Okay, so y'all already know I want to see John Cena vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. And despite Cena saying it was "impossible" now, I still think it'll happen.
This ain't about all that though. This is about what John Cena's doing right now, in the interim, before the Undertaker match apparates out of thin air in front of us. The current story arc he's on. The angle that has him actively trying to find a "Path to WrestleMania."
First off, the entire idea brazenly begs us to try and believe, for a second, that WWE would somehow leave John Cena off WrestleMania because he's not currently feuding with someone. The kayfabe narrative here is that, somehow, even if you're the biggest name in the company you'll get shut out of 'Mania if the dance card fills up. Which, by the way, it clearly hasn't. So much so that we don't even have much of a confirmed 'Mania card at all right now. It's 70% empty.
So yes, John Cena, the (part-time, but still biggest) face of the WWE is doing his damndest to sell us on the fact that the biggest show of the year, that WWE crams - overstuffs even - with just about every single person on the roster, won't make room for him if he doesn't have a particular beef with someone. It's a hard buy in. Cena's notably brought up the fact that he hasn't been around due to outside-the-WWE activities and projects and perhaps hasn't been as focused as needed and because of this, apparently, he has no "path" to the April 8th super-card.
The whole thing is, at the same time even, a curtain-dropping/kayfabe-killing notion in the sense that he's readily speaking to the fact that guys and gals who, yes, don't have a storyline a month or two away from the Grandest Stage of Them All probably won't be doing much come April 8th. But that's not to say they won't be doing anything. And this is where John Cena starts to look kind of janky.
See, Cena's not looking for a way onto the WrestleMania card, he's looking for a way into a world title shot. He's not humbly asking for a spot on the show, he's trying to get a main event. This doesn't really feel like him. Not his persona, anyhow. Cena hasn't been in a WrestleMania main event since WrestleMania 29, and he's mentioned as much in more than a few promos. In fact, he's talked about how proud he was to be in each of those mid-card matches since 29. Against Bray Wyatt, Rusev, and The Miz (in a mixed tag match). He couldn't physically compete at 32, but he still got a big moment.
All Cena needed to do, if he wanted a match at 'Mania 34, was go to the ring, grab a mic, and say "Who wants to fight me at WrestleMania?" Or just go up to some dude in the back and be like "Hey, want to fight me at WrestleMania? K, byyyeeeeee." It would have been that simple. The fact that he's kayfabe using his status as a "free agent" to encroach on someone else's main event match - specifically AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura - makes him come off like a woefully entitled pain in the butt.
Also, specifically trying to butt into that match, the one match on the entire card meant to appeal to hardcore fans of non-WWE wrestling, is an added inch of insult. If Cena, even after losing at Elimination Chamber, was trying to get squeezed into the meat lover's pizza that is Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar, it'd feel less crass. It'd still give off a special treatment vibe, but we wouldn't care as much probably. Entire areas wouldn't boo at the mere mention of him turning that bout into a Triple Threat match. He'd just receive a smattering of indifference.
WWE is playing into our worst fears about "top guys" right now. They're having Braun not show up to scheduled Monday Night RAWs just so he can seem more aloof and "one foot out the door." All to get more cheers for Roman. Likewise, they're counting on our resentment toward Cena's decade-long push and his favored status to drive us to SmackDown's Fastlane PPV this Sunday. We can now be sucked in because we desperately want someone to lose. The match will be a tense nail-biter because we'll all be morbidly afraid that Cena will win. It's basically how the final five minutes of the men's Royal Rumble match were booked.
All in all though, this mini half-month storyline is making Cena look like a weird sourpuss s***baby. Even more so, in fat, when Goldust came out on RAW this week to challenge Cena to a match where he aimed to take out John before 'Mania. It all served to A: remind us how much we all enjoy and respect Goldust, and B: make Cena look even worse because he was now face-to-face with a storied veteran who stands a good chance of being left off the WrestleMania card. Why couldn't Cena, in that moment, just ask Goldust for a 'Mania match? Even if it was a Kickoff Show contest, it'd still feel more appealing than Cena's current bullying tactics to land a marquee match.
Naturally, I'm a huge bozo here too because I'm probably going to, in the end, wind up getting the big match I want to see: Taker vs. Cena. John's current post-Elimination Chamber angle isn't all for naught, but - man - it sure does make him look like a pristine punk. Someone now around all that much who still insists on being in the biggest match on the show. The kind of thing he himself once used to resent.
Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA). Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire