have you seen the new masked man article on grantland? wanted to get your take on his opinion:
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7964226/indie-wrestling-coming-age-cm-punk-daniel-bryan-wwe-new-bipolar-universe
I mainly want to address his last point, which is about Hulk Hogan dominating everything in the 80s while the IC champion had the leftover scraps. Hulk Hogan was WWF champion for that entire period, because he was the focus of the promotion and thus the CHAMPION. If they're gonna have Cena be the new Hulk Hogan, then they should put the title on him and let Punk and Bryan fight for the worthless Smackdown title instead because no one gives a shit about it anyway. Having the #1 belt on a guy who is clearly the #2 guy does no favors for the guy or the belt. Either they need to get Punk away from Cena and have him be the undisputed TIPPY TOP GUY on Smackdown, or they need to stop pretending that the WWE title is the most important thing when clearly the John Cena Championship is the most prestigious belt in the company.
A very interesting article otherwise and a good read as usual.
I'm resigned to agreeing with you, but it's just so frustrating that it has to be this way. If they'd just allowed Punk to headline Elimination Chamber, Over the Limit, and RAW when he's defending the title--like against Mark Henry--they could have their cake and eat it too. The product still wouldn't be 50/50 about Cena and Punk, but it'd be more like 60/40 than the, what, 80/20 that it is right now?
ReplyDeleteAs is, if they're going to send Punk to Smackdown (and I do agree that's the right thing to do under the self-imposed circumstances), a way for him to save face might be to just get drafted with the WWE title in June, and not drop it to anyone on the way out. Sheamus, or whoever happens to be the WHC can be drafted to RAW, and quickly drop the belt to Cena. It's a way to protect Punk as the #2 guy, while still accomplishing the same thing. Punk would probably still get the same airtime on RAW that he does now (i.e. a match), but at least he'd have Smackdown to flesh out his angles.
I'm sick of John Cena. I'll be happy when the Cena Era is over. If Cena is the new Hulk Hogan (maybe even as far as getting his assets taken away from him by the same lawyer as well), then maybe his main event career will last just as long before he's gone. Hogan's lasted about 7-8 years, which is almost as long as Cena has been on top. Maybe this is a sign that hopefully Cena's time is almost up. But that is of course just wishful thinking.
ReplyDeleteeven still though, didn't Hogan/Earthquake headline summerslam that time, whilst champion warrior faced rude before that?
ReplyDeleteand flair/savage WM8, and Hogan/Sid closed show?
even when Hogan wasn't champion, he still had the last match.so still #1 guy even when not champion. sort of like Cena/HHH/Undertaker now
Nope... Warrior/Rude went on last at that show.
ReplyDeleteWarrior vs Rude was the last match at SS90.
ReplyDeletemy apologies, faulty memory. WM8 was the better example.
ReplyDeletein any case, I do remember that summerslam being advertised as a 'double main event'. what made hogan/earthquake a 'main event'? no title was on the line. (yes, this is a rhetorical question)anyway the point being that the world champion hasn't always been in the last match. I thought we were all agreed that Rock/Hogan should have gone on last?
I just don't really dig this guy's writing. It's disjointed and rambling.
ReplyDeleteI like his approach, but it needs an editor.
ReplyDeleteThen again, Grantland is practically marketed as "a place where no one edits the writing because we're all journo-celebrities."
Sorry, you forgot our other constraint: Randy Orton needs his own show.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk can have NXT.
Can they rename Superstars into Wednesday Night YES! and base the show around Bryan. I would watch that show on loop!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else think those Cena Children sitting front row the last two PPVs are plants put there to make it seem like he's got more intense fan support than he does? That was my first impression of them. They sit there with their bleached out mom for 3 hours looking bored out of their minds.
ReplyDeleteYa, but the complaint with Cena going on last is that it goes on constantly. The only time Punk has gotten the last match on the show during this recent reign as champion was TLC back in December, and that's probably because Cena wasn't even on the show.
ReplyDelete