TPWW Forums - View Single Post - Good Feuds/Storylines That Fell Off A Cliff

**Mr. Nerfect** · 11-08-2016, 05:02 PM

People generally talk about Edge vs. John Cena as being one of, if not the best programs John Cena has ever been involved in. With that being said, I think it should have been more. I grew tired of John Cena before most other people did (before it was cool). I think the tipping point for me was during the John Cena/Booker T Best of Five Series, where John Cena beat someone who, in my mind, was a misused WCW legend that deserved better, and basically won the US Title off himself. Then he lost the US Title to Carlito and promptly won it back from him, and the catchphrases were getting hokier and hokier. A good match with Angle at No Way Out 2005 though.

Cena's "Real Recognizing Real" reign, going against guys with more than twice his experience bothered me. I know wrestling's a work, but I hated how everybody just threw themselves at the feet of this action figure come to life and wouldn't call him out. I was in full-fledged smark mode, and it was a dark year of Cena dominance for me.

Needless to say, I almost jizzed in my pants when Edge -- whose heel run had actually be underwhelming me a little bit -- beat Cena and won the title. I envisioned him cashing in Money in the Bank somewhat like that, but remember the days when we didn't know it could have happened like that? Seems like a glitch they would have fixed in subsequent years, like the Royal Rumble stipulation being loosely worded in 2004.

I didn't pay attention to business metrics much at the time, but I've learnt from you gentlemen at SCG that ratings actually went up. So what's the logical thing to do? Why, maybe we should take this gentle reprieve to ease the fan revolt against John Cena, build him back up and run with a hot heel champion for a while? No, fuck that, let's have John Cena -- the babyface challenger -- come down on a giant fucking spaceship and win the belt back. I mean, sending him down on a giant fucking spaceship won't make him look overproduced, surely? It's not like we've spent years educating our fans to believe that the management system at WWE is corrupt; it's not like the fans will see the strings if we send out the man we want to be our top star out on a giant fucking spaceship, like it's a big neon sign saying "Please love this man, please love this man -- you're stuck with him forever."

For me, that was the moment John Cena jumped the shark. It would take years for him to get destroyed by Brock Lesnar and ease the tension against his position. Sometimes I like to imagine a happy place where John Cena doesn't get an immediate rematch against Edge, but rather wins the 2006 Royal Rumble and headlines WrestleMania 22 against Edge. But no, we had to stick to "the plan." Edge and Cena would have great matches and exchange the belt a few times, but I do think that the quick turnaround in 2006 puts a barrier up between it being as amazing as it could have been.

11-08-2016, 05:02 PM	#20
Mr. Nerfect Posts: 61,634	People generally talk about Edge vs. John Cena as being one of, if not the best programs John Cena has ever been involved in. With that being said, I think it should have been more. I grew tired of John Cena before most other people did (before it was cool). I think the tipping point for me was during the John Cena/Booker T Best of Five Series, where John Cena beat someone who, in my mind, was a misused WCW legend that deserved better, and basically won the US Title off himself. Then he lost the US Title to Carlito and promptly won it back from him, and the catchphrases were getting hokier and hokier. A good match with Angle at No Way Out 2005 though. Cena's "Real Recognizing Real" reign, going against guys with more than twice his experience bothered me. I know wrestling's a work, but I hated how everybody just threw themselves at the feet of this action figure come to life and wouldn't call him out. I was in full-fledged smark mode, and it was a dark year of Cena dominance for me. Needless to say, I almost jizzed in my pants when Edge -- whose heel run had actually be underwhelming me a little bit -- beat Cena and won the title. I envisioned him cashing in Money in the Bank somewhat like that, but remember the days when we didn't know it could have happened like that? Seems like a glitch they would have fixed in subsequent years, like the Royal Rumble stipulation being loosely worded in 2004. I didn't pay attention to business metrics much at the time, but I've learnt from you gentlemen at SCG that ratings actually went up. So what's the logical thing to do? Why, maybe we should take this gentle reprieve to ease the fan revolt against John Cena, build him back up and run with a hot heel champion for a while? No, fuck that, let's have John Cena -- the babyface challenger -- come down on a giant fucking spaceship and win the belt back. I mean, sending him down on a giant fucking spaceship won't make him look overproduced, surely? It's not like we've spent years educating our fans to believe that the management system at WWE is corrupt; it's not like the fans will see the strings if we send out the man we want to be our top star out on a giant fucking spaceship, like it's a big neon sign saying "Please love this man, please love this man -- you're stuck with him forever." For me, that was the moment John Cena jumped the shark. It would take years for him to get destroyed by Brock Lesnar and ease the tension against his position. Sometimes I like to imagine a happy place where John Cena doesn't get an immediate rematch against Edge, but rather wins the 2006 Royal Rumble and headlines WrestleMania 22 against Edge. But no, we had to stick to "the plan." Edge and Cena would have great matches and exchange the belt a few times, but I do think that the quick turnaround in 2006 puts a barrier up between it being as amazing as it could have been.