t be anything “extreme”.