John Cena will main event WrestleMania XXI

[Deceit]

Batista vs Trips!

[The CyNick]

But the exact thing you outlined (Cena winning and jumping) happened last year with Benoit, and Benoit didn't become an overnight success because of it.

Obviously any kind of jump like that would get a huge "pop", but whats that really worth? The answer 9 times out of 10 is very little.

Cena is already getting huge pops on SD (I know I know you dont care about SD, but its true) and if he's going to win a world title, he should win the SD title.

Like I said before with RAW, anything that gets away from Batista-HHH is a bad move at this point. I know you're trying to think of something that will be shocking, but in all the years that Ive been watching wrestling, the most successful angles have been the ones that were most obvious.

It was obvious in 1987 that Hulk Hogan would defeat Andre The Giant at Mania III. They built that up, and they delivered, and it did big business.

In 1988 and '89 it was obvious that Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage would break-up and have a fued, and ultimately Hogan would win. They built tha up for well over a year, and delivered an obvious but entertaining program. It drew tons of money.

In 1996-'97 it was clear for a long time that Sting would be the one to finally topple the NWO and Hogan, they built it up, and delievered, and drew WCW's best buyrate in their history (then they screwed it up, but thats WCW).

In '98 when Goldberg was in the middle of his streak, it was obvious he would win the WCW title, again build it up and deliver and count the dollars (then they screwed it up, but thats WCW).

Ditto for Austin's title wins in 98, 99 and even 2001. Make the fans want to see Austin win the title, put a couple of obstacles in front of him, he overcomes them, and bam you've got successful shows. Every one of those years it was obvious Austin would come out of those Mania's with the title, but each year it did huge business.

I dont think Batista-HHH will do anywhere near the business that those programs I mentioned did, but still, its clear thats what the fans want. And moreover, its clear the WWE is building their TV to make people want to see that. The only thing left to do is to deliver the proper end to the story at the right time. The right ending is Batista winning the World Title from HHH and the right time Wrestlemania 21.

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by The CyNick But the exact thing you outlined (Cena winning and jumping) happened last year with Benoit, and Benoit didn't become an overnight success because of it.

I know.

I also realize that Batista/HHH is what most fans want to see. I was just speculating/dreaming. .


Speaking of Cena/Benoit, Cena was WAY more popular than Benoit last year IMO. Even now, Cena's popularity/fan reaction is greater than Benoit's by a good margain.


In my opinion, if Cena would have defected to RAW last year (as opposed to Benoit), then the WWE would have capitalized far more on Cena.

One reason why I think the RAW creative team bailed on Benoit, was because his fan reactions were still somewhat lukewarm after Backlash.

I DON"T think this would have happened with Cena.

Even if Triple H/Management were to try and "hold him back" by giving him less TV time, Cena's face pops would have still been far too great (which would basically FORCE the creative team into giving him more TV time).


Batista/HHH may be what the fans want to see (since that's the best offer being put on the table right now), but there's just no "unpredictability" left in the company anymore.

[The CyNick]

I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business.

Last year Eddie was the hottest guy they had on their payroll, they gave him the WWE title, gave him a win at Mania over the best worker in the company, and then jobbed him to JBL. That was about as unpredicatble as it gets, but it was probably a bad move.

Orton should have got the push that Batista is currently getting, but they did the unpredictable thing and turned him face, and at the same time turned him into a bigger pussy then he was when he was a face. To top it off, they jobbed him a month after winning the title. Very unpredicatble, but very stupid.

Cena may be over right now, but all it would take is a solid Pedigree in the middle of the ring, to quickly de-rail his overness.

I just dont think he needs to be on RAW to reach his potential. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite is true, I think he'll reach higher heights if he stays on SD then if he were to go to HHH-land.

[Heyman]

Originally Posted by The CyNick I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business. Last year Eddie was the hottest guy they had on their payroll, they gave him the WWE title, gave him a win at Mania over the best worker in the company, and then jobbed him to JBL. That was about as unpredicatble as it gets, but it was probably a bad move. Orton should have got the push that Batista is currently getting, but they did the unpredictable thing and turned him face, and at the same time turned him into a bigger pussy then he was when he was a face. To top it off, they jobbed him a month after winning the title. Very unpredicatble, but very stupid. Cena may be over right now, but all it would take is a solid Pedigree in the middle of the ring, to quickly de-rail his overness. I just dont think he needs to be on RAW to reach his potential. As a matter of fact, I think the opposite is true, I think he'll reach higher heights if he stays on SD then if he were to go to HHH-land.

Hmmmm......

After reading your post, I must say that I never actually thought of it that way......and I think you're right for the most part.


I'm not sure if I agree with you on the Cena comment (about him being better off on SD).

I don't know what it is about Smackdown. If they had a few more 'big named' wrestlers on the show, then maybe Cena would look BETTER as champ.


For example - If Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho were on Smackdown, then I'd argue that Cena would look "more important" as champ.


I don't know how else to explain it. Perhaps the ratings don't really say much, but Smackdown really looks like "the bush leagues" compared to RAW (due to the lack of "big names" I guess).

If Smackdown had more "big names" who were in the mid-card position, then perhaps Cena would look better as champ. Triple H or no Triple H.

[Kane Knight]

Originally Posted by The CyNick I dont know, I still think one of their problems is that they dont do the things that are predicatble and therefore best for business.

I partially agree, but I think the problem is that they pull these ideas out of their ass. Unpredicability in wrestling outcomes is not inherrently bad; rather, it's the asinine paths they decide to take which really screw the pooch.

The problem is that there's the "surprise" ending, and there's the "What the Hell were they thinking?" Ending. JBL winning the title? The latter. Vanillaing Orton? The latter.