Hi Scott, hope you are well.
I agree with your rants regarding the finish of Cena-Lesnar, but one thing you wrote makes me wonder. You mentioned that the WWE was desperate to alter the character of Cena (and I agree this was a great moment to do so), but are they really? They have been doing the same thing with him for close to seven years now, so how desperate can they be? Rightly or wrongly, they are obviously content with where they are with him, as they have stuck with super-Cena for so long, so why would they be expected to change? WE might be desperate, but are they?
On a related tangent, how many times in one match/moment has the WWE/WWF set fire to such a big pile of money in the middle of the ring? Austin shaking hands with Vince at the end of WM 17 comes to mind, and perhaps not going with Flair-Hogan at WM VIII, but other than that? Thoughts?
It’s not that they’re desperate to change Super-Cena, it’s that they’re desperate for us to CHEER Super-Cena. They've tried every two-bit booking technique they can think of in the past 7 years to get the jaded hardcore fans on board the Cena Express and not do the embarrassing “Cena Sucks” thing because that shows people might be capable of making their own decisions. The irony of course being that if they went out and turned him into a heel, people would immediately cheer him as a babyface no questions asked.
As for the burning piles of money, the biggest was without question the RAW where Stephanie was revealed as the owner of ECW, not only because it burned through a million angles on one show, but it also presented exactly the scenario that no one wanted to see as a fan: The hardcore badasses of ECW subservient to a woman. Whatever value the remains of Heyman’s company had at that point were rendered totally moot. Also, Goldberg in the wig in 2003.
I will go on record and cite CM PUnk returning within 3 weeks as one of the biggest FAILS in WWE history.
ReplyDeleteJust think about the journey Cena takes in 2011.
-Wins the title from Miz. In my world they dont announce Rock/Cena
-fights through some challengers
-THEN the CM PUNK thing happens.
-Loses the title, Punk goes home, wwe has no champ.
-They make an interim champ, which Cena wins and Punk comes out.. WHY!?!
Why couldnt they have Punk do a indy tour (off camera of course) "defending" the WWE title for months... all the while Cena is defending the "title" gaining some cred but everyone knows via twitter and facebook that the real champ is in chicago eating Unos pizza.
Punk comes back after the Rumble, the fans go Oooo and ahhh at the two belts then they duke it out at WM. There is no need for Rock.
Mania would get a million buys anyways, but it would be a hell of alot more creative and fun. No need for lady parts, or kung pow bitch or rocks history lesson.
I dunno, Goldberg and Goldust made me chuckle. I think having him work routine WWE matches and not getting the belt at his hottest at SS (while HHH was injured mind you) killed him more.
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of ridiculously sexist Scott. I think the particular woman in question was the real issue: Granted, I can't think of a woman who would have been a great choice for the ECW mastermind, but I don't think putting a woman in that place, period, completely ruins that faction.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't that it was a woman, it was because it Stephanie McFuckingMahon.
ReplyDeleteI think that far from the truth. I am pretty sure by now the WWE has accepted that there will always be a huge part of the audience that will not cheer for Cena. I mean, they were even catering to them by selling "Cena sucks" shirts.
ReplyDeleteI know it's ridiculously sexist. Did you never see the original ECW? The promotion was built on a very misogynistic fanbase and trying to sell it as suddenly being controlled by a woman, let alone Stephanie of all people, was suicidal.
ReplyDeleteExactly what I was getting at. Also, Maffew, Botchamania is awesome! Thanks for all your work.
ReplyDeleteI think there are tons of scenarios where you could make it work with a woman at the helm: A character like ODB would be pretty ideal, I think.
ReplyDeleteI get your point: ECW was sexist, homophobic, bloodthirsty- all the things that tend to embarrass more liberal wrestling fans. Still, I don't think that means a woman couldn't be in charge and make it work.
Also, apparently it's down?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the kind words and the site is having a ''BRB'' for some reason.
ReplyDelete