A Trio of Triples

On Monday’s RAW Dolph Ziggler was given a highlight moment for his career by the WWE writing team, finally cashing in his Money in the Bank contract on Alberto Del Rio and becoming the World Heavyweight champion. It’s not his first time holding the belt: he was previously awarded it by then on-screen confidante Vickie Guerrero at the start of the February 18^th SmackDown. He lost the strap back to Edge before the show ended, resulting in one of the least memorable (and most harmful to a star’s development) world title runs ever.

What made Ziggler’s win even more special and memorable was the reaction of the crowd. They had chanted for Ziggler throughout the Del Rio versus Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter handicap match and gave ‘The Show Off’ a thunderous reaction when he made his way out to cash-in. Their ovation after he’d won made the moment: Ziggler came over as a headline star.

 

Ziggler doing a Gillberg impression there

 

Hopefully Ziggler will be permitted to rack up a few months as the WHC this time around. He’s earned it and the fans want to see it (as the RAW crowd proved). If he’s going to become the main event act WWE need then he needs to have a lengthy run with the strap. Picking up some clean victories over main eventers wouldn’t hurt either.

As the former champion Alberto Del Rio is going to be a part of Ziggler’s first feud. With ‘The Essence of Excellence’ having beaten Jack Swagger two nights in a row (WrestleMania XXIX and RAW the following night) it’s possible ‘The Real American’ is going to be moving on to pastures new. There’s still mileage in the racism angle but after two clean wins it’s difficult to see the point of continuing. Swagger being written out is not guaranteed though, and it’s possible Ziggler will simply be inserted into the Del Rio v Swagger feud.

Elsewhere on Monday’s RAW the continued implosion of Team Super Babyface continued as Randy Orton and Sheamus had a tiff over who was going to have the honour of wrestling Big Show. The ‘Apex Predator’ v Shaymo bout ended when Show came out and KO punched both men. With none of the three coming into contact with The Shield (the group that had united them in the first place) during RAW it’s safe to say that the makeshift trio’s issue with them is over and they are instead going to start tangling with each other.

In addition to that John Cena got flattened by both Mark Henry and Ryback during the show too. Perhaps Henry’s antics throughout the show were a swerve designed to make us think ‘The World’s Strongest Man’, not The Ryabck, was going to be Cena’s next challenger. We’re not going to be able to tell what the direction is until RAW on Monday. Either Cena will defend against Ryback alone or he’ll be going up against both men. What a high quality match that would be.

Quality issues aside a triple threat for the WWE championship wouldn’t be a bad thing. It would allow Cena to retain the gold without pinning ‘Big Hungry’, stretching out what should be a meaningful, star-making programme for another month. Ryback could argue that he wasn’t pinned and get a one-on-one shot. That could come at Payback and Ryback could win. Cena could then lose pay-per-view match number three, the singles rematch, at Money in the Bank in July.

Three triple threat matches at Extreme Rules? It looks possible at the moment. Sheamus, Big Show and Orton are probably the likeliest, because there’s no obvious man to drop from the feud. It is entirely based on the three former teammates falling out with one another.

 

I think we all wanted a lot more from this team (sarcasm)

 

Both Mark Henry and Jack Swagger could be dropped from their respective feuds. I wouldn’t particularly miss ‘The All American American’s’ involvement because I think Swagger’s gotten over enough to make it work and Ziggler would be better served with a singles programme as the new champ.

As mentioned above, I don’t think cutting Henry would necessarily be the best direction. To be honest both he and Swagger will probably be omitted because I can’t see WWE promoting three triple threat matches on one pay-per-view. Maybe Swagger’s racism could become more overt and Henry could go face to tangle with him at Extreme Rules. Actually, maybe not.

While it’s not likely we’ll see the three three-ways at ER but I do find it strange that WWE’s scripting makes it seem like we could.

The Impossible Scenario

With the WWE championship match between The Rock and John Cena at WrestleMania XXIX WWE has an opportunity to do something many have wanted to see for years. They have the perfect chance to turn Cena heel.

It would be easy to do. What if Cena gives it everything he has, just as he alleges he did last year, and it's still not enough? Cena hits Rock with an AA. The champ kicks out. Cena scores with another AA, but Rock survives again. Rock comes back with a Rock Bottom, but Cena weathers it. An STF is locked in but ‘The Brahma Bull’ doesn’t tap. A Sharpshooter doesn’t make Cena tap. Cena connects with The Rock’s own Rock Bottom but the champ survives that too, sliding into position for his own, proper, delivery of the move as Cena yanks him to his feet, retaining his title.

Or, you know, something like that.

Falling to The Rock in the main event of the most high profile event of the year twice could legitimately send the Cena character over the edge and make him snap. The sight of him belting ‘The Great One’ with chair shots or AAing him through a table would get the majority of the audience booing.
 
The beauty of a Cena turn happening in this particular match is that no foreshadowing would be needed. The reasons for the turn are already established and the story behind it would take place in one match. It would be a swerve turn that actually makes sense.

 

Insert your own American snack food comment here

 

A turn would freshen up the company’s most stale character. It would also create plenty of fresh storyline options. Perhaps the best thing about it would be the level of shock it would cause: not only would WWE’s lead babyface go bad after near enough a decade on top but he would also lose. With everyone convinced 2013 is ‘The CeNation Leader’s’ turn to go over the surprise of The Rock winning would be huge.

Of course, this isn’t going to happen.

WWE are still heavily reliant on Cena for selling pay-per-views and merchandise as well as generating TV ratings. It would also make the (very worthwhile) work he does with the Make-A-Wish Foundation pretty difficult to pull off. There is currently nobody else who could step into this role. Nor is there anybody who may be ready to step into the role in the foreseeable future. Until there is Cena is going to remain a good guy. WWE cannot afford to lose him.

It’s also unlikely because of The Rock’s schedule. He’s likely to appear on the post-WrestleMania RAW but beyond that nothing is certain. It’s possible he’s going to work Extreme Rules. If he did then he could drop the title there. But doing so would involve the difficult booking trick of building up a pay-per-view main event without access to the champion.

Who could WWE use in that slot? The newly heel Cena could work, but having a heel carry a feud in that fashion would be hard to pull off. Doubly so with Cena, considering how clueless he is. Punk would be a better pick, as it would rehabilitate him after his three straight PPV losses. Both options are rematches though. That’s less than ideal. Yet there’s nobody else who could realistically be used opposite The Rock right now.

Like I say, the turn’s not happening so this is a moot point.

I expect the time for the turn will come whenever ‘The Doctor of Thuganomics’ decides to go part time or retire. That’s not a decision he’ll reach overnight, and it’s not a decision WWE management won’t be involved in. I imagine even now there are wrestlers on the roster that WWE wants to start moving into the Make-A-Wish mould.

Talk of Cena going heel won’t turn serious until that time comes. Because of the way the WWE business model is structured right now, they’re simply too dependent on Cena’s success and status. It would be great if WrestleMania XXIX saw Cena lose it and obliterate The Rock in a post-match rage but it’s a sight we’ll be denied.

Carry on waiting.