http://www.wrestlingobserver.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=15653
3/2/2006 3:06:00 PM
Dan Wahlers looks at the Cena vs. HHH dynamic
Why The HHH/Cena Segment on Raw Didnt Work
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Were into the month of March now, and Wrestlemania will take place one month from tonight on April 2nd in Chicago. This is the show that WWE spends the entire year building to. Its The Super Bowl of Wrestling, The Grand Daddy Of Them All; and all those other marketing slogans weve had drummed into our head over the years. Its certainly the biggest US wrestling show of the year. Regardless of the card WWE puts out, the show will sell a tremendous amount of PPV buys based on the name Wrestlemania alone. That is a fact. Although if you look at the card they have announced so far, and the matches that are projected for the show, I have a hard time imaging them coming anywhere near last years show that came close to doing one million buys. On paper this is the weakest looking Wrestlemania in ten years.
Today Im going to focus on one match in particular, and thats the one where you have John Cena defending the WWE Title against The King of Kings, Jesus Lord Almighty himself, Triple H. That is the one match that was planned a year ago that is actually taking place this year. Theyve had an entire year to come up with a way to market this match as something special to the masses. Cena and HHH have not touched each other on TV for an entire year. During that year Cena was pushed as the top star on Smackdown, and later Raw. He came out on top in feuds with JBL, Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, and Edge among others. HHH kept himself busy feuding with Batista into the summer, and later Ric Flair and Big Show in undercard matches. Both guys were protected in every way possible. On the surface theyve done everything necessary to make this match seem like a big match. But why doesnt it feel like a big match? There are a few important reasons why.
Take a look at what happened this past Monday on Raw. It was on display for all to see. John Cena got booed out of the building in Washington DC, as he did in Trenton, NJ the previous week, and as he has been in numerous venues along the way in the past few months. There is a problem with the Cena character connecting with the fans. Even the biggest WWE optimist cant ignore it anymore. Its no longer just a coincidence. Its a problem that needs to be addressed. You cant have your top babyface getting booed out of the building every week. It doesnt look good for the company in the least. I feel bad for John Cena too. He seems like hes trying hard, and it appears hes made a concerted effort to work on his in-ring skills. You definitely cant fault the heart and passion he has for what he does. But for some reason, his character is not connecting with a large portion of WWEs audience. Thats problem number one.
What can they do? They could turn him heel, and lose the money he makes from all the merchandise he sells. Personally, I think that would be the best thing for him. Turn him heel for a time, and let him gain back the cocky edge he had to his character when he was a heel. It worked for The Rock back in 1997 when the fans were booing him as a sugary babyface. They turned him heel, and when the fans were ready, they turned him back face, and he went on to become one of the most popular and successful performers in WWE history. John Cenas character is stale right now, much like Rocks was back in 1997. But for some reason, WWE insists on fighting with the fans about this, and stubbornly pushing their vision of what John Cena is. I know a Cena heel turn is not likely to happen, since HHH doesnt want any competition at all for the top heel spot in the company. We know that after the way Edge was shoved back down to the midcard, despite a noticeable increase in Raw ratings while he was champion. The numbers dont lie. When Edge won the WWE Title from John Cena at New Years Revolution, the ratings went up, and stayed up for the entire month of January. They had the chance to make Edge the real breakout star of the year. He was the first wrestler in a long time to affect the ratings in such a positive way. But instead hes been pushed into a secondary feud with Mick Foley that no one really cares about. Not coincidentally, the ratings for Raw have come back down in the last two weeks to the levels they were at before Edge won the title. So another one of the reasons why no one cares about HHH/Cena, is weve seen it all before. We know how the story ends. I said my piece about John Cena, but if you thought Triple H was getting off the hook here, youre dead wrong.
Here is Cena getting booed like nobodys business on Raw, and out comes Triple H. As the number one heel that hes supposed to be does he try to turn Cenas heel heat onto himself like a good professional would do? Nope, not even close. If anything HHH seemed to be greatly amused by the reaction Cena was getting. Several times it looked like was on the verge of laughing hysterically. He didnt do one thing to help him either. He completely hung Cena out to dry. Would the crowd have stopped booing Cena if HHH tried to heel on them? Probably not, but he could have at least made an attempt. Its what a heel is supposed to do. HHH should know that being the student of the game that he is. HHH isnt interested in being your typical heel. He wants to be the cool heel, the guy that tells everyone how great he is, and then tells everyone how much his opponent sucks. He actually said that Cena is a bad wrestler. He told everyone that the man hes fighting at Wrestlemania in a match they would like people to pay to see is a bad wrestler. I cant make this stuff up.
Im sorry, maybe I missed the promo where Ric Flair called Sting a bad wrestler. Or the one where Steve Austin told The Rock that he sucked. You know why you never heard anything like that? Because those guys are professionals, and they actually cared about making their opponents look good. Thats how you sell people on a match. You make it seem like your opponent has a legitimate chance to beat you. You dont sell it by telling people that your opponent is a joke, and hes a ****ty wrestler. Whether its true or not, and Cena isnt Lou Thesz, but hes far from the worst, you dont come out and say it when youre trying to sell one of the main events of Wrestlemania. I dont know why this is so hard to understand. Ive never been in the wrestling business, or booked one wrestling match, and I get this. How come these people in WWE dont? Its really not a hard concept. Especially knowing how the crowd has been reacting to Cena lately. They have gone to extraordinary, sometimes laughable lengths to protect Cena in recent months; such as the lame storyline with Kurt Angle insulting the troops, which nobody bought for a second, and booking Cena to save Ric Flair in Charlotte. I dont know why they wouldnt try to do that this time, given that Cena is on the verge of the biggest match of his young career.
Im not a John Cena fan, but he didnt deserve to be treated the way he was on Monday by Triple H. Some people will probably write me and say I need to lighten up, and that HHH was just trying to build heat for the match. Well that would be fine and good if thats what he were actually doing. But he wasnt, and if you honestly believe he was, then you must be really naïve. There are ways to get heat on a wrestling match, and blatantly making a mockery of your opponent is not one of them. It would be one thing if it were in the context of a storyline, but thats not what this was. HHH was out there laughing with the fans at Cena with his little smart shoot comments trying to be above it all. He was trying to be the cool man on campus. It was like HHH was the face and Cena was the heel. He was basically saying Cena is a joke, and that his 10 month reign as World Champion was a joke as well. If Cena is such a bad wrestler, and hes such a joke, why would anyone want to pay one cent to watch him face HHH? See the problem there?
This was one massive ego trip by HHH. Hes going to beat Cena for the title at Mania, and make sure to step on him as much as possible on the way down. Its always funny to me how HHHs opponents always have to kiss his ass, and put him over, and he gets to say whatever he wants about them. It makes me want to puke. HHH is the greatest wrestler alive. HHH has beaten all the top names in the industry. HHH walks on water. He made a joke about how Cenas big move was pumping up his sneakers. This from a guy whose big move is drinking water, and spitting into the crowd. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. This segment on Monday had a chance to really draw some interest into a feud that needs it, and instead all it did was reaffirm what we already knew. Triple H is only out for himself and nobody else. He only cares that he gets over, and people look at him as a big star. Everyone else can fend for themselves. Its not his job to help anyone else. Its the other wrestlers job to get themselves over. Weve heard this company line from people like HHH when talking about guys complaining about their pushes. HHH says its their job to create their own push. How can someone create their own push if theyre never booked on television, or if they are lucky to be booked its in a three-minute match that they lose? Thats the reality of the situation, its not the made up fantasy world that The McMahon family lives in.
Every time I think HHH has finally turned over a new leaf, he goes ahead and reminds me why I despise him so much. He had the balls to blame Kurt Angle for John Cena getting booed during their recent feud. At least Angle tried to do his job as a heel, and turn the boos onto him. The same thing Chris Jericho did last summer, as well as Edge very recently. They were heels, and they tried to do their jobs as heels. In some cases it worked, and in some cases it didnt. At least they tried. HHH didnt even bother trying on Monday. Cena was dying out there, and all HHH did was twist the knife a little deeper. In the process, he did nothing to make people care about one of the main events at Wrestlemania. Why should people care about a match where they already know the outcome? At least with the Smackdown main event, there is actually some mystery. Will Orton win? Will Mysterio win? Will Angle retain? There is no mystery or intrigue in HHH/Cena. Its the same routine weve already seen a thousand times, and the same one we will see a thousand more.
Speaking of routines Im tired of, I wonder what the network execs over at USA Network thought when they saw Vince McMahon, the owner of WWE, parading around the ring in a thong with his pants down around his ankles this past Monday on Raw. I bet they were real proud to have that wrestling package on their network again. Imagine what any normal, sane human being would think if they saw that. They would say, "What the hell are you watching this for?" Its no wonder wrestling is thought of so poorly by the vast majority of the general public. People call wrestling a circus, and Im beginning to think thats an insult to people who work in the circus. When you go to a circus, the clowns dont juggle without any pants on. Often times I try to defend wrestling, and why I watch it. But after something like that, there is no defense. I was embarrassed to be a wrestling fan on Monday, a feeling Vince McMahon has made me feel more times than I would care to remember over the years.
Feedback is welcomed at the address below. Thanks for reading. See you next week.
You can reach me at:
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Dan Wahlers
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