Hypothetical If Cena had to retire today, would the WWE be in a better, or worse position 12 months from now. Financially speaking I doubt it. Strongly. But moreso discuss the product itself. Would second tier guys be able to elevate their level sufficiently enough to keep things afloat. I hope to god this doesn't happen, Cena is GOD. But curious stuff to think about.
The company would undoubtedly be in worse shape short term, but much better shape long term. The company constantly drops everything and reverts back to Cena the second something isn't going right. If Cena wasn't there they would be forced to give guys extended pushes, and make new stars. The company has been slowly shrinking for a decade now because they are unable to build new stars. Guys are only second tier, because the company books them as second tier.
Y'all do realize Cena wasn't booked perfect in the beginning either? He didn't get the Brock Lesnar push... Hell he didn't even get the Randy Orton push. He got basically what Kevin Owens got... He got a rub from Kurt Angle and made the most of it. Some of these guys just need to act like stars and they will shine thru... Booking hardly counts for anything, if you are a star you can go out and lose every week and it won't matter. The Hardy Boys were jobbers for 2 years but they shined thru and one became one of the most influential stars of this generation
Different landscape, it is call context. They were not 50/50 booking back then. Had a feud with Chris Jericho as a babyface. He has wins over Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho, established as top superstars. Cena really gets over with the rapper gimmick where he is booked competitively against Brock Lesnar. He worked Chris Benoit, remember toothless aggression? Cena mocking Benoit. I remembering him going over Lesnar to get a title shot and worked Undertaker. So from 02 to 03 he has wins over Angle, Jericho and Lesnar. Owens got the rub from Cena, and is back fighting all the other guys. The stars only beat the other stars. So yeah, you are clearly wrong with this comparison. When they started to **** Cena is how they turned him babyface again. He started shaking hands and kissing babies. That is when when things to simmer and the older fans started to reject him. Owens got a rub, got beat 2 out of 3 and is back working guys the WWE has been telling us are just b players for the last few years.
Yep, it's similar to the nonsense with this "Divas Revolution" Guys just wrestle each other, exchanging wins in feuds, but ultimately leading to nothing. Ambrose got his tease in the summer, now he's back to mid card. Owens got his moment, lost the feud and is back to the midcard. Rusev got his push, was fed to Cena, back to the midcard. Hell the WWE was handed the most over guy in the last decade, and they had no intention of ever actually letting him go with the belt until fans revolted. They wanted to bring back a retired part time guy to have the biggest match of the year instead. Cena wasn't extremely over win he got his title push. He was over, people liked him, but he wasn't any more over than Ambrose was at one point. The WWE just never gave Ambrose a push because they were so focused on getting Reigns over. Now Ambrose has lost a lot of luster and feels like a mid card guy. If you want fans to take a guys seriously as a top guy, you have to treat him like one. Only Reigns has been given that treatment. Frankly they've been so poor at it, at this point the only guys who are capable of putting people over are Cena and Lesnar, because wins over anybody else doesn't feel impressive.
Guys the mid card is 90% of the show! Back in those days Angle was mid card, Jericho was mid, card beniot was mid card... And you guys think about these wins to much, people don't remember who wins 20 years later, they remember the feud. Hell I don't even remember who won last Monday night.
OK.... Which one of you is this guy? <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gCGniTRoqHU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Anybody see Eva Marie's match on NXT last week where she forgot to kick out in time. Lol. Ref gave a 2 but the fans visibly caught it and pointed it out.
Yep saw that. Should have counted her out as the ref in the 4 way women's match the week before when Emma pinned Lynch and she was too stunned to kick out. It was obviously not Emma's match to win, but this is a fight. You are out there to win, and all cred is lost when the ref doesn't apply the rules. (could go on a huge rant about other ways refs need to - and often don't - enforce rules).
Paige/Sasha was by far the best match they've done on TV with the NXT 4. Crowd was into it. Story going into it was good and they make me want Paige/Sasha at NOC. Though it would outdo the Charlotte/Nikki title match with Charlotte trying to carry her.
When Paige turns heel, she should tell Becky the B in PCB stands for b**** and then headbutt her like 20 times.
I have no faith in the company whatsoever when it comes to the women. They have no interest in them as wrestlers. They want models, nothing more. Given what we have seen in NXT, it only makes that fact all the more disappointing. We know this company is capable of making the women a quality part of the show if they want to.
Booking is really, really weak on WWE. You used to have #1 Contender's matches for both the WWE 'ship and the WHC. Now, Lesnar comes back, and he immediately gets thrown into the hunt. Sting comes back, and he gets put into the main event for the title at the next PPV. Part-timers and a really old wrestler. This is what they have over the guys that need to be champion the most, like Cesaro, Ambrose, etc. Speaking of Cesaro, he'll probably face the Big Show now. You have Ambrose and Reigns facing the Wyatts, which already happened in 2014. Bryan is out and Owens is apparently facing Ryback for the IC belt. Ziggler is in a useless feud with Rusev. I'm starting to wonder if unifying the belts was the right thing to do. There's too many capable wrestlers, and not enough titles of importance to go around. I could easily see Rusev as the WHC if the WHC was still a thing. Also, Rollins never won a title in the WWE (not counting NXT) before winning the ultimate title, which is weird. When's the last time a guy, after never winning a "lesser" belt, won the most coveted belt? Anyway, back to the original question: I think short term, it'd be terrible, but I don't think it would be good long term either, if Cena left the scene. Cena is technically midcard right now, fighting for the US title; Cena has nothing to do with Sting getting the WWE WHC match at NoC. Cena was involved with Owens getting a push, Bryan getting a shot at the 'ship, etc. If Cena left, I think the WWE would immediately panic and try to recruit even more part-timers and "Attitude Era" wrestlers to come back and wrestle. That's the difference between Vince's ability and HHH's ability, as I believe HHH has full booking power on NXT. The "Revolution" on Raw is a tragedy. Most of the time, it's group vs group; how about they just do Banks v Paige, 1v1? No Team Bad, no Team PCB. Meanwhile, the whole "X amount of time before Nikki breaks AJ's record" just serves to add a layer of crap onto the already-bad revolution.
They definitely have an interest in them as wrestlers they wouldn't have given Paige, Becky and Charlotte 3 segments last week and that match I believe was atleast two segments maybe three. They just had a storyline that was completely pointless built around them with all the teams vying against each other but disregarding the title completely but that has changed and I like most people thought it would get better once they got past that and it has. It hasn't even really been booked poorly (Charlotte, Becky and Sasha have yet to be pinned on WWE TV and I don't think they have had Nikki take a pinfall either..keeping the champ looking strong.) they just needed to put something storyline wise into it. Now they have Charlotte as #1 contender with a title match next Monday the day before Nikki would be the longest reigning women's champ and a great fued with Paige & Sasha that had a red hot first match and really was probably the best match Paige has had in the WWE (even against AJ and whoever else. They've had more focus and TV time in the last month then the divas division had in almost the previous year.
Rollins is who should be champion for now. There is no one who comes close to touching him both athletically in the ring, with such an original moveset and his promos are spot on of what an egotistical heel should be. I'd dare say there's not been such a complete package in the WWE since Eddie Guerrero, Shawn Michaels. As for Cesaro and Ambrose sure they should and probably will be WWE champions down the road. But don't act like WWE isn't doing anything with them. Rollins & Ambrose just worked a highly entertaining title program only a few months ago and Cesaro (who I hold more regard for) has had highly competitive matches against Rollins and lost and had a #1 contender match heading into SummerSlam (they do still have them) and lost. I have no problem whatsoever with Sting getting a title match. Im sure it will sell. The idea of Sting becoming WWE champ is mind blowing even though I hope it does not happen now. As for all the other guys you mentioned they can't have Owens, Ambrose, Cesaro, Ziggler, Rusev, etc all in the same title match every PPV. It would not work. They have things called PPVs that are three hours long and in those they have a card usually 6-7 matches on top of a title match. They need to fill those matches with guys that they do believe in and do have plans for in the future. They aren't just getting buried cause you can't control yourself.
Not a singles title. But he was tag champs with Reigns for a good amount of time during his time in The Shield.
Athletically, I think Rusev and Cesaro are right there with Rollins. Sure, the two may not have the fluidity or the body type of a sleek Rollins, but I don't think there's anyway that can move like Rusev can (as such a heavyweight) and no one can match Cesaro's moveset right now. On the mic, I'll give you that Rollins is better than Rusev and Cesaro (who needed mouthpieces like Lana and Heyman), but as far as athleticism goes, Rollins isn't above and beyond every possible contender. And as far as the mouthpieces go, they just need to find the right one. Obviously Cesaro-Heyman didn't work, but Lana and Rusev were gold, and Lesnar-Heyman is always gold. There is obvious talent and athleticism other than Rollins. Mouthpieces are easy to find, though on-screen chemistry has to be there. Regarding "Only a few months ago." I'm glad to see what "only a few months ago" has done for everyone. What's Cesaro doing right now? Got KO punched by Big Show which probably sets up that match at NoC. What's Ambrose doing right now? Basically serving as fodder, along with Reigns, for Stroman and the Wyatts. And it seems that Orton is going to be that 3rd guy for the "reinvented" Shield? Come on. We did all this, sans Orton, a year ago. And instead of Big Strongman, it was Rowan. WWE is reeeeeeally pushing the envelope with this match. So incredibly innovative. Sting getting a title match is best for business, indeed - if I was Vince, that match definitely sells tickets. I'm not arguing that. But I dunno how I'd feel, if I was working in the WWE as a really strong up-and-comer that everyone loves, only to have a part-timer come back and win the title. Granted, everything is scripted and getting the WWE title doesn't exactly mean you're the best wrestler in the world or anything like that, but something like that would rub me the wrong way. Of all the guys I've mentioned: who has gotten a legit shot at the WWE WHC in the past couple of months? Rusev and Ziggler are embroiled in the most meaningless feud in WWE history. Owens hasn't held any sort of title in the WWE yet (NXT notwithstanding). See above for Cesaro, Ambrose and Reigns. Thank you for patronizing me and reminding what PPVs are. I had no idea that they were what you described! The next Pay-per-view, which is about 3 hours long and has 6-7 matches, doesn't involve any of the 5 wrestlers I mentioned, fighting for championships. Aside from the obvious money influx due to Sting, I don't see how you can justify Sting over current wrestlers. I'm not saying that any of them are buried - I'm just saying that I'd rather see Rollins defend his title in a match against either Cesaro, Ambrose, Owens, Rusev, etc. Fatal Four Way? Cool. Triple threat? cool. You were right about the #1 Contender's Match. It was Orton v Owens v Cesaro, with the winner of that match to face Rollins later that night. Let's be real though, Rollins wasn't going to drop his title on a Raw.
Not that I'm against this match, and I know there's a rematch clause and everything, but I thought Sasha was done with NXT? Who's the "next woman up" to face Bayley? Alexa Bliss?
