Tha Black Phenom

August 8, 2013

I think it mostly comes down to the factor of overexposure. If Cena kept the same character but was exposed five times less, say if he was out of the title picture for a considerable amount of time, helping groom and push younger superstars like most veterans do(of course, we'd have to slightly disregard in this scenario the amount of merch and popularity he garners), he would be much more tolerable.

When Cena came back to Royal Rumble 2008, everybody poo'd their pants. It was unexpected, out of the blue, one of those genuine moments that haven't been ruined by stupid dirtsheets; everyone went in a frenzy. For the next 20 minutes, everybody forgot how annoying John Cena was. It was slightly easier to do that at that point, he had been out for 4 months after all. He got into the ring under a raucous crowd and cleaned house. Even the hardcore Cena haters had to admit that was a good show.

He's been the man for much more than five years, his ~400ish day-long title reign started in 2006. When people say they really dislike Cena, if it remotely shows that they dislike the person over the character I'd assume that it has less to do with the person John Cena, and more with the overexposure that he's been bestowed. People assume that he'd get the same amount of exposure with a different gimmick. And there's a good chance he would, he is superbly charismatic and does have an innate ability to control the crowd. But my point is some people just wanna see Cena go away. They've done literally everything with him BUT turn him heel. They had him feud with GMs and other authority. They had the entire Raw roster against him at certain points. They pulled a Montreal Screwjob variant on him. They had him trade spats with Vince, even had Vince go over him almost exactly three years ago.

I dislike Cena's character for the same reasons as most do, but I'll always respect him for his work ethic and what he does outside the ropes. I also appreciate how he's started to sound more passionate in his promos this year instead of throwing out bad cookie-cutter jokes, but he still talks about more of the same stuff. I just believe people don't exactly mean "there is no way I could like Cena", it's simply a case of the unknown. Nobody knows how he would come across today under a different gimmick and/or as a heel, but the one certainty most fans hold in their minds is that he would be subject to the same amount of TV time, within reason.

July 25, 2013

It was a spectacular bout, no doubt. Cesaro has made me a believer yet again. Funny enough, Ryback on the other hand apparently got told backstage for failed protection on Bryan regarding the table spot, I think.

Raw did drag in the middle, but Punk's segment delivered yet again. Was refreshing to see a babyface cut a promo about not backing down and not quitting without making it all.. Cena-like. Though Cena shows intensity in certain promos too but sparingly.

http://i.imgur.com/m3Rnhdp.gif

July 23, 2013

Sorry maybe I should have posted it in white.

No need, it's not like that was a spoiler.. the thing is with those dirtsheets is, they could be legit. But even that doesn't matter as plans simply change all the time. That plan could've been a hot prospect one day and then they decide to scrap it the day after. That's why I think looking upon dirtsheets of MITB/world title/heel & face turn plans are futile, even if they go through with it they'll change a little something midway to switch it up.

That said, I hope Sandow keeps the briefcase and runs all the way to the top with it.

July 18, 2013

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="crownsy" data-cite="crownsy" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>yea, I just think it was a lazy turn man. It's what they do now "This guys a face now, no story needed!" compare what there doing with Punk to the flash turns they've done with Del Rio, cody and ziggler. I'd give those turns a C- in TEW terms.</div></blockquote> In a way I also look at is, bringing back to my post before that one, babyfaces not actually looking the greatest in their motives. Flash turns, exactly. They could be salvageable. Just like with Cody now, we've had heels turn faces under questionable logic before, within angles that make you go "do you really have a leg to stand on to be exacting revenge?" because as you said, MITB was every man for himself. Yeah on that basis Cody shouldn't have been that vindictive. So possibly the reason for the turn is quite simply an emotional reaction of him being butthurt about losing the match and taking it out on his now former partner. Which to me, if Cody works under the sour puss angle and turns into this aggressive babyface(he has quite the raging fits in his mannerisms) it may still make for interesting TV and would certainly be different from the days when faces were holding doors for divas, hugging fans and proclaiming the "never say die, do it all for the fans" attitude when coerced against an opponent. I'm not expecting some badass outlaw persona here either, but.. eh I'll just wait and see.

July 18, 2013

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="crownsy" data-cite="crownsy" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>With you here. And I'll take it a step further, Cody's turn also makes no sense because it was an every man for himself brawl. What was sandow supposed to do? Clap and wave at him? Not sure why it's a face maneuver to get outworked by another guy in a winner take all match, regardless of the fact he's your tag team partner.</div></blockquote> Did you notice during Sandow and Rhodes' entrance at MITB that Sandow yanked the mic off of Cody's hands? Foreshadowing. I'd allow it.

July 18, 2013

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Stennick" data-cite="Stennick" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="25169" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>What do you mean by "darker" babyfaces? What exactly is Cody Rhodes character? Or heck Dolph Ziggler's for that matter. I'm still a bit confused if he's officially a babyface or not or when his turn might have been other than dumping AJ the other night. Also isn't CM Punk the "anti" Cena or heck even Daniel Bryan at this point? Punk is the anti Cena in the sense that he doesn't tow the company line, he says whatever he wants, whenever he wants. As opposed to Cena kissing babies and smiling while tapping out. (I slighted Cena cue SM82 coming in here to agree that he's the worst thing in the world and petitioning us to tie him up and burn his house down with him in it). I would say Punk is for sure the dark, anti Cena but I haven't seen ANYTHING ever from Cody Rhodes or Dolph Ziggler from a character stand point that made me say "take my money I want to see this guy fight". Ziggler is a good worker, I wouldn't say great but he's a good worker better than most on the roster but I've never seen him cut a single promo like Punk, like Cena, like even Daniel Bryan that made me say "yes take my money I need to see him do what he just said he was going to do". I also don't think anyone but Ziggler can be blamed for that. He's been pushed rather heavily despite recent complaints the guy has been a focal point of one show or another for years now and has been fairly well promoted and protected outside of his losing streak before winning the WHC. I've just never seen him cut that promo that made me say "oh man this guy is going to do something awesome at the ppv and I don't wanna miss it".</div></blockquote> Because here's the thing... there was a time in the WWE where most babyfaces were Cena-clones. So yes, "dark" babyfaces is a disproportional term applied to this issue but at the same time it makes sense. Because it used to be much worse. At a certain time, Cena's character was the trailblazer for most babyfaces on the roster at the time, representing sort of a gradual spiral into the PG movement. I remember Matt Hardy, Rey Mysterio and many others catering to this fighting spirit, good guy soldier mentality. Of course, that did not apply for all of them, and there were shades of differences pertaining to the character and as to why it'd make sense(Rey is typecast as the underdog) but in general, the state of babyfaceland was much worse than it is today. To put it another way, it wasn't just Cena who started kissing babies and hugging fat girls(had to use a Batista reference I guess) You couldn't exactly portray any face today as a Steve Austin incarnate or a "darker or edgier" character but however now you got faces who are a bit more ruthless in their strikes in the ring or on ambushes. Faces who curse, faces who interfere with weapons, and most importantly faces who haven't suffered a great deal of change to their character... so far. And sure, we still had all that in the past... just for a while back and for a good amount of time it was not the same. The only thing that made Del Rio tolerable was the fact he didn't change his character that much(even though he stopped rolling in with the cars, became more culturally proud, changed his tights and induced crowd chants... ok his character still changed a bit but the core was there, Ricardo was the main selling point anyway), Cody and Ziggler right now.. I mean things are in motion so I can't say yet but it doesn't look like they'll get coerced into a traditional babyface role like how so bloody often it occurred in the past. Countless characters like MVP, Carlito and others who lost their edge, with or without receiving a push breakthrough upon the turn.

July 16, 2013

Just going off the Cena/Henry match, i haven't seen the show, It's just disappointing that Cena won. At this point, is there anyone that can really challenge him for the title? He's unstoppable and after Ryback and Henry being that last of the monsters for him to fight.

If Cena does lose the belt, it's gonna be anti climatic, at least to me. If Ryback or Henry can't take him down, then what chance does anyone else have? Super Cena is the worst gimmick ever. I don't hate Cena, but if you can't make him human from time to time, then the matches get predictable, and with that you've lost any reason to watch them.

Good to see the Uso's get a push. The MITB matches sounded fun. Sandow winning was a surprise and i will hate on Orton all day everyday for like, you know, ever. So many other people deserve a chance to run with the ball and Blandy Orton gets to go for another title. Sad.

RAW will not be good tonight.

Anti-climatic? Yeah right. You'll be peeing your pants like everyone else when it happens.

I cant understand people being mad at Randy winning the case

It makes it that much easier for him to FINALLY turn heel and he needed a bump after being largely irrelevant since 2011. If anything Im glad that the prediction that Bryan would win and turn heel to feud with Cena like other babyfaces recently like Punk and Ryback didn't actually happen.

The worst part was having Henry tap out to Cena. He is so stale that every feud is a rehash of earlier feuds with minimal variance and I can't believe they ran with the "Can he lift Henry?" angle. Not even 12 months ago they did the same exact thing when he was feuding with Big Show (for the 10th time in as many years). It's just depressing to see so much progression within the company but Cena doing the same overcoming giants story like it's 2007 at the top of the card to remind everyone that the ens result wont change.

I can imagine why, there's a bunch of guys in the MITB match people wanted to win... pretty much everyone but Sheamus and maybe Punk.

Now Orton turning heel sounds like a good prospect. But there's two things about this... the fact that the idea of turning him heel has been running since last year. It's become almost tedious predicting it happening every time something happens or is about to happen to Orton. Also, the fact he won the WWE title MITB. I can't be the only one who isn't too enthused at seeing Orton and Cena face off again. But if Cena loses the title before then or they at least make a good angle out of these two, I won't be turned away by it.

Cena/Henry was dreadful, cannot believe they pulled that "can he lift Henry, ladies and gentlemen" crap again. If that's not enough, at the end when he locked the STF on Henry, he got up and dragged him with minimal effort to the middle of the ring like a freakin' cart. Psychology really isn't your strong suit, is it John?

Also, RVD, Cody and Bryan were on top form last night. I'm not really a Cody fan but they allowed him to shine and he did it well.

June 19, 2013

I doubt you'd appreciate Triple H as a heel either... you just need to leave your HHHaterade at the door <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> I mean yeah he's infinitely better as a heel but he would definitely make it all about himself if he were heel. Can't have it both ways.

I can't picture Steph as much of a heel anymore anyway, she pulled it off the best she could in her "the bitch is back" phase a few years ago... but she's had another(or two?) kid since then, it wouldn't feel the same. But I do have a feeling one of the three between Vince, Steph and HHH will turn heel soon.

May 5, 2013

Brother I wasn't really arguing with you i was more agreeing with you.

My bad then, I just wholesomely expected someone to go way back and use the attitude era as a crutch when I didn't specify in my preceding post what era I was referring to. Didn't intend any hard feelings either way.

Absolutely agree with this.

But the future looks pretty bright to me. Claudio/Antonio is already on WWE T.V., Hero/Ohno is close. You mentioned Bryan and Punk already making it. I love 2/3rds of the Shield (sorry Reigns), and there is still plenty of great talent to come.

It's not too late for someone like Zack Ryder, Santino Marella, Justin Gabirel, Drew McIntyre, to name a few to get the big break that defines them as a superstar (and not the WWE version of a 'superstar', but a real superstar like Austin, Rock, Cena, etc).

I've mentioned this a couple times before a while back but most of the biggest names came from very puny beginnings. Before Austin was Stone Cold he was 'The Ring Master'. Before The Rock, there was Rocky Miavia. Before Cena became a Thug and then a Marine, he was The Prototype. Before Edge electrified the tag team division and then became a multi World champ, he was.... I can't even type it... here goes... Sexton Hardcastle. Triple H, before being The Game, even before being Hunter Hearst Helmsley, had the VERY horrible name in WCW... Terra Rysing(spelling might be off).

Point is, someone will step up. Time will go on. Cena will hang up his boots eventually, and the wrestling world will hardly miss him. But right now, Cena is The Man. Like it or not.

I agree too, and I often think about these past gimmicks as well. I can probably deal with a few more years of Cena, but I'm just hoping the transition on top star billing will be as smooth as it were in the past eras. In other words, I hope someone steps up soon. Even if they don't, the roster has indeed come quite a long way over the last few years.

May 4, 2013

And this is John Cena's fault? IS it WWE's fault that they don't have anyone who is as entertaining as stars of yesteryear? In 1997ish The WWF(E) roster had Stone Cold, The Rock, Mankind, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and The Undertaker all in their prime, all super entertaining characters with their own ideas and their own motivations to succeed.

Is Kofi Kingston really on that level of entertainment? The Miz? Hell even the IWC darling Dolph Ziggler do you honestly see in him what you saw in those guys back in the day?

And again, it's because they are essentially writing a childrens tv show at this point and there's simply much less to do with these characters now than there were back then, but also, there just aren't a ton of wrestlers who are THAT entertaining that the fans are begging to see more of them like there were those guys in 1997.

First of all, I didn't say it was John Cena's fault. This point doesn't have to do with Cena, but with how the result of this is WWE's over-reliance on Cena in general. Second of all, I'm not comparing this scene to 1997, you are, and that's a subject I wouldn't dare touch. Especially comparing today's stars to the Attitude era's cream of the crop. Yeah how convenient is it to bring up Kofi Kingston's name, no he isn't on that level of entertainment and that's obvious. I'm talking about the last few years, circa late 00s where the star power was potent enough that they were giving chances to upper-midcarders while having a relatively rich main-event base.

As much as I don't like The Miz, he was given a shot at the big brass and now back to where he was, which I don't mind to be honest but it's been the case with a lot of them and the main-event scene has generally been narrow. If it weren't as narrow, there wouldn't be as much disgruntlement over Cena's presence. All I'm saying is it's something to get used to. There's not really any blame to place on specifically anybody, management may be feeling frisky for the same reasons you're seeing, that it may be the case that half of these midcarders don't really scream big star anytime soon, that said a bit of leeway certainly could've been given upon certain upper-midcarders. Eventually it has in terms of guys like Sheamus and Punk, the main-event scene is slowly getting out of the shell they used to be in about a year or two ago where it got somewhat bad. Personally, I don't think Del Rio is leaps and bounds above Miz or Barrett anyway but that's another topic and most of those guys may come full circle as top dogs one day.

May 4, 2013

Again though its Randy Orton, the guy left feces in a Diva's bag. The guy has been popped for substance violations twice now I believe? The guy threw a temper tantrum on Kofi Kingston after he screwed up a moved and killed the guys first big push.

The wrestlers they tell people what they want to hear. Its obvious to anyone that wrestlers that The Rock was one of the most electrifying promos ever because of his ad libs. So what are you going to tell any media in the build up?

"Yeah man The Rock he's so great at ad libbing and feeding off the crowd, and John man, John's able to take what the writing team writes and say it verbatim its going to be a great match up"

Not that I know what Orton's past actions have to account for anything regarding this, especially something dating from nearly a decade ago but sure. Yeah it's Randy Orton, also the guy who sticks up for Cena whenever criticism is headed his way. Those two are very tight knit, and so when Rock came back the comparisons between him and Cena started blowing up, both the resentful locker room and the IWC(obviously) getting in on it. Orton wasted no time stating that Cena has more control over his promos than most while Rock "gets fed lines after lines for his promos". And it makes sense, I'd assume Cena has the same amount of stronghold over his promos that main-eventers like Shawn and HHH had, would make sense given that Cena is the top dog today.

I've always directed the hate at the creative team for the way Cena is portrayed personally, and honestly most people do too, indirectly. You see people here say "I like Cena the man, but Cena the wrestler.." or "John Cena's character is ___" obviously that means they're giving flak to the creative team, without outright saying it.

And why is everyone saying no one else has been allowed to reach the top? Did everyone already forget that CM Punk had a World Title reign of over a year? Did Mark Henry not dominate like few others have in recent memory before he got injured and lost his momentum? Has Sheamus not become the 2nd biggest face in the company right now behind Cena? Does Daniel Bryan not get the biggest crowd reaction in the WWE right now with the "yes" chants? Is Ryback not getting a monster heel push right now? Has Orton not been a top 3 face/heel for several years now? Del Rio has won a few World Titles in the last few years (keep in mind when I say World Titles I mean WWE AND Heavyweight belts). Dolph is just now reaching a sustained main event push but he looks like he will be a major player for the considerable future.

WWE is FAR from the John Cena show. If Cena retired today, WWE would not see a drop in ratings or PPV buys. They might take a hit in the short term for merch but it would soon be picked up by someone else. Most likely Punk.

The status quo revolves around Cena. It's not wrong what you're saying, if it was the John Cena show not as many people here would be watching. We know some other stars have been elevated, but it's a far cry from years ago where there was more than one goldmine to milk, and they didn't have to rely on part-timers as much for the big stakes matchups. There sure is more than Cena at the top, but most guys who have a run at the top end up wavering between the upper-midcard and some remote main-event spotlight. Thus, when Cena closes a PPV where he isn't fighting for the title, which has happened several times last year, it's still gonna stick out like a sore thumb.

You could tell from a mile away they weren't gonna rely on most of the names you mentioned for WM29's top match-ups. It's just that before the main-event scene was much more malleable, and today(or the last few years) is just something for many older fans to adjust to. Dolph will be a big star player in the future but they'll take their sweet ass time with him. Sheamus, Punk and Del Rio are indeed consistent big star players, but mostly everyone else will randomly take backseats to mesh with the rising pack.

And this is all gonna come back to the same argument "well this and this is why Cena is up there, and why the others are under" yeah everybody knows by now. We've heard the same tune throughout this thread. You're bound to expect fans getting bored of his run though, and when they'll vent, they'll indirectly point fingers at the creative team, while saying "we've Cena nuff". Some people got bored of Rock and Austin too at the height of their game but obviously not as much.

May 3, 2013

It's not like Cena is writing his promos...and how many people would be given the top spot and then say "Nah, let others have it!"

Orton actually credited Cena in an interview for being one of the superstars who ad-libs the most in his promos. That was during the whole swarm of Rock/Cena comparisons when Rock first came back.

He doesn't outright write them but likely he gets given a few bullet points for the most part then wings the rest of what he gets to say.

May 3, 2013

Honestly though, I put a lot more blame on WWE than anything. I still believe they are a victim of complacency. If you notice, back when there was competition there seemed to be many more guys at the top and many more top spots to be filled. After WCW folded, WWE really seemed to just quit trying to make new top stars, and eventually the then current crop of guys, like The Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, etc. began appearing less and less and eventually for some, not at all, and instead of filling those spots, they just packed them up like old souvenirs. Then when Cena's time came around, how many top spots were there really? One maybe two, and all the effort they put into making Cena a star, ended up making him the ONLY star. . . and now they are dealing with the consequences, especially when Cena isn't around.

This. Pretty much.

It's not about him never losing, it's how he handles his losses.

He spend an entire month telling CM Punk that he would respect him if he defended the title successfully against him at night of champions in his hometown and it would validate his legacy. The match ends on a double pin that is entirely Cena's fault (really great match btw) and Cena comes out repeating the same exact lines leading to the next PPV where unfortunately he had to miss due to his shoulder surgery.

And let's not forget the way he handled Dolph Ziggler beating him at TLC.

He told Ziggler (this is verbatim) "You have been here seven years and accomplished nothing"

This is AFTER he had won the IC title, US title, tag titles, AND currently holding Money in the Bank. To John Cena he has accomplished NOTHING. So winning every title in the company except one is accomplishing nothing to the great John Cena and then if the verbal burial wasn't enough, he topped it off like a true white knight and dumped crap over him and AJ.

and this.

That is why I couldn't help but respect The Rock to a point. When he came back earlier this year he did his absolute darndest to put over CM Punk. "The Rock knows how dangerous you can be", touting his title reign, etc, the whole works. In about three promos Rock did about five times the amount of building up on Punk that Cena has done during pretty much all their feud. Creative team among other things were feeding him these bullcrap bullet points about always having the villain needing to prove something to him. There's a slight problem with being seen as the top dog and the sympathetic hero at the same time. But it's workable and obviously not as big of a problem for WWE to look upon because the bankrolls keep on coming at the end of the day.

May 1, 2013

Not to mention Cena is hardly the benchmark for 'charisma' when it comes to sports-entertainment, haha. I mean he is up there in that respect but still.

Here's the biggest thing you forgot about the "men". Most of them look at character. Even among the casual fans, men read wrestling like a book, and they get invested in the characters. Now some great workers have a lack of character, or the smarky ones get picky about a main-eventer's character(CM Punk's, Orton's in his Viper phase, HHH, etc)

At his worst Cena is a Black Hole Sue/God Mode Sue self-righteous warrior. He's had his opportunistic moments too; multiple title shots when he fails to capture the title, you notice he rarely gets inserted into no.1 contender matches, he just sweet talks his way in. And in a way, Cena's not the first guy to fill some of those shoes. Rock and Hogan got protected/treated to the lengths of Cena in their heyday. But Rock had a badass silver lining to his game and Hogan was a "real american" and the first to do it. You can feed the kids anything but Cena's character is certainly hard to digest for many fans, that's beside the fact that he wins all the time because we've seen that before.

April 23, 2013

In fairness, it was an UK crowd. Would've bet my bottom dollar they of all people would be all over Fandango. But the momentum of the reaction over the weeks may be fruitful and carry over for when they come back to the US and he next appears, it might catch on or it won't.

Raw was average. BoD/Bryan vs. The Shield was great. Pretty bummed they went and done the whole turn with Ryback, but it is what it is. Maybe if he fills Punk's spot it could be worthwhile but even there I'm unconvinced by the move.

April 20, 2013

Reigns wins for me, by his spear alone. I got weary of the few super heavyweights pulling spears out of their asses in recent years, nothing against them using the move but Reigns brought back the beauty of them.

April 17, 2013

^That

and besides, they had the same issue with Batista, who they let hold the World title multiple times, including his first one being a nine-month title reign which only ended because of him wrestling through injury and got his body real banged up at the end of it. But since the beginning the guy's been blowing chunks five minutes into the match - if they went through all that with Batista, it really shouldn't be an issue with Ryback.

April 9, 2013

Oh, and in my post about the little things I forgot this gem following the Shield segment off air

http://i.imgur.com/F3jtJG4.jpg

slightly good feeling when you see how far Daniel Bryan has come.

April 9, 2013

A lot of the little things apart from what was mentioned here were great - the fact the cash-in had a little back and forth, Ziggler breaking off the armbar, Ryback's "up yours" gesture after he Shellshocked Cena...

and the crowd chants. They chanted RVD, JBL, ECW, Randy Savage and a bunch of other things. What a night to make up for Mania. There may be hope just yet, though of course in no way will the subsequent crowds live up to this one.

April 7, 2013

I don't usually go for predictions like this, but all I will say is I don't think HHH, Undertaker and Cena will all win. One of them will definitely lose. The three biggest matches on the card with relatively easy predictions gives me that feeling.

I also have a good feeling Del Rio will retain and Jericho will win, giving Fandango the riding coattails effect.

April 2, 2013

There isn't anyone at his level, but there sure are people they can build around, without losing a step if Cena somehow disappeared. They just won't have a "Hogan/Austin/Rock/Cena" to build from is all. They will still have Big Show, Mark Henry, Daniel Bryan, Punk (although he's been talking retirement), Kane, Ziggler, etc. These people will still all be there.

They aren't the money makers Cena vs Rock is, but they will sell tickets. It's not like WWE is hurting for talent (quick look at FCW, nope, not hurting). With the right compelling storylines (might need to hire better writers perhaps), with the right actor/wrestlers/characters, they could keep things going and stay as number one. Mega stars like that don't come around much, and to be honest, Cena leaving would only make it that more obvious.

You can't "Force" that to happen.

As I said before, you can't just job Cena out to someone and expect that person to therefore be on the same level as Cena. That's why just anyone beating Undertaker wouldn't work either. Undertaker is in a section all his own, and really the biggest "Sports Entertainment" type star ever. I mean that in the most "Entertainment" way possible, because.... Who over 10 would believe there is a guy that was named "The Undertaker" and can come back to life after being dead? One of the many reasons I just don't see him losing his streak to just "anyone", and the only reason I don't see him losing this time, even with him stating he wants his streak to be broke by someone. I'm hoping Punk does, but as I said.. If he's actually thinking of retiring at any point in the next five years, I wouldn't let him win either.

But yeah, FCW looks full of potential, and I'm sure we would see some of that if Cena was to get hurt or what not.

As was pointed out though, there have been instance's of when Cena was out of the picture, and there was literally no one that could even come close to his status. It's not going to be easy without John Cena, but WWE is still going to go on, and still be on top, even if it's Punk vs Bryan headlining every PPV.

One thing that grates me in regards to this is the gap they've put between Cena and most of the roster. Like, fine, they don't have to bring anybody to Cena's level necessarily, but at least make some pushes stick once they've developed. There's been so many upper-midcarders who went back down to the midcard for whatever reason while a select few manage to stay on top(Punk, Sheamus, Del Rio) but even they supposedly can't hold a candle to Cena. Part of CM Punk's flair towards his current stardom was the fact he "never lost" to Cena and always escaped with some dusty finish in his title defenses.

It's not just that, you notice... Cena is so high up the card that he barely wrestles matches on Raw these days. Well, barely is a mild exaggeration, he laces up his boots quite often but at the same time, he shows more parity in his TV matches lately. Everyone knows his opponents will either get fed to him or some dirty finish will occur. There's not as much sense of contest or challenge in regards to Cena, unless Punk is involved or a stipulation. Back in 06-09, it was different because there was more star power. Cena would still steamroll over his opponents but there was a cinch of doubt in the outcome.

March 29, 2013

Now I know CM Punk broke records, held the belt for over a year and such but CM Punk losing to a Peoples Elbow (in my opinion) pretty much killed any credibility in his 400+ day streak and stalled his momentum quite a bit. That was poor match booking and Rock should have at least hit a Rock Bottom for the finish.

That's really arbitrary. Especially considering the legends and top stars Rock has beaten with the move(Hogan being one of them). Punk ended up kicking out of both of those moves anyway.

March 27, 2013

Rock/Cena panel made me laugh. they're so heavy on the soundbites it's unreal. But this was a decent Raw to me, it was brawl-heavy. Nearly every feud there were trading fists.

And the last segment was good purely because it was the first time Cena actually came off as heelish. Still won't check Mania, but I'm glad they're upping the ante on some aspects. If next week is even better, I may change my mind.

Also, Paul Heyman = most badass manager. Who else is simultaneously gonna get on Taker and Triple H's last nerves with two different clients? It's like putting a stamp on your death warrant after signing it

March 21, 2013

Is it just me, or is the build for Punk - Taker awful?

First, Punk is playing dickish heel against Undertaker, he may as well wearing a sign round his neck saying, "I'm gonna lose," as that character doesn't make him look like any kind of threat and just telegraphs his inevitable defeat.

Won't argue against your other points, but this one is a plus for me. It's a change from what we've seen for the last four years with the HHH/HBK sagas. The valiant crowd-pleasing warrior who goes against all odds to break the streak. There's a bigger matchup around which is enough for fans to be torn down the middle anyway(the ME). Besides that, who better to go with than the most effective heel in the WWE. Not many, if anybody at all can do what Punk does. He may not look all that threatening against Taker but it's a refreshing road and they'll pull out some good material, guaranteed. Of course the Paul Bearer schtick is highly debatable for what considers as good material(personally, I think Bearer would've wanted this) but they have lots to work with and can work the angle to great effect.

That said, I think it's sad this is the only match-up I'm anticipating for Mania.

Edit: Come on, who doesn't love Punk playing around with that urn like a football?

March 18, 2013

I still don't know why some people are still so fixated on wins and losses. I just watched the match and it wasn't even a clean victory for Kane, Punk was distracted. And Kane had fuel going into the match. People actin' like he lost to Zack Ryder.

Is there anything hyped for tonight's Raw, I heard something about the HHH/Brock stip, baffled that they haven't announced that yet but hey. (haven't watched since before EC)

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Posts posted by Tha Black Phenom