Just finished watching the 5/7 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw and even though it's 2:30 in the morning and I have to get up in about three hours I'm going to quickly run down my thoughts.
This episode of Raw was proof that conventional wisdom DOES NOT apply to professional wrestling, especially the WWE.
Conventional wisdom would dictate that selling a pay-per-view built around a match between John Cena and John Laurenitis is a bad idea. Nevertheless, that's exactly what the WWE is doing.
First, let's address why it's a bad idea:
Reason #1 - The fans hate John Cena. Do I really have to get into this? Just listen to the crowd response whenever he's announced. We hate him. For a myriad of reasons.
Reason #2 - John Laurenitis is a bitch. I'm not saying that because I don't like John Laurenitis. I actually enjoy the character. He's played his role well. BUT, he has also played the role of bitch to HHH, CM Punk, and most recently Brock Lesnar, the guy who John Cena just beat at the last pay-per-view. CM Punk even put him to sleep on an episode of Raw a few months ago. So why should I care to see John Laurenitis, the bitch, against ANYBODY much less John Cena, and even more less PAY TO SEE IT???
Reason #3 - The fact that both of these guys are in the main event means that more deserving workers on the roster will have to settle for the undercard which could turn fans against the product, particularly John Cena, even more.
This is conventional wisdom and it totally shits on the WWE logic.
HOWEVER, John Cena vs. John Laurenitis is EXACTLY what the WWE intends to sell you for the next three weeks and it is EXACTLY what they expect you to spend your hard-earned money on April 29th.
Why? Because Vince McMahon has an "Ace" up his sleeve.
That being Johnny Ace.
Over The Limit will sell in spite of itself because the WWE has done a good job building the character of John Laurenitis into a heel that everyone wants to see get what's coming to him. John Cena just happens to be the person the WWE has chosen to administer the beatdown.
Nevermind the fact that Laurenitis has screwed with plenty of other people who could've easily stepped up to do what John Cena is being given the chance to do. HHH and CM Punk most notably. Don't you think fans would've loved to have seen either of those guys take Johnny Ace down? Even PAID to see it?
Of course they would. That makes sense because it's Wrestling Booking 101. You introduce a heel and you slowly build him up into a dastardly scumbag who always gets away with his cowardly, self-serving schemes. Then when the time is right, you have the hero rise up and beat him. If done properly, the fans will be clamoring to see it.
So yes, there will be interest in this match, but it won't be because of John Cena, even though that's how the company will try to present it. The same way the interest in the main event at Extreme Rules had nothing to do with John Cena. The interest in that was generated by Brock Lesnar.
So yes, there will be interest but imagine if the protagonist in these main events was someone the fans actually cared about? Imagine if Brock Lesnar had returned the day after WrestleMania and challenged The Rock? Or if CM Punk had been the one to rid the WWE of John Laurenitis back in January when their feud was still hot? Or better yet, had their feud continued by tying it into the Punk/Jericho angle, which could actually still be going on if Laurenitis HAD been more involved.
But no, John Cena, Vince's Golden Boy, is going to once again be spoon-fed the best angle despite losing at WrestleMania and getting booed week-in and week-out. And despite the fact that throughout John Laurenitis' regime, the one babyface he's remained fair with, and even supported has been John Cena.
Imagine if we had gotten a John Cena heel turn at WrestleMania instead and he aligned himself with Laurenitis? Of course the fans would all turn on him at first, but ultimately, they would appreciate both Cena and the WWE for doing something that makes sense. Wrestling fans appreciate smart booking and good heels. We want you to embrace your role and play it well. The Miz might tell me to my face that I suck and I'll love him for it because he's a great heel and that's what heels are supposed to do.
Nobody likes an ass-kisser and that's exactly what John Cena is. He's a corporate ass-kissing heel who refuses to embrace his character, or rather, the WWE is refusing to acknowledge his character, therefore, I hate him. I don't love to hate him. I just hate him.
Speaking of aces, Vince brought out another one this week in Paul Heyman. I love Paul E. He's a great talker. He's going to be a terrific mouthpiece for Brock, but his being there on Raw would've been a whole lot more interesting had Brock Lesnar actually won at Extreme Rules.
This hotshot, good-enough-for-this-week style of booking the WWE is doing, bringing out these "surprises" every week is eerily reminiscent of WCW at the beginning of their decline. Sooner or later you run out of "aces" and your PRODUCT is all you have left. But by then fans have lost all faith in your product and regaining their trust and interest may be too slow of a process for your bottom line to recover. Just some food for thought.
Hey, remember David Otunga? Don't worry, pretty soon nobody will.
Speaking of representation, how about that promo that John Cena cut as CM Punk to begin the show? Seriously, why was Punk even out there? To promote John Cena apparently. Last I checked Punk, you're the WWE Champion and you're consistently being booked underneath Cena on the card. Seems to me like John Cena is the LAST person you should be speaking up for. He even admitted in his promo that his match would be on BEFORE the Cena-Laurenitits match!!!!! How about speaking up for YOURSELF? You did it once and it was the coolest thing that happened in wrestling in nearly a decade.
Imagine "Stone Cold" Steve Austin as the WWE Champion coming out and confronting Vince McMahon about a match that Vince was going to have with Mick Foley at an upcoming pay per view? And admitting that it would be the main event and that he would be watching after his undercard title defense was finished? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that probably would've cost ol' Stone Cold some cool points. Guess what is cost CM Punk. Yep!
The conspiracy to keep a title on Kofi Kingston continues. Not sure what this guy has on Vince McMahon, or Stephanie, or Hunter, but it must be pretty darn good. The dude can't go five months without a belt around his waist.
At this point in the blog, I'd like to have a moment of silence for the career of The Miz..................ok, we're done.
Seriously, his promo prior to his match with Brodus Clay was even better than Paul Heyman's spiel. He's such a great performer, not the best in the ring, but his character is everything a good heel should be, I wish he were still at the top of the card. Why he's being treated the way he is is among the many mysteries involving WWE booking.
Speaking of the Funkasaurus, his two lady friends got an awful lot of camera time this week. I'm sensing that they may be starting to overshadow ol' Brodus as the best part of the gimmick. And why not? They're amazing and we've pretty much seen all there is to see when it comes to what Funkasaurus is in the ring. Stay tuned to the blog and we'll let you know how that develops.
Fans can't help but pop for the Walls of Jericho. I give the guy credit. He didn't leave the WWE on the best of terms, jobbing to Evan Bourne. And he didn't come back with the greatest of gimmicks. But he's earned the respect of the fans once again. He stole the show and was the better wrestler at WrestleMania in my opinion so even though I haven't always been a fan of Jericho's I give him props for legitimizing his return.
I'm actually going to applaud a decision made by the WWE booking staff. I think it was wise to make the World Heavyweight Championship match at Over The Limit a Fatal Four-way. Mostly because I don't think anyone could care less about Sheamus vs. Albert Del Rio. Sheamus has really struggled to pick up steam since his title win, mostly because of the bogus circumstances of the match at WrestleMania. The company's attempts to legitimize his title reign since then, having him beat Daniel Bryan cleanly over and over again, still haven't won anybody over.
I'm calling it now, Chris Jericho gets the loudest response from the crowd in that match. He won't win, but he'll win over the fans with his ring work.
The last thing you need to know about Raw is that the Main Event started at the 1:59 mark.
Actually, that's not the last thing. The last thing you need to know is, Daniel Bryan couldn't even score the win over CM Punk in a Handicap Match. I swear it honestly feels like they DON'T want me to order the pay-per-view. And it's working because I won't be.
That's all I've got for now people. Until next time, discuss!
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