High Road/Low Road 11.28.08: Cena vs. Jericho
Posted by Sat & Chad Nevett on 11.28.2008
Chris Jericho vs John Cena. Epic feud or Epic fail? Plus feedback on the Bella twins. They're hot, you know!
Welcome back to the High Road/Low Road!
A brief explanation of the column: Uncletrunx takes the Low Road (negative view) on angles, gimmicks, and other wrestling related "stuff" while Sat takes the High Road (positive view).
The Results for the Bella Twins:
High Road: 56%
Low Road: 39%
Both Roads: 6%
John Cena versus Chris Jericho at the Survivor Series
BEFORE THE SHOW
High Road:
I think that this is the best way for John Cena to come back. First, he is a big enough star where nobody is going to question whether he should be in the title picture right away. I also like the WWE holding off his debut until the pay per view because if the fans want to see John Cena's return, then they should buy the pay per view. And in this case, you will see a rise in the pay per view numbers and the next night on RAW. This is a double win for the WWE.
Low Road:
While I can't argue that Cena isn't main event material, his comeback straight to the title seemed somehow dull, like a pale imitation of the great return he made at the Royal rumble. It was as if we'd seen it all before, mostly because we had. It was great the first time, now it feels like more of the same.
High Road:
Having a returning superstar come in for a title match would probably be a bad idea, but this match has some back-story. The first thing I cannot be sure of, but I believe that John Cena's first pay per view match was against Chris Jericho. Chris Jericho was the one that had the first interview with John Cena when John Cena arrived on RAW. And finally, let's not forgot that it was John Cena that got Chris Jericho "fired" from the WWE.
Low Road:
Absolutely, and it would make complete sense if "unfinished business" was the storyline they were going for and this was right at the start of Jericho's latest run. As it is, none of those points is relevant to this feud, they've missed the boat on using that storyline.
High Road:
I believe that this will be John Cena's first match back because I have not read his name on any of the house show reports. Now, this could be looked at as a bad thing, but I do not really see it that way. First, this shows that the WWE has tremendous faith that John Cena will bring his 'A' game. Plus, even if Cena has some ring rust, he is in the ring with a great wrestler, so, it will be disguised. I see this being the usual Chris Jericho/John Cena match.
Low Road:
I can't deny it was a good match from a guy returning from injury. My problem is that we're essentially back to the booking from the mid ‘80s. Cena (Hulk) as the hero who overcomes the odds every single time. I'm finding it dull, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. In 1997, Vince McMahon declared that he was no longer going to insult the intelligence of the fans, and that the Superhero was passé. I can only assume it's now OK to insult our intelligence.
High Road:
The best way for the WWE to get people to buy their pay per view is to basically advertise a title change with one of their top stars winning the title. That is basically what the WWE has done with the John Cena video packages that they have been airing. And I think that making it seems like John Cena is winning is definitely going to get people to buy their pay per view. But, there is some intrigue to this match and I will leave that for the next high road.
Low Road:
I'm writing after the match so it's unfair of me to comment here! Suffice to say, it seems like more of the same; Cena hyped to the moon to get the kids to buy his merchandise.
High Road:
While I did write above that the WWE is making it seem like John Cena is winning, something in the back of my mind is saying that it will not happen. Lately when something is too obvious, the WWE throws a curveball. That is why I am not sure what is going to happen. Even though, I am saying this, I still think that people are going to dismiss this and say that Cena is winning the title.
Low Road:
Again, hindsight makes it unfair for me to say anything here about the result of the match, but the consensus among the folks I was watching with was "They're jobbing Jericho out again."
AFTER THE SHOW
High Road:
With John Cena winning the World Title, the road to WrestleMania is now very clear. I think that now, we will see John Cena taking the title all the way to WrestleMania and Batista either winning the Royal Rumble or the Elimination Chamber match. I think part two of this match will definitely have a ton of back story and could definitely be better than their SummerSlam match.
Low Road:
I get the horrible feeling that's what is going to happen too. I really don't want to see it; I feel there are all sorts of matches I'd rather see at Wrestlemania and with Cena back on top it's all got dull again. The second point here is that Jericho is being buried horribly. On Sunday he was pinned cleanly, on Monday he was battered all over the place; how he's supposed to be a credible main event level wrestler now is beyond me. If they're making him the "chicken shit heel" then surely the money is in the chase; keeping the belt on him and making the fans wait for Cena's big chance to beat him up is where the interest lies, not having Cena pin then kill him. Jericho is devalued almost to the point of uselessness by this which is terrible considering that he's the best heel they have on Raw.
High Road:
One of the things that the WWE has done forever is that they always have a wrestler lose in their hometown. I remember a few years ago, John Cena and Edge both took losses in their hometown in consecutive pay per views. For me, I think that it is a little predictable and something needed to be done to shake it up. With John Cena winning the title in his hometown, maybe now we can not be sure about what is going to happen in a wrestler's hometown.
Low Road:
I don't think someone wrestling in their hometown has been a factor for a long time now. What I'm more concerned about is the storyline. How are they going to bring Jericho back and make him credible again? Also, Cena's whole "fan loving" persona is horrible. It really is like they want him to be Hulk Hogan.
High Road:
I like the fact that John Cena won this match with no outside interference and in a straight wrestling match. Lately, the WWE has either had a gimmick match for the World Title matches or they have had multiple interferences. Eventually the fans are going to tire of this and I think that hopefully this leads to more wrestling matches with no outside interferences.
Low Road:
I have no problems with clean wins and I don't even think losing cleanly is necessarily too terrible for a wrestler. However, in Jericho's case losing cleanly to Batista and Cena in such a short time then being demolished by Cena next day is an absolute momentum killer. It's such a shame that WWE is moving the belt around so fast and showing that Jericho is basically a transitional champ at best. It's a waste of a great talent to give us more uninspired Cena superhero booking.
High Road:
John Cena winning the World Title should lead to a new specialty belt. Now, I know that some of you are going to complain that this sucks and the fact that the current World Title has a ton of prestige. But, it makes sense from an economic standpoint. The WWE has been selling the World Title for almost six years. The people that wanted to buy this belt have already bought it. John Cena's spinner title has been a huge seller, so it makes sense for him to create a new belt. John Cena winning the title should give the WWE a new top merchandise seller.
Low Road:
Yes. Yes it will. Then both versions of the world title can be horrible gimmick belts designed only to shift merchandise to children. That would just about sum up the whole situation nicely.
Simply write "High Road", "Low Road", or "Both Roads" in the comment section.
Comments:
Below are the comments for last week's columns and our responses. The comments that will be included will be the ones that pertain to this week's column. Also, your comment will not be included if you are commenting on another reader's comment.
Bobby C Writes:
Low Road - after the "shocking" reveal that they were twins - we now have - well - two generic Divas that look alike. For twins to be successful - Brie and Cheddar (or whatever the others name is) will need to be heels because heels are cheaters (and the twin switcheroo is cheating).
Sat: I agree that it would make sense if they were heels, but I see why the WWE did this. Because the males fans are more likely to cheer twin females.
Uncletrunx: I resisted the urge to use the cheese based jab, only to see the first comment go straight for it! Well done!
Guest#1995 Writes:
"Maria, Eve, Michelle, Maryse, Victoria, and Natalya are basically all playing the same character except that they are either faces or heels.
Out of those names, only Maria and Eve are playing similar roles. Michelle is a tweener, Natalya is a really good technical wrestler heel, Victoria is the goofball and comic relief, and Maryse is the arrogant heel with a mean streak.
My vote for the Bellas is High Road. It's really not their fault that their matches are so short, and I don't know too many veteran wrestlers who can display everything they have in 90 second and 2 minute matches let alone two people who have been wrestling for about 1 year.
Sat: In terms on actual characters, only Victoria and Maryse have a character. The rest are all basically the same character except they are either tweeners, heels, or faces. And I agree, you can't blame the Bella Twins for the short matches.
Uncletrunx: Whoever is to blame, it's still a low road.
Rocky Writes:
Low Road - WWE needs to stop hiring girls with limited wrestling skills, or how about keeping them down in developmental until they are really ready? Yeah, WWE isn't that smart.
Sat: They have been wrestling for at least a year. And with the WWE is cost cutting mode, I can't see them hiring actual wrestlers.
Uncletrunx: Given that WWE is trying to remove wrestling altogether, I can see them hiring "entertainers" who have no wrestling skill at all more and more regularly.
The Gold Standard Writes:
Low Road.While their hot and stuff I don't see them going anywhere.Maybe if their were a Diva's tag title I'd think otherwise but just thinking of the Divas title let alone a Divas Tag Title makes my head hurt...
Sat: We could see the Bella Twins win the WWE Tag Team champions because we all know that in the eyes of the WWE the women are considered better than the tag teams.
Uncletrunx: Yes we could. That would make my head hurt.
Guest#2241 Writes:
High Road.
They have an act no Divas have ever had, and they've shown promise in the ring.
Plus, there seems to be interest in them as the were the #1 searched term on Yahoo.com on Thursday and even received some coverage on Sports Illustrated's website today.
Sat: I can't comment on the legitimiancy of the yahoo #1 searched item, but if they got some love on Sports Illustrated, then that is a huge for them. Of course, depends on what the WWE does with this coverage.
Uncletrunx: They have shown promise but I still get the feeling that they're learning on the job.
Iron Knee Writes:
Low road. They've shown very little in the ring thus far and their hire means that Nattie and Victoria will keep on jobbing to less skilled wrestlers. The WWE needs to merge the women's divisions. Then, they ought to cut everyone except: Beth, Nattie, Victoria, Michelle, and Mickie. That gives you two faces and three heels, for the time being.
Sat: When was the last time the divas actually showed us a lot in terms of ring work? It has been awhile and to cut them because they haven't show a lot is a bad move.
Uncletrunx: Yes. Let's not get rid of the people who can't work a match, let's keep them. Let's get job out the talented people to those who are far less talented. Brilliant.
The Great Captain Smooth Writes:
It's too early for any road. They haven't had enough time for people to properly judge them. They don't come off as very impressive yet, but they have a novelty due to them being twins. TWINS!!! That's it, high road all the way! :-)
Sat: See, Twins females are always a high road. Though, I agree that we need more time to judge this.
Uncletrunx: I'm sitting here, shaking my head slowly and sadly. Twins! Whee! High Road! Set off fireworks! You lot are so easily pleased...
KanyonKreist Writes:
Both roads; on one hand, it's a sexed-up new twist on the old "twins act", a recurring gimmick in wrestling for the past, what, century? Yeah, the Bellas look better in tights than the Harris Bros. ever did. On the other hand, don't the Divas all look enough alike already? I've also got enmity toward anybody who takes part in the continual burial of my favorite WWE Dive of all time, Victoria.
Also, your Divas tag team argument got me thinking, and now I've come... to the conclusion that there should be one Women's Champion and also a resurrected Women's Tag Team Championship. They've got way more Divas than male tag teams already; wouldn't that make everybody happy?
Sat: Good point about all of the divas looking the same. I didn't think about it, but I think you may be right here.
Uncletrunx: There are too many belts already, adding another would help nobody. That said, with one world champ, one brand having the IC belt, the other having the US belt, ECW having that belt, plus one set of male tag belts and one diva belt, there could be room, if and only if the women were all on one brand.
Guest#1098 Writes:
High road...but just a suggestion, why do you guys pick out stupid topics for this particular column? I mean, we just heard about Christian ready to return to the WWE yet you choose The Bella Twins as the topic. FAIL
Sat: Usually I am in charge of picking topics. And my general belief in picking topics is try to do something that nobody is doing and write on a topic that is happening right now. While the odds are good that Christian will be coming to the WWE, it is not a sure thing.
Uncletrunx: I agree with Sat here; the Bella twins were (allegedly) the no.1 searched item on Yahoo and as such were newsworthy. Plus, there's still time for the Christian column. Next week? We will take requests if they're sensible.
BWG Writes:
Low Road:
No offense to the twins themselves, because I'm sure they'll improve in-ring in time (if Candace could like she did last year, I'll give the benefit of the doubt). At the end of the day, though, there simply isn't interest given to the Divas division (or women's wrestling in the 'E period) to amke me wanna care.
Of course, I'll watch their matches for the time being regardless, since they are tag team right now, and I'm curious to see how well their run is done compared to the last few sets of twin teams that have come along: Gymini, who no one cared about, and the Bashams, who aren't actually twins and didn't quite look like it either, but were decent workers and had enough charisma to have heat for a while.
Sat: I agree with you that their is no interest in the Divas division. And I think that the Bella Twins will have a better run than the Bashams and the Gymini.
Uncletrunx: I think they'll have the same run as soon as the novelty wears off.
Brad Writes:
High Road! Hot, Twins, can wrestle, hot and twins. I really think that argument is suffice.
Sat: Yeah, I agree. I think people are overthinking this. They are decent wrestlers and they look very hot. Add twins and this is a high road.
Uncletrunx: Yes. Hot twins. No think no more. Twins. Hot. Brain turn off. Watch twins. Give McMahon all money. Twins. Yes. Hot.
Matt Eli Writes:
High Road. I like the Bella Twins. For the little time they have spent in the ring, they are pretty damn good. They play likable characters and the storylines that can come of this are pretty awesome (A Bella vs. Nikki feud? Could be interesting).
Sat: I agree that they are getting a bad rep for their in ring work. They have shown that they are decent enough. And as for the Bella/Nikki feud, it will definitely be better than Undertaker versus Undertaker.
Uncletrunx: Twins. Hot. Better than Undertaker vs Undertaker. Twins. Hot.
Michelle Writes:
Very low road. They're boring, repetitive and invinsible. Their 'gimmick' is pretty lame and much more suited to a heel pair. And they're pretty ugly if you ask me, in a lot of their photoshoots and live appearences they can both look extremely latin-tranny-trash.
Sat:
Uncletrunx: Not ugly. Hot. Stop thinking. Twins. Hot. Yes.
Maticus Writes:
Low Road- They are cutting guys left and right and they add two talentless divas and a facepaint wearing fairy? Jeeze what next, we bring back Piper for an old school Goldust Piper reunion?
Sat: Has the WWE really cut anybody valuable? The only guy that could be considered valuable would be Burke, but besides that nobody. And I don't really see the Bella Twins as talentless, they have shown some talent.
Uncletrunx: Talent for being hot. Twins. Hot.
Your reasons for taking the High Road, Low Road, or Both Roads and suggestions for future High Road/Low Road are welcome at satuncletrunx@gmail.com or in the comment section. Your reply will be included in next week's column.
Posted By: jonah (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Both Roads.I don't mind Cena being champ but why at Y2Js expense.Y2J should of been champ up until Mania to give him a decent reign.This year the world title went from edge to taker to edge to punk to jericho to batista to jericho to cena.WWE needs to make their mind up
Posted By: The Gold Standard (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 01:16 PM
High road: I like seeing Jericho feuding with "the face of WWE", John Cena; Jericho deserves to be in such a high-profile program. Also, if they play it up right, pitting Jericho's cynicism, bitterness and self-serving manipulation against Cena's youthful energy and genuine love for all things WWE could create loads of interest among the audience, both the kids who believe in Cena, and the internet trolls like us who admire the astounding work that Jericho is doing.
I just hope the angle is given time to take off and flourish, before WWE kicks into "road to WrestleMania" mode.
Posted By: KanyonKreist (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 01:46 PM
I'm gonna break with tradition and go NEITHER road: it simply is too soon to tell. It's only been 1 week. Maybe they have something in mind. How many of us were pissed when Jericho was made guest ref at Backlash and then "nothing came of it"... in hindsight, Jericho called the match fair to add to his heelish "moral high ground" character. Cena went over the line last week (well, according to Cole & King). Could we be seeing the slow burn Cena heel turn? If he DOESN'T change the belt I would take that as a sign that the heel turn is coming. Of course, by the time the results of this are printed we may see a new spinner belt, Hornswaggle beat Jericho and any other number of abominations... BUT for right now-- cautiously optimistic (EXTREMELY cautious and SLIGHTLY optimistic) is my answer.
Posted By: M:-X (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 01:54 PM
High Road because a show without Batista headlining is a good show
Posted By: Guest#8841 (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 02:28 PM
No road yet. It's way too early to say. I like what they're doing so far. These are two great performers that I believe will bring us something that is a lot of fun. I have really high hopes, but Cena may not be 100 percent ready yet. It's a good thing that it's these two, because they haven't had a feud in a few years. It has a better chance to be good than to be bad. We'll just have to wait and see.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 02:28 PM
No roads for me. I just wanted to say Jericho is the perfect guy to welcome Cena back into the swing of things, and Jericho has said already that he'd put Cena over at any opportunity. The timing this time around was perfect. Their match at SvS was anti-climactic, but I attribute that too the ending of the WWE Title match stealing some of their thunder. Their next match should be much better and have much more emotion.
Wait a sec, I lied. High Road. Not a fan of John, but like you said : The Road to Wrestlemania regarding the title is much clearer. Can't argue with that.
Posted By: Texter Morgan (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 05:49 PM
Low road. There was so much potential in a Jericho/Cena feud with their story being properly exposed. Cena's first World Heavyweight Title win could have been a massive moment if built-up properly.
Posted By: Matt Eli (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Low Road: I hate seeing someone the caliber of Chris Jericho having to job to someone like Cena. Hopefully he doesn't screw up the title with some spinner garbage. I also can't stand Cena kissing up to the fans like he did on Raw.
Posted By: Pier (Guest) on November 28, 2008 at 09:42 PM
Both roads. The WWE is obviously hitting the reset button by putting Cena back at the helm, as well as Edge by giving them both the titles. As far as SmackDown is concerned, things have shaken up a bit with Edge's suprise return at Survivor Series(which got a HUGE pop). They didn't want to pull the trigger on Hardy yet for some reason, which was bullshit because most of us who watched the PPV or bought tickets to attend were expecting to see Hardy finally get what he dserved. As far as RAW they start burying Jericho when he was getting SUPER over with the fans during his reign by having him lose to Cena, and that was a 50/50 shot. I really hope the world title does NOT get a Cena makeover, for there are still people who want that belt, and we really don't want to see another gimmick belt, no matter how flashy or great it might look. Besides, something does tell me that it will be Cena vs. Batista at WM25. Wow, this is sounding more and more like a Low Road now.
Posted By: Brian (Guest) on November 29, 2008 at 02:16 PM
"He is a big enough star where nobody is going to question whether he should be in the title picture right away."
Wrong. Cena in no way shape or form deserved a title shot his first match back.
The fact that Jericho had to lose to such inferior opponents such as Batista and Cena in back to back PPVs is an absolute joke and added with the terrible booking surrounding the PPVs it's almost like the WWE is trying to destroy Jericho's credibility.
As for the idea of another horrible Batista vs Cena match, a match that bad should under no circumstances be even be at Wrestlemania let alone for a world title.
Mega Low Road on this one.
Posted By: 17 (Guest) on November 29, 2008 at 03:09 PM
The WWE wants the title on Cena bcause he sells a ton of merchandise. He's no Stone Cold or The Rock, but he's the best in the WWE right now. I gaurantee he sells twice as much merchandise as Jericho. The mixed reaction means nothing to the WWE. The fans that cheer him are the young kids and the teenage girls, people (and their parents) with disposable income. The ones that boo him are the internet geeks. They will continue to spend what little money they have on bootleg DVDs of Japanese wrestling. Vince knows what he's doing with Cena and the same goes for Batista. Lets not forget this is a business first and foremost.
Posted By: ghost of Marlon Brando (Guest) on November 29, 2008 at 10:11 PM
High Road: Either way you look at it, this created a Cena/Jericho fued. In the main event spot no less.
Posted By: J.J.T. (Guest) on November 30, 2008 at 12:08 PM
LOW Road.
Jobbing Jericho again, not even 3 weeks after he managed to regain a bit of heat against Batista, and in such a fashion, is NOT interesting. Cena coming back and getting a World Title match just because he's the boss's golden boy sucks. Just as much as him sucking up to the fans almost to the point of screaming "pls liek m3!" is weak, so weak.
Posted By: Guest#6497 (Guest) on November 30, 2008 at 03:05 PM
I'm taking the High Road. Cena is good for business, and is a proven main event player who can be relied to deliver the goods in any main event. Raw finally has a good set of decent workers at the top - Cena, Jericho, Orton, HBK and Batista when he's motivated. Also Cena needed the win since he's jobbed out to nearly all of the upper card this year(bar Jericho).
Posted By: Weng (Registered) on December 02, 2008 at 05:40 AM
