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Ask 411 Wrestling 06.08.11: Turning Cena, Switching Outlaws, Chaning Sides, More!

June 8, 2011 | Posted by Mathew Sforcina

Hey, I almost forgot an intro! Lucky I checked!

This is Ask 411 Wrestling, I’m Mathew Sforcina, and I’m bloody cold and tired, so let’s do this.

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Backtalking

Jeff Farmer’s Promo: I wasn’t saying it’s the worst promo ever, just that it was a bad promo, in the traditional, old school version of the term. Unless you want to argue that it’s a good promo, in which case lay off the funny cigarettes there buddy.

Splitting Raw in half: Yes, I know that they did it for money, I told you that a while back. I was merely answering the question, that was there ever a point when the two halves had different ratings. The reason for having the split doesn’t matter in that context. But thank you all the same.

Shawn Michaels’ Words: So we have something akin to agreement, that it’s I love you (to one side), I love you (to the other). Then says: “But my heart and soul belong to my Lord Jesus Christ” as his pyro goes off. which makes sense. Thank you readers!

We still need wwe.com to do a feature on it though.

Reasons for Aussies making it: I never said WHY certain people would make it, just that they would. It could be talent, it could be look, it could be dedication to the craft, it could be willingness to travel, or a mixture of some or all of these factors.

Cena Heel Turn: Well, no-one actively asked me to not do it, so we’ll do it. But it’ll be the last thing in the column, if you really don’t want to read it, it’ll be after the ‘SuperCena’ video.

Your Turn, Smart Guy…

Who am I? Born in the Great White North, I’ve lost the only Mask V Whatever match I’ve ever wrestled in. Despite being male (very much so), I once lost a title to a woman. I was inspired to get in the ring by a Kevin Nash match. Although I have one major tag team that most people know me for, I have another which took it’s name from a famous tag team in Japan made of a couple of Gajins. With a son who’s already in the business, I am who?

Dave_W gets the honors this week.

Oh, and I think you’re Kevin Steen:

Born in the Great White North (Quebec)

I’ve lost the only Mask V Whatever match I’ve ever wrestled in (vs. Generico)

I once lost a title to a woman (LuFisto, in CZW)

I was inspired to get in the ring by a Kevin Nash match (Diesel vs. Shawn, WM XI)

Although I have one major tag team that most people know me for (Steenerico)

I have another which took it’s name from a famous tag team in Japan made of a couple of Gajins (no idea)

With a son who’s already in the business (he had his baby pin Excalibur at a PWG event).

That other tag team is the his team with Akira Tozawa, which is known as the Nightmare Violence Connection.

Which show am I? I saw one title change hands and three others defended, and yet the last two matches had no titles on the line. Occurring in the 00’s, I still managed to have someone from the very first Wrestlemania involved (albeit as a manager) and 3 former WCW World Champions all in the one match (although all 6 would hold a WWF World Title at some point in their career). A show with a ‘dream match’ on it then and one match that would be a dream match now if it took place (which it wouldn’t given that one of them’s in another field of endeavour), I am what show?

Questions, Questions, Who’s Got The Questions?

Elijah wants to discuss backstage shenanigans to start us off.

Hey there, Mr. Sforcina. I have a few behind-the-scenes questions and I thought you might just be the right guy to ask:

1) Given that there’s a little thing called “The Guy Code” out there (i.e. don’t sleep with chicks your buddies have dated), is there any beef between Sean Waltman and Triple H due to the fact that Waltman made a sex tape with Chyna?

This was brought up in the excellent Waltman Youshoot video. When asked if Hunter had a problem, Waltman said that the only think Hunter did was send him a message saying ‘What sort of psycho shit are you getting yourself into now kid?” Basically Hunter didn’t have a problem in that he was dating one of his exs, just that he was dating a psycho woman, in Hunter’s view.

And Waltman’s view now too. So yeah, Hunter was just concerned for Waltman’s wellbeing, rather than be annoyed that Waltman was going where Hunter had gone before.

2) I seem to recall a story about Michael Hayes getting plastered at Triple H and Stephanie McMahon’s wedding. Am I recalling history wrong? Or can you elaborate on this story a little bit more?

No, that happened. There was an open bar, and Michael, as an old school wrestler, took advantage of it. He first sang Jailhouse Rock, which didn’t go over great, and then the band got annoyed with him so he continued to sing a Capella, this time Badstreet USA, mixed in with some naughty words. Eventually Linda got up, grabbed the mic from him, and ‘thanked’ him for his performance.

This got him a a lot of heat at the time, but when asked about it later that night he is supposed to have replied ‘a Freebird is always a Freebird’.

But obviously the McMahons ended up forgiving him for it.

3) After having heard snippets of an infamous little adventure called “The Flight from Hell,” I’m definitely interested in hearing the entire story, at least in terms of a rundown of all that actually occurred on this flight, how it started, who was punished and who ended the whole ordeal?

Oooh boy. All right, so let’s review.

The WWF had chartered a flight from England back to the USA after the 2002 Insurrextion PPV, that event being the first PPV to be under a brand (Raw) and also the last show under the WWF banner, the WWF becoming the WWE the next Raw.

Anyway, it was a long tour and a long flight (which had been delayed for an hour which didn’t help), and alcohol was served copiously. And after a while, people were really fucking drunk/high on other chemicals, mostly the pre-GHB. Now, despite Jim Ross, Steph and Linda McMahon, Paul Heyman, Undertaker, Arn, Finley, Heyes and Briscoe there, stuff got out of control.

Now the exact order of events is somewhat clouded, but we can work our way through all the events in roughly the right order.

Curt Hennig and Brock Lesnar got into a ‘discussion’ about who was the best amateur wrestler, which led to them throwing down in the aisleway, wrestling until Heyman and HHH got them to stop, with the idea being that during the ‘match’ they got dangerously close to the airplane door, which was a bad idea that people were not happy about. Even if at that height there was zero chance of opening it.

This however was after Hennig and Hall had stopped spraying people with Shaving Cream, which stopped only after Hall fell asleep, Hall was so out of it some people had to check to make sure he was still breathing.

Ric Flair was parting like he did in the old NWA days, strutting around in one of his trademark robes with nothing on his bottom half, eventually exposing himself to a female flight attendant.

While Ric was taking Lil’ Naitch for a walk, Goldust had taken over the announce system, and was drunkenly serenading Terri Runnels with love songs, long after she told him to stop, until she got JR to make him stop.

But the main story of the flight was Michael Hayes. He was apparently in a bad moon for the whole tour, and at that point was really drunk. So much so that he almost urinated on Linda McMahon, mistaking her for the bathroom. But after that, he picked a fight with Bradshaw, punching Bradshaw in the face on the wound that Bradshaw had when he got color on the PPV. Bradshaw responded by laying him out with one punch.

X-Pac then saw his chance, as he was not happy with Heyes both badmouthing him in meetings and also for volunteering Edge and Christian and The Hardys for dangerous matches. So, as Hayes was KOed/sleeping, so Waltman cut off the ponytail after people were saying he wouldn’t. And the people rejoiced. Heyes woke up and got pissed.

The following day, Waltman put the ponytail up on the wall at Raw and auctioned it off, sending Hayes into more histrionics. No word on who won it.

As for outcomes, Hennig was fired. Hall was let go soon after. Goldust’s contract was not renewed. But apart from Hennig, there may have been other factors involved with those.

But from that point on, WWE banned booze from flights. Although 9/11 fixed a lot of those issues in terms of what could and couldn’t be done on a plane…

4) Lastly, did Nathan Jones really quit working for WWE in late 2003 after a bumpy plane ride?

Not really. Basically he was sick of the WWE schedule, and so he waited for the WWE to go on tour down here, and after they landed in Perth, he quit, thus having the WWE pay for a plane ride home. He did this with premeditation, as he had taken an awful lot of luggage with him.

Jeremy has a bunch of questions.

Hey Matt,

I love your column. I read it every week and appreciate the research you do; I was a journalism major in college so I can tell you’re thorough. Anyway, I have some questions.

1) At World War 3 1998, I remember the main event being DDP vs. Bret Hart for the US Title, which seemed weird. Now, the only reason I can think is it was November and the “anniversary” of Montreal. Why was the namesake match not the main event?

We can’t say for certain based on who it was who was booking, but we can hazard a guess. Because at this point, Kevin Nash was booking. And he, totally coincidentally, was being pushed hugely at this point, winning the World War 3 match to get a title shot. So, perhaps, if you regard him as playing politics, putting Hart and DDP on last was a way to try and convince the boys he was on the up and up. See how he gave them the main event slot, he pushed them, he wasn’t selfish, so trust Big Sexy, he’s not a bad guy and he’s a good booker!

Basically politics, pretty much.

2) My next questions are about JBL. He was mostly a tag wrestler that won singles gold (Hardcore and European, right) until 2002 and his feuds with Undertaker and Scott Hall got him noticed . My first question is why did WWE reunite the APA if they saw him as a future world champ? I think today that would kill his push in today’s climate.

Because he was coming back from an injury, and they weren’t quite sure about him as Champion. JBL was only WWE champ because several events took place, HHH not getting moved over, coupled with Eddie cracking under the pressure, and Eddie then going into bat for John.

At the time the APA was reunited, Bradshaw was coming back from a triceps injury that had taken him out for 6 months, and was back after a few weeks in OVW. The APA was a ready made gimmick to bring him back in so they were sure he’d worked off the ring rust, then when the time was right it was more impactful for him to turn heel on someone who was a friend and long time partner than if he’d just turned out of the blue on someone.

They might well have seen him as a champ, but like Jericho’s return, to have a strong run as a heel you need to start babyface then turn.

3) How much did JBL’s success outside WWE help him become champion? He obviously didn’t need money and never stuck out as anything special. Was he that motivated to become a champ or was it other forces at work?

I cannot categorically state that JBL only made it due to any one factor. While his stockmarket abilities helped him become rich, without the wrestling contract to give him the fund to get going, he y not have got there quite as fast (I am sadly unaware of his business skills’ history). However, the JBL gimmick did get him to the point where he ended up winning the WWE title, so from that viewpoint they were very important, as the JBL push got him to the point where he was there when Eddie couldn’t take the pressure and asked to lose the title, and JBL was there.

That said, the character itself was pretty strong, even if he wasn’t good with cash, if he’d been able to act well regardless he would have been in the same spot, but having the real skills to fall back on certainly helped get the character over.

So not essential long term, but useful overall and very important in the short term.

4) Why did WCW decide to create the Cruiserweight Tag Team belts so close to its demise? I remember the tournament for them ended at Greed, which seems really strange now in hindsight. Were there long term plans or just something for the bookers to do for busy work?

No, there was long term thinking in mind. At that point, Eric Bischoff believed he was going to buy WCW, and get to run it. And part of that new WCW idea was to run the company properly, and part of that was to push the Cruiserweights to the moon. So the Cruiserweight Tag Titles were created as part of that push, the idea being that with 2 belts the Cruisers would have more feuds and been featured more in the new WCW, when Bischoff took control totally.

WCW only died because of Kellner killing it, what they did in the lead up to him cancelling the TV deal was all in preparation for Bischoff taking over.

5) How come WWE only does King of the Ring every two years now? I thought they got the perfect formula in 2002 with the winner getting a title match at SummerSlam. It made SS 2002 feel like a WrestleMania-lite months before.

It appears to be to allow the winner time to run with the King gimmick for a bit. Each of the three men who have won it since they began have, to some extent, taken the King gimmick, not quite as much as King Booker has, but Regal and Sheamus both used the Kinging thing for a while. So it appears to be a simple case of not wanting to make it a yearly tradition so that the winners aren’t force to stop playing the gimmick if it works for them. And if they began to do it once a year after people didn’t catch on with it, they’d be stuck if someone did.

Jonathon asks about a dropped angle.

Hey mathew, I was watching some old videos of smackdown from around the time when Cena had just started the white rapper gimmick. There was a match that saw John Cena team with Bull Buchanan (then going by B 2), to take on the team of Eddie and Chavo Guerrero for the tag titles i believe. After the match Cena berated B2 for losing the match, which lead to Buchanan attacking Cena and backing him into the corner. Then from no where a guy jumped from the crowd and attacked him from behind, and he and Cena went on to injur the arm of Buchanan. The guy turned out to be none other than Rodney Mack. The crowd seemed to be pretty into the attack and Cena and Mack looked like they could have really did some things on Smackdown, except for the fact that Mack was never seen on Smackdown again after this appearance, and later showed up on Raw attacking D’lo Brown. Do you have any clue as to why this angle was dropped and why Rodney Mack was switched over to the raw brand.

Also if you are not familiar with the match, here is the video of it. Thank You in advance.

Ah yes, Red Dogg. He and Cena were friends, apparently, and given that he was a bit more fitting than B2, they decided to call him up and put him with Cena. He actually lasted a couple of weeks, mostly on house shows. But for whatever reason, they, the WWE, felt that the two didn’t work as a unit, and since Cena seemed to be getting over just fine by himself, they broke them up and had Cena go off on his own.

He did appear once more on Smackdown, but their work on the house circuit killed the duo.

Best mash up and/or stable ever? Best mash up and/or stable ever!

And one more for luck.

Laszlo has a few questions.

Hey There:

Couple of questions:

Did Bruno Sammartino ever have a match against Bob Backlund and if so, did they have a (W)WWF World Title bout?

…

*fires up Historyofwwe.com*

Not that I expect to find anything…

Nope, they never did. After all, both were faces.

Did Bob Backlund ever have a rematch for the WWF World Title against the Iron Sheik and if so, what was the result(s)?

Sheik won the title Dec 26, 1983. Jan 14th 1984, in the Boston Garden,
“Bob Backlund defeated WWF World Champion the Iron Sheik via disqualification”. 4 days later, in the WD Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio, “Bob Backlund fought WWF World Champion the Iron Sheik to a no contest”. Following night, Monongahela, PA, the Ringgold High School, Backlund by DQ again. That was it.

I recall Backlund having a fued with Arnold Skaaland around the angle that Skaaland threw in the towel to sabotage Backlund’s match against the Iron Sheik. Do you have any details on that fued like which promotion it was in and who represented Skaaland in the matches revolving around the angle?

Thanks

I don’t recall the two having a feud in the ring. I know that Backlund for years didn’t talk to Skaaland, to keep the kayfabe that he didn’t ask for or appreciate Skaaland throwing in the towel. And Backlund did attack him during Backlund’s ‘Crazy Old Man’ awesomeness.

But as for an actual feud in the ring, they never had one that I know.of. Am I missing something, readers?

Billy asks about a guy in ECW.

Great job as usual. Anyways, I was watching the menu sequence on the first One Night Stand DVD and saw a shot of Road Warrior Hawk doing his turnbuckle pose. Was Hawk ever employeed by ECW or was he just appearing in an ECW ring as an employee of FMW? I do remember hearing that Hawk went to Japan withoiut Animal during a portion of his career, but I forget which promotion it was. Thanks in advance.

Hawk appeared in 1993/94 in NWA Eastern Championship Wrestling, before it went extreme and before Shane Douglas threw the belt down.

In fact, the very first match in the ECW Arena as the ECW Arena involved him.

Chris wants to talk sides.

Most of the time when watching a WWE event on TV, the hard-cam is set up so the entrence way and stage are to the left of the viewer and the commentators are to the right of the ring. How come in certain arenas the hard-cam is switched to the other side of the arena so that the stage is to the right and the wrestlers enter the right side of the ring instead of the usual left? It always throws me off when watching RAW and the hard-cam is on the opposite side of the arena. Thanks!

It’s to do with the way the arena is laid out, in terms of positioning for cameras and lighting and the set. The WWE would prefer that all their shows look the same, and they’d prefer every arena to be able to have the set up from the right. But some venues don’t have adequate lighting of camera positions or whatever to accommodate their needs. The set is modular, but they have to work with what they are given. And some venues simply cannot accommodate the ‘usual’ WWE set up.

Greg asks about Wrestlemania XV.

Hey Matt

Great column, I look forward to it every Wednesday morning.

I have a question concerning the Road Dogg and Billy Gunn’s booking at Wrestlemania XV. Prior to the event Road Dogg was feuding for the Hardcore Championship and Billy Gunn was feuding for the IC belt; why did the writers decide to switch their feuds and place Gunn in the hardcore match and Road Dogg in the IC title match at Wrestlemania?

Thank you,

Because Russo’s an idiot.

Well, maybe he had some justification in his own mind, but basically despite the fact that all the storylines going in were dependant on Holly and Dogg going for the IC ad HC titles respectively, it was a swerve to have them win each other’s title, since it was so totally unexpected and stuff. SWERVE!

(Well, that, and you can argue that Road Dogg > Billy Gunn, but it’s still just Russo swerving for the hell of it.)

But yeah, it was just Russo swerving because he could and it was ‘interesting’ and ‘logical’ to have them win each other’s titles.

And finally for this section, Brendon

Maybe I have the timeline wrong, but Double J recorded the song “with my baby, tonight”. Then he left the WWF, and they claimed that the Roadie sang it. Was this the plan all along or did they give it to him when Jarrett left? Was it really him singing it? What was story with Jarrett leaving? Thanks

Yes it was him, Roadie, singing it. And it was always the plan, to reveal that, which is why after Jarrett lost the IC title, they said he and Roadie were fighting. The idea was to reveal this and have Roadie turn face, and they feud over the song. But then Jarrett left over a contract dispute and/or because he objected to the angle (the story is different depending on who tells it) but yeah, it was always going to be Roadie singing. It’s kinda obvious if you listen to it carefully, you can hear Roadie’s voice.

My Damn Opinion

Jeremy is back.

6) I always thought wrestlers made amazing commentators. As great as J.R., Todd Grisham, and Mike Tenay are at their jobs, Jerry Lawler, Matt Striker, and Peter “Tazz” Senerchia as their co-pilot ups their game. Michael Cole on his worst day with JBL was better than his best with Coach, who was listenable only when he was partnered with Al Snow. Punk on RAW is just another example currently playing out. My question for you is what qualities would a wrestler need for that transition and who do you see doing it in the future?

Obviously there were asked a while back.

Anyway, to make the switch, a wrestler needs to be able to talk, obviously. Not just from a purely basic level (we have to be able to understand them) but you need to be able to cut a promo if you want any hope of being a commentator.

You also need a good grasp of wrestling psychology, in that you need to be able to understand and explain and tell a story that is going on in front of you. Being able to understand why someone is doing something relies on your knowledge and ability to ‘get’ wrestling.

A distinctive voice and/or mannerisms help, a good announcer should be instantly recognizable, you should be able to tell exactly who it is the moment they begin speaking.

Then you have stuff like comedy, wrestling facts and trivia, quick-wittedness, other minor skills that you do need some of, but they aren’t essential. It’s great if you can rattle off stuff like Striker, or be as funny as Heenan, or as mentally nimble as Cornette, but you don’t need to be extreme, just competent in those things.

Now, who do I see making it in the future? Well, Punk, obviously.

Going through the WWE’s roster, Regal’s got some work ahead of him but I think he’d get there. Triple H could if he wanted to, but I don’t think that’s in the cards. Christian could almost certainly do it, and I’m expecting Edge to come back at some point and give it a shot.

On the outside, I could maybe see Big Show, Ryder, Chavo, Miz, or Santino at least giving it a go. And/or Trish, Gail or Beth.

7) What is your favorite movie about wrestling, fiction and non fiction?

It’s cliché, but The Wrestler and Beyond The Mat. But then, they’re not exactly in tough company…

Dylan asks about Wrestling on TV.

What do you think are the greatest matches ever to be put on an actually tv show? I’m watching the Bushwackers vs Urkle and Carl Winslow and I find myself really pullin’ for Urkle. I know Vader was on an episode of Boy Meets World and I’m sure Hogan has done a handful of cameos. I’m curious to know how many other shows have had a wrestling episode dating back from 1986. Thanks man.

Christian V Abyss on Dr. House.

Seriously, it’s Hogan V Belzer on Hot Properties.

The problem with the question is that you rarely get actual wrestling in a TV show, unless it’s a documentary.




Which seems like cheating. But sitcoms either have no actual wrestling (That 70’s Show, SNL), or the wrestling is so clearly faked out it’s not really wrestling.

It wasn’t TV, but I did like the Abbot and Costello match…

Anyway, the best match on a TV show… Probably Boy Meets World, just because it’s a tiny field of actual matches on a TV show. But I welcome anyone disagreeing with me on this one. But yeah, you don’t get good wrestling on sitcoms. Like you don’t get good sitcoms from wrestlers.

I mean, imagine a sitcom from WWE now? BrOhio tells the story of one Zack Ryder, a total Long Island native, who gets fired after accidentally locking an important client (John Cena in a hilarious cameo) in the tanning bed far too long. Forced to move back home with his father in central Ohio, the total Bro has to come to grips with living in a quiet country town. Along for the ride are their wacky next door neighbour Santino Marella, as well as Zack’s new workmates in the Mom and Pop Gym in town. Loveable but clueless manager Scott Stamford, Zack’s new best friend and fellow Personal Trainer The Big O, and object of his desire Yoga and Pilates instructor Trish Stratus.

BrOhio, only on the WWE Network!

Imagine that, huh? Wait…

Now, as promised, the Cena Heel Turn.

However, before we begin the actual turn, some logic to get through.

First of all, for the record, I am not suggesting WWE actually DO this. While on a storytelling level, I can see a Cena Heel Turn making sense, the fact is that on every other level, on a business, PR, merchandise, corporate level, from every angle apart from storytelling, turning Cena heel is an incredibly stupid idea. This is presented as a mental exercise only.

Now, the thing about Cena is that, for all the jokes and Super Cena references, the fact is that he IS Superman. He is the WWE Superman, he is the purest of the pure, the whitest of the white, the cleanest cut of the clean cut. So, imagine if DC decided to have Superman become a bad guy. You think they’d do it in one comic? Across one small arc? No, that’s the sure fire way to kill the thing dead. It has to make sense, and for something of this magnitude, it has to be done over time.

Thus my main heel turn spans almost a year, because you have to do that way. You turn him suddenly, and you get Goldberg syndrome.

It needs to be a gradual thing, where Cena slowly, logically, gets to the point where the character is booed and it makes sense. But it’s helped along a lot by the fact that the main event of WM is set up already, and can be used.

One final thing, the following includes a new character, a female manager. I’m using a name ‘at random’, because I feel it needs to be someone new. The angle can be done with someone already there, but I think it works better with someone brand new. And since I’m stealing a name to make a reference you won’t get it’s no-one in particular, so feel free to pick your favourite American Indy Woman Who Can Talk for the role. But it HAS to be a woman, you’ll see why. Everyone else (apart from The Rock) is negotiable.

For Cena to turn heel, he needs to start acting like one. To start acting like a heel, he needs to become mentally in a position to doubt his abilities. And to do that, he has to doubt himself. The basic idea is the same as Ryan’s, but the execution is vastly different.

Anyway, we begin soon. Like, next week if we really wanted. During a backstage segment on Raw, a new ‘Diva’ walks in during an interview backstage. A woman in a smart business suit and with a briefcase walks up to Kofi Kingston, and introduces herself as Victoria Maylum, and she’s looking to invest in the future of the WWE, and find some clients to help maximise their potential. She says that Kofi might have what it takes, if he’s willing to commit to some changes. Kofi is polite, but sort of brushes her off, although he takes her card anyway.

Across the next few weeks, she turns up during promos, backstage, in the background, always talking to people, handing out business cards, even watching a couple of matches from the ramp, maybe even crashing a Z Long Island True Story. Eventually she comes out during a Cena interview and declares that she feels Cena is the best talent on Raw and offers him her services, saying that she can ensure his title run last longer than Backlund and Sammartino combined! Cena thanks her, but says that he’s cool. She begs him to reconsider. He says, point blank, that he doesn’t need a manager, doesn’t want a manager, and he’s taken besides.

Ms. Maylum seems very annoyed, but leaves. Later that night, she sicks her new client/s on Cena, beating him up.

This kicks off a long, drawn out angle, of Maylum Enterprises V Cena, as she takes on more and more clients to try and get rid of Cena, and trying to help them win, but not physically attacking Cena. She gives them gameplans, she slides them weapons, positions stuff, but she is no physical threat to anyone at all. She doesn’t wrestle, she doesn’t even slap people, she’s a pure manager. Each month, it’s a new threat, R-Truth, Skip Sheffield, Miz, Del Rio, whoever, she signs up with guy after guy trying to knock Cena down, dumping them if/when they fail, keeping some around as lackeys. During this time, Cena becomes a fighting champion, defending the title against her various clinets and others almost every week, certainly at every house show, while keeping up his myriad of appearances and promotional stuff, he’s pushed as being the Face of the WWE a great deal.

And then at TLC, he has a gruelling Tables match say, and defeats Maylum’s “Last Big Hope”, whoever it is, it’s billed as being her last real crack at it, with one of the lesser clients in her retinue having a shot on Raw the following night after winning a title shot earlier that night. Cena overcomes the odds and wins the match, but it’s a brutal match.

The next night on Raw, he’s all smiles, he’s finally stopped Maylum, after mopping up the leftovers, he’s going to go onto the Rumble, then WM and defend the title against The Rock! People cheer. The main event is Maylum’s perennial lackey V Cena for the belt. It’s all going to plan, Cena’s got this covered, then, while going for the STF, the guy kicks Cena off, Cena crashes into a turnbuckle Maylum exposed earlier, staggers out, gets rolled up, 1, 2…

3?

EVERYONE is stunned as Cena doesn’t kick out in time. The ref, Ms. Maylum, the announcers, the entire crowd. Even the winner seems surprised as he’s handed the title, but then he celebrates like he just won the biggest match of his life. Which he has. Raw ends on a close up of Cena, sitting in the middle of the ring, his face a mask of confusion and shock.

But he comes back next week and admits that maybe he was overworked. Not that he’s taking anything away from ‘The New Champ’, but really, he got lucky. Everyone knows it. Ms. Maylum disagrees, but even she clearly has doubts as her client is set to defend the title at the Rumble against Cena, everyone else on the roster all clearly thinking Cena’s going to take it back, even if they all say they hope the other guy wins, so when they win the Rumble it’ll be a cakewalk at WM.

But at the Rumble, Cena again comes up short by a slim margin. No run ins or anything, just a huge fluke win. The champ works the midsection, and then when Cena goes for the AA he turns it into a crucifix and then grabs tights for another ‘Cena kicks out at 3.00001′ pinfall.

Cena again is surprised more than anything, and isn’t seen for a few weeks. When he comes back, Maylum Enterprises is in the ring, celebrating another (fluke) victory for the Champ, when he comes out with a chair and lays out everyone, stopping, as always, with Maylum. He never hit her, not once, given that she never attacked him, physically. She seems scared out of her mind as Cena stands there, chair in hand… And then he swings. He misses, as she’s been pulled out by a client, but he tries to hit her.

Cena begins to wrestle with much more aggressiveness, as now when he wrestles there’s a competitive spirit he didn’t really have before. Every punch has a little more oomph behind it, every hold is locked in a little tighter. He talks a little less, as he’s now all business, even as Rocky comes back in the lead up and makes fun of him, Cena just says that this match is the most important he’s ever had, as much as Rocky jokes around, he knows it too. Rock agrees.

Then at WM, they have the match, and after 30 or so minutes when no clear winner is established, just as Rock locks in a Sharpshooter, Maylum’s boys hit the ring (after the Champ was destroyed by someone else earlier on) and attack both men, Rocky taking the worst of it. The two men fight off Maylum’s goons, then Cena grabs a mic and says that he’s not letting this match end on a crappy no contest. What do you say Rock, restart? Rock agrees, and Cena makes him tap out dead center after a short bit. Do the whole Rock passes the torch dealy, although Cena seems a little distant as he takes in the crowd cheers.

But then, as Maylum points out the following night, Cena didn’t beat Rock clean, he had help, from her guys. And Cena agrees. He tells her, point blank, that they ruined the match. And for that, they will pay.

Each week, he takes out one of her guys, physically destroying them, be it in the ring, or backstage. The fans cheer this, although by now they should be beginning to get a little worried as Cena’s new attitude and methodology is… kinda brutal.

This all gets to a head at Whatever PPV Backlash is now, when Cena defeats Ms Maylum’s last client in a very nasty match, and then AA’s Victoria (after she did nothing to him directly) off the stage into some sort of giant pyro effect, with the PPV ending on her screaming as she’s been burnt horribly.

The following night on Raw, the WWE Champ says that he’s not thrilled at how Cena did it, but hey, Maylum’s gone, so let’s have a title match! And then, during that match, finally, the Champ proves tough to handle, and then, after a ref bump, Cena is visibly pinned, but then as the champ goes to wake up the ref, Cena grabs a chair and just murders the poor guy, and then pins him to win the belt.

Because now, Cena thinks he has to do this. He HAS to do whatever is needed to win, to be ‘Da Champ’, he can’t rely on his pure in ring skill anymore. He couldn’t beat The Rock by himself, he let himself lose the title by taking on too much, he has to be the champ ‘for the fans’, and that means, now, playing ‘dirty’. If his opponents don’t respect him, he won’t respect them. Cena will do what he has to do win, and that, now, means a lot more than it used to. But he did it. Da Champ is here.

And Da Champ is now, hopefully, booed out of the building.

I’ll admit that’s a bloody long angle, and if you managed to make it this far, congratulations. But my basic point is this, that turning Cena heel is such an insanely big shift in the WWE landscape as it is now that you have to do it like this, or at least across several months, to have it make sense and not just ruin Cena’s credibility. Doesn’t have to be this way, but if you’re not going to wait for kids to tire of him, then it has to be done as a major story arc like this.

But that’s just my view. What’s yours?

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Mathew Sforcina

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