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- Following last night’s Raw the terms “Boots To Asses” and “Cena’s lady parts” were trending worldwide topics on Twitter.

Just before The Rock’s segment he Tweeted the following to give it a boost:
“Seconds from electrifying RAW. Time to feed the beast and make 3 words trend worldwide.. #BootsToAsses”

WWE shop is now also selling shirts with the “Boots To Asses” phrase on it.

- The person who played John Cena’s Little League coach during his This Is Your Life segment was Indy star “Fabulous” Johnny Vegas.

- Prior to Raw going on air Michael McGillicutty defeated JTG with a swinging neckbreaker, in a dark match for the live audience.

After the show went off air, Zack Ryder, CM Punk, John Cena and Randy Orton defeated Mark Henry, The Miz and R-Truth after Ryder in an 8 man tag match.

Source: wrestlingtruth.com

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Summerslam is upon us and most people are likely to hinge their purchasing decision on John Cena vs. CM Punk in the Unification match. Last Monday, Punk delivered another riveting promo that was laced with the kind of information that you usually read about on the dirt sheets. Cena countered with his own brand of backstage info. It was kind of refreshing to see guys mention work rate and heel personas and defending the roster cuts and bringing up personal stories from the days of WWECW. It’s a theme, reality is, that the WWE has vaguely ventured into using in the past, but has never fully embraced. Punk seems to be the embodiment of a willingness to give that direction for their product a real try. Will it continue? I really don’t know, but I’m certainly going to enjoy it while it lasts and touch on it a great deal today while it’s a hot topic.

Edge vs. Matt Hardy back in ’05 was sort of a preview. I remember getting a small taste of what it might be like if the WWE really geared their entire product toward more realistic situations that were founded in some degree of truth. That type of stuff can be used to ignite entertaining television not just at the bottom of the second hour of Raw, but throughout the shows. Edge had always been missing something as a character until he had an affair with Lita and Hardy blabbered about it all over the internet. Finally, Edge turned a corner because he was stuck defending himself about a situation that – based on usual wrestling etiquette – had no business being aired out in public. It was REAL. And it WORKED. The rest is history.

In an age where just about everything is accessible to the media, I think taking a full turn onto Reality Street would do the WWE a lot of good. It starts with a guy like CM Punk who has enough pent up aggression and enough of a fan base to unleash many a personal tirade laced with backstage rumors – the kind of stuff that the part of the audience that I and most of the folks reading this represent will eat up. He’s the leader of the movement, but he’s just the beginning. He’s the first to really base a character around it, but he’s not the only one with a lot on his or her mind. Look at Beth Phoenix and Nattie Neidhart – they’ve given another little preview of what could happen if people were allowed to (controllably) get off their chest what has been building up inside them for months and years. Beth and Nattie, too, are voices of the voiceless. They are wrestlers; not models pretending to be wrestlers. It has to frustrate them that they’re ready and able to produce, but the WWE insists on bringing in stick figures and waiting for them to learn what Nattie and Beth already know how to do. Could we see this trend of “speaking your mind” trickle down into each division? This is the type of material that makes rivalries more engaging.

The “reality” trend on TV is not the furthest they can take this, though. Sure, I’m all for seeing the Reality era of the WWE on television and PPV, but isn’t it time that the WWE embraced all aspects of the fan experience? For all that they do well, they have long since missed the boat on one aspect of fandom that other sports and entertainment outlets knock out of the park: the media. ESPN is nothing more than a bunch of sports fanatics that got together and made a television network dedicated to nothing but talking about and broadcasting what they love. Long before that, the powers that be within the major sports entities for basketball, American football, soccer, tennis, golf, etc. knew that the media members had to be let in to do interviews and things of that sort so that they could gain greater exposure and, thus, have better ratings and make more money across the board. Now, in today’s society, it has reached the point where there are TV networks dedicated not just to certain leagues (the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, etc.) but even college conferences and ONE college team (Univ. of Texas). The bottom line has expanded infinitely with social media and the amount of coverage for sports and entertainment (like Hollywood actors and actresses) and has grown to unprecedented heights. It creates jobs and diehard fans and the leagues embrace most of it because it drives interest in their product.

Then, there’s the WWE. The image of the diehard wrestling fan is that of the “booger eater” who sits in his mom’s basement fantasizing about the divas and criticizing John Cena on his wrestling skills despite never having been in the wrestling ring. Who created that image? The WWE did, at least in part. Instead of embracing the most passionate part of their fan base, they mocked it into the ground. Despite the fact that they have quite a large wrestling media that writes and blogs about it every day just like sports beat writers do – only for no money in most cases – the WWE has not seemed to want much to do with that part of the audience. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an NFL owner mock ESPN for being a “dirt sheet.” They may get irritated about certain things they don’t want being public, but who the hell really cares when you’re making millions and billions of dollars every year in large part thanks to that same media that ensures that people pay attention to your product? Increased coverage thanks to diehard sports fans has driven sports like international soccer, NFL football, and NBA basketball to becoming more successful enterprises. Why does the WWE not seem to understand that they could have their product get a huge boost in exposure by dropping this illusionary veil that they try to pull over everyone’s eyes? Vince comes from an era where kayfabe – not letting on that wrestling was pre-determined sport heavy on the athletic entertainment in a similar light as figure skating or dancing - was king and he did a little bit of work toward tearing that down. However, his company is the only major sports and entertainment conglomerate that still doesn’t embrace its media.

The next step toward a reality era is to tear down the wall that separates the WWE from being able to be legitimately covered by its fan base. I don’t see any reason why the Wrestling Press should not attempt to gain more traction moving forward. It may seem silly, but something like the Teacher’s Lounge (under a different name) ought to be legitimately featured on a radio station dedicated to sports entertainment/pro-wrestling. LOP Magazine should be real. LOP and other top wrestling-related sites should not be looked at as “dirt sheets,” but legitimate print media outlets (i.e. in a more positive light). It couldn’t hurt to think bigger. LOP is anywhere from the 2nd to 5th ranked wrestling website on the World Wide Web. Viewers per day have frequently crept into the millions. We’re talking a lot of people. And it’s not as if we’re the booger eaters that we’re made out to be. There are two legitimate doctoral degrees on the column writing staff alone…and it’s just a hobby! As Hustle mentioned not too long ago in one of his columns, the wrestling fan and the members of the “media” that cover it should not have to feel bad about it. Young writers should be able to cut their teeth in forums like ours and others and then go on to journalism school with the goal to cover the WWE like Adam Schefter went to journalism school and is now one of the top 40 most influential non-NFL player/coach/owners in the National Football League. That shouldn’t be a pipe dream.

It won’t happen, though, unless the WWE stops being blind to the amount of extra exposure that they could gain from it. What is LOP, but a sports entertainment version of ESPN without the backing of the very “leagues” that it covers? Imagine the drop off in interest should the NFL pull the plug on ESPN or Yahoo Sports, disassociating with them and giving its writers and staff and fans that frequent those sites a bad name. Would that help the NFL? Absolutely not! It would do nothing but eliminate one of the very things that drive its popularity.

In the spirit of what we discussed today, I will be working on a joint venture with multiple other writers to bring you a legitimate piece of Wrestling Media material on a bi-weekly to monthly basis. It will be a top 10-25 that you, the wrestling media, can vote on. College football here in the States has an Associated Press that determines a top 25 ultimately used to help crown the two teams that play for the national championship. You will be part of the WWE Press and have the option to vote. We’ll send it directly to the WWE for the hell of it. The reality era is upon us...we may as well embrace it.

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Summerslam Champions League Final

Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels in a Non-Sanctioned Street Fight at Summerslam 2002

“The two best ever in quite possibly the best match ever. Simply the best.” – Matt W.

“That match is the only match in the history of wrestling that I cried over.” – Andre S.

VS.

Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam 1992

“Not only was it the only time the IC Championship main evented a PPV and is considered to be the greatest IC Championship match of all-time by a lot of people it also showed that Bret Hart had what it took to draw, carry a match and could be trusted to carry the company. It was a very important match on a lot of fronts.” – Lunchbox

“Great technical show, great finish, great crowd/ unique Venue, magnitude of IC being the Main Event, launch of Bret into Main Event, no gimmick needed” – Westuva07

Well, I suppose it was fitting that the two matches that I selected last year as the first and second best bouts in Summerslam history would end up facing each other in the final. I think that pretty much goes to show that the consensus considers these two matches the cream of the crop from the summer classic. Personally, I did not vote in this round and relegated myself to being the tiebreaker. Last year, though, I stated that although Bret Hart was Mr. Summerslam (and you backed that up with your votes of so many of his matches), the best match in Summerslam history belonged to Shawn Michaels and Triple H. I will say, though, that there was never a more brilliant performance at a Summerslam than Bret’s in 1992. Davey Boy Smith was not a good worker back then. Bret, for nearly 30-minutes, basically told the Bulldog where to go and what to do and when to do it. The fact that this match was so good and is still so well-received today is a huge testament to the Hitman’s skills. However, when you look at HBK vs. HHH, you’re dealing with a special performance that really could not have been any better – in my opinion. HBK’s return from injury brought about a lot of emotion from yours truly, mainly that of concern for his well-being while he was attempting some of the moves that he pulled off so gracefully. I think it’s a 5-star performance, which of course is a rarity.

The results are in…

With 59% of the votes, the winner of the Summerslam Champions League to determine the greatest match in Summerslam history is….

HBK vs. Triple H

Source: lordsofpain.net

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Each and every year, Wrestlemania seems to get bigger and bigger, continually being elevated past any level that each and every other wrestling PPV throughout the year could begin to compete with. It started happening about 5 years ago, when the WWE made the decision that there was little reason for them to do anything but big stadium venues for their global phenomenon. It’s tough to top the atmosphere of 70,000 plus fans and you can imagine the kind of affect that has on the psyche of one of the performers. Yet, there is another major PPV that stands out as the clear cut second priority for the WWE each year…and that’s Summerslam. The fourth yearly event that the WWE developed in the late 80’s, Summerslam has become an affair that is really second only to Wrestlemania on the scale of where the biggest of happenings takes place, be it storylines, matches, and/or memories.

It certainly did not start out that way from a storyline perspective, for in its formative years it was merely a way to cash in on what had already been featured at Wrestlemania. If the Royal Rumble eventually became the set-up PPV for Wrestlemania, then Summerslam would’ve had to have been called the step-down event. From its start in 1988 all the way until 1993, Summerslam was used to further the main-eventing/headlining feuds from previous Manias. Hulk Hogan continued his feud with Ted Dibiase and Andre the Giant by teaming with Macho Man Randy Savage in the Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks tag match. Hogan then teamed with Brutus the Barber to keep his beef(cake) with Savage (and Zeus) alive the following year. Then, Rick Rude tried to parlay a victory at Wrestlemania 5 over the Warrior into a steel cage match victory that would’ve given him Ultimate’s WWE Championship. The Hulkster called upon the Ultimate Warrior to help him take down the Iraqi supporters a year later, after Hulk had taken down the forces of the evil doing Sgt. Slaughter at Mania VII. Warrior then hooked up with Savage for a rematch of their Mania VII classic some eighteen months later in 1992. It was not until the champion, Yokozuna, went toe-to-toe with the Luger led Lex Express that Summerslam featured its first-ever totally unique match-up that had not been done (at least in some way) before. Luger vs. Yoko was nothing to write home about, certainly, but it did start a trend for Summerslam that has, for the most part, continued ever since. ’94, ’95, ’00 (sort of), ’03, ’04 (sort of), ’08 (sort of) were exceptions, but for the most part Summerslam took on its own identity in the mid-to-late 90’s and never looked back.

HBK vs. Vader and Undertaker vs. Mankind was a solid summer line-up in 1996 and it didn’t ride the coattails of Mania whatsoever. Neither did the Hart Foundation’s quest to wrestle the title away from Undertaker despite HBK being the referee potentially standing in the way the next year. Or the following year when Taker vs. Stone Cold happened at MSG and was supported by the Rock and Triple H elevating themselves toward the main-event (that could’ve been the main-event line-up for Mania). A year later, Triple H burst onto the scene in the main-event and would help cement his legend three years after with his involvement in HBK’s return from a four-plus year hiatus. WWF vs. WCW hit its crescendo at Summerslam. Brock Lesnar truly became the Next Big Thing the year that followed. Randy Orton became the youngest World Champion in history at Summerslam, HBK faced Hulk Hogan in an Icon vs. Legend match at Summerslam, John Cena’s first epic matches with Edge/Orton/Batista happened at Summerslam, Edge vs. Undertaker Hell in a Cell went down at Summerslam. That’s some epic stuff. This event is special.

Wrestlemania often holds the rights to the biggest of the big matches. Yearlong stories have been built to bring us to some of the most anticipated battles of all-time. The fact that those matches occurred at Mania certainly helped their causes, but I believe that there have unquestionably been some monumental Summerslam matches that could have easily been top billed bouts at the Show of Shows. The first that comes to mind is Shawn Michaels vs. Hulk Hogan. Mr. Wrestlemania vs. Hulkamania (which built Wrestlemania) would undoubtedly have been a match that the millions of people around the world that look forward to Mania each year would’ve salivated over. Given how well the storyline played out and how good the match ended up being, I think it would’ve fit just perfectly onto a Mania like the one in Houston in ’09 or Chicago in ’06. Randy Orton vs. John Cena and John Cena vs. Batista provide two more recent examples of major matches that arguably should have been done first at Mania to capitalize on their effectiveness. Cena, by Summerslam ’07, was definitely the top star in the industry and the foil that Orton’s heel character provided him would have been a perfect fit for either of the two Wrestlemanias that proceeded it. The same could be said for the Cena feud with Batista, which was so thrown together in 2008 and much better handled two years later at Wrestlemania XXVI. Imagine if the great feud that took place in 2010 actually led to the initial encounter between those two guys. Buyrates dropping below 900K may not have been a problem. Undertaker vs. Steve Austin, Bret Hart vs. Undertaker, the return of Shawn Michaels to face Triple H, and even to a lesser extent CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy (since that storyline was just so damn good) could’ve all been main-events or headlining matches at Wrestlemanias, but instead served to elevate Summerslam. It just goes to show that Summerslam is a high priority for the WWE, as well.

Many of its most memorable moments came when Summerslam played host to classic battles over the Intercontinental title. Wrestlemania has had a few IC title matches that blew everyone’s socks off (i.e. Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, Bret Hart vs. Roddy Piper, and Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon in the Ladder Match), but if there is one event where the IC title has shined the brightest, it’s been Summerslam. That trend began in 1991 when Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect had their exquisite battle for the strap at MSG. The Hitman took it to the next level with arguably the greatest match of all-time when he carried British Bulldog to an outstanding bout literally calling out sequences in number that he’d had Bulldog memorize during the week leading up to the PPV. Michaels and Ramon’s second ladder match was certainly not its predecessor, but it was still excellent. It’s difficult to find such high quality in title matches across a four year stretch even at the Granddaddy of Them All. Three four-five star classic matches over one title in just five tries? Impressive. If you factor in what was going to be a four-star match between Steve Austin and Owen Hart before the accidentally horrific neck injury cut the match short of classic status and then follow that up with a ladder match between Rock and Triple H that was ridiculously good for two guys that didn’t belong in a ladder match…that’s 5 in 7 tries. Damned impressive run for the Intercontinental belt, eh? The run would continue with such impressive, albeit less spectacular bouts such as Edge vs. Lance Storm, Chris Benoit vs. Rob Van Dam, and eventually Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler.

The IC title has always been based on simple plots and that’s often why it has worked so well at Summerslam. The WWE aren’t trying quite so hard. The WWE always seems to try its hardest during the build-up to Wrestlemania since they know that event is their big cash cow of the year. Sometimes, that works to the detriment of the quality of the PPV. Matches set to feature celebrities and gimmicky things to lure in business from new avenues can work against those Manias, in terms of quality. Summerslam has often been the place where quality came back into play and trumped that of its more heralded cohort. The first Summerslam that I can remember being flat out better than Wrestlemania was 1997 (CMV1 note – Summerslam did a better buyrate than Mania that year, too. The first and only time that’s happened). If the WWE had flip flopped the cards, the event would’ve been remembered as one of the better Manias instead of one of the worst. The same could be said for Summerslam and Wrestlemania 2000, in which interestingly the first official TLC match would’ve taken place at Mania instead of the first-ever, yet unofficial TLC match (the Triangle Ladder match). 2002’s Summerslam was the best WWE PPV of all-time and trumped Rock vs. Hogan; not much you can do about that. 2005 was an excellent Summerslam, as well, and was better than Wrestlemania 21, in overall quality. Summerslam ’06 was right on par with Mania 22. I’m pretty sure most fans would’ve been happier with Summerslam ’09 than Mania 25, sans for Taker-HBK, of course. 1991, 1992, 1998, 2001, and 2008 were all years in which Summerslam and Mania were neck and neck with one another.

So, since we’re six weeks from Summerslam, I thought I would just remind everyone that Summerslam can be a pretty bad ass wrestling event. From the glory of the IC title to the Match Made in Heaven to the Hart family to the Highway to Hell to rise of new stars (Hart, Foley, Austin, Trips, Rock, Brock, Angle, Orton, and Punk to name a few) to TLC to the WCW/ECW Alliance vs. WWE to the slam dunk at the Nassau Coliseum (’02) to the first and only match between Hogan and Michaels to the chapters in four of Cena’s biggest rivalries to the last chapter of the Taker-Edge rivalry to the Nexus, Summerslam has provided us with more memories than any other event than Wrestlemania.

The Biggest Party of the Summer is coming…pop the top of a beer, park yourself in a comfortable chair, and let’s enjoy the ride…

Group A

HBK vs. Triple H – 6 pts (38-6 differential)
Austin vs. Angle – 6 pts (30-14)
Warrior vs. Macho – 0 pts (14-30)
Nexus vs. WWE – 0 pts (6-38)

Group B

Bret vs. Bulldog – 6 pts (31-13)
Eddie vs. Mysterio – 6 pts (29-15)
Rock-HHH-Angle – 0 pts (16-28)
Cena vs. Jericho – 0 pts (12-32)

Group C

Edge vs. Taker – 6 pts (26-18)
Benoit vs. Orton – 3 pts (23-21)
HBK vs. Razor – 3 pts (20-24)
Eddie vs. Angle – 0 pts (19-25)

(CMV1 note – Still the most hotly contested group. This is one of the groups where the final match of the group stage will have a huge bearing on who advances to the next round. The differential is theoretically close enough that Angle vs. Eddie could win and still advance despite having no points, yet. We know that Edge vs. Taker will advance, but what goes with it is still very much in question)

Group D

TLC 1 – 6 pts (35-9)
Bret vs. Taker – 3 pts (28-16)
RVD vs. Benoit – 3 pts (16-28)
Orton vs. Cena – 0 pts (9-35)

(CMV1 note – We’ve got our first big upset of this tournament, with Benoit vs. RVD narrowly upsetting Bret vs. Taker, 9-8 in the voting. To say that I’m surprised by that would be an understatement. Bret vs. Taker is holding on by voting differential, but it is now a prime target to miss out on the knockout stage unless it puts together what would at this point be an unexpected solid showing against TLC in phase 3 of the group stage)

Group E

Bret vs. Owen – 6 pts (31-12)
HBK vs. Hogan – 6 pts (25-19)
Hardy vs. RVD – 0 pts (17-27)
Taker vs. Orton – 0 pts (14-29)

Group F

The Rock vs. Brock – 6 pts (34-10)
CM Punk vs. Hardy – 6 pts (34-10)
Mankind vs. Trips – 0 pts (11-32)
Edge vs. John Cena – 0 pts (9-36)

(CMV1 note – It now comes down to which match will win the group. They are tied in voting differential, so it all just comes down to which match wins in the final pairings of the group stage. I will be very intrigued to see which one comes out on top. The winner avoids a likely date with Taker vs. Edge in the Round of 16)

Group G

Mr. Perfect vs. Bret – 6 pts (29-15)
Mysterio vs. Angle – 3 pts (23-21)
Austin vs. Undertaker – 3 pts (20-24)
DX vs. Legacy – 0 pts (16-28)

(CMV1 note – Wow! Mysterio vs. Angle smoked Taker vs. Austin 13-4! With that victory, it would take a sheer miracle for what I consider to be one of the biggest main-events in Summerslam history to advance past the group stage. Angle vs. Mysterio is what I voted for, simply because I think that’s one of the most underrated matches in history, but I never expected the majority – especially not the large majority – to vote the same)

Group H

Brock vs. Angle – 6 pts (36-8)
Rock vs. Triple H – 6 pts (29-15)
Owen vs. Austin – 0 pts (15-29)
Cena vs. Batista – 0 pts (8-36)

Group Stage Game Threes

Shawn Michaels-Triple H in a Non-Sanctioned Street Fight ('02) VS. Kurt Angle-Stone Cold Steve Austin (’01)
Ultimate Warrior-Macho Man Randy Savage ('92) VS. Nexus-Team WWE (’10)
Bret Hart-The British Bulldog ('92) VS. Rey Mysterio - Eddie Guerrero in a Ladder Match ('05)
Chris Jericho - John Cena ('05) VS. Triple H-The Rock-Kurt Angle ('00)
Undertaker - Edge in a Hell in a Cell Match ('08) VS. Randy Orton - Chris Benoit ('04)
Shawn Michaels - Razor Ramon in a Ladder Match ('95) VS. Kurt Angle - Eddie Guerrero ('04)
The Hardy Boyz - The Dudley Boyz - Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match ('00) VS. Bret Hart - Undertaker ('97)
Randy Orton - John Cena ('07) VS. Chris Benoit - Rob Van Dam ('02)
Bret Hart -Owen Hart in a Steel Cage Match ('94) VS. Shawn Michaels - Hulk Hogan ('05)
Jeff Hardy - Rob Van Dam in a Ladder Match (’01) VS. Undertaker - Randy Orton ('05)
Jeff Hardy - CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match (’09) VS. The Rock - Brock Lesnar ('02)
Edge - John Cena ('06) VS. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Mankind in a Steel Cage Match ('97)
Bret Hart - Mr. Perfect ('91) VS. Undertaker - Stone Cold Steve Austin ('98)
Degeneration X - Legacy (’09) VS. Kurt Angle - Rey Mysterio ('02)
Triple H - The Rock in a Ladder Match ('98) VS. Kurt Angle -Brock Lesnar ('03)
John Cena - Batista ('08) VS. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Owen Hart ('97)

Source: lordsofpain.net

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John Cena, the 10-time WWE Champion and leader of this current sports entertainment generation, has been the object of a lot of criticism, he’s been featured in movies, he has given the WWE endorsements that they’ve never had before, he’s main-evented/headlined 7 consecutive Wrestlemanias, he’s been cheered by millions, he’s been booed by millions, and he’s been the featured performer at the top of Wrestlemania cards that have helped make that event a worldwide, economy boosting showcase that is sought out by every city in the U.S. and beyond.

Of all those things that John Cena has been, you notice that the first thing listed amongst that laundry list of accolades was “the object of a lot of criticism.” Never before has a top star in professional wrestling been as loved and hated by about the same number of fans. Everywhere the WWE has traveled these last five years and counting, the WWE audiences have been overwhelmingly split on Cena. Yet, never once has Cena changed his tune; his character has retained the same core values that he embraced when he first became a hero as the Thuganomics master. Sure, his inflection has changed a bit since those days, but the character that preaches Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect has been the same guy for almost eight years now. That’s approaching Hogan-esque levels of the failure to do character development.

So, I ask the following question: do you think that John Cena ever thinks about his legacy in the business?

“Sports Entertainers” are not really that different from the best of the best actors or the players in the top leagues in other professional sports. WWE superstars see themselves as entertainers and athletes and legacies matter to both types of stars. Period. You think Peyton Manning would feel complete without that championship and two Super Bowl appearances? You think Leo DiCaprio is going to be satisfied without that “Best Actor” Oscar? You think Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller, Karl Malone, John Stockton, and others do not think often about how they never won the big one? We live in an era where you can’t be at the top of the best of all-time lists – or even be in the conversation, really – if you haven’t won a championship. Soccer/Football is the same way. Lionel Messi isn’t considered one of the greatest players ever without all the league and UEFA CL trophies and he may never be amongst the greatest of greats without a World Cup. Legacies matter.

I would surmise that wrestlers/Sports Entertainers care just as much about their long-term legacies. John Cena professes often to enjoy the role he plays in the WWE, but I’m sure Hulk Hogan did, too. We’ve got to soon be reaching a point where Cena will tire of doing the same thing over and over again; no different than Matthew McConaughey got tired of making Rom Coms and did Lincoln Lawyer. He’s going to need a new challenge; one that will allow him to effectively cement his legacy as one of the greatest ever. He knows and we know that he can play the hero and draw a ton of money doing it. Can he do the same as the villain? About twenty years ago, exactly, we were starting to see Hulk Hogan, to whom Cena most frequently draws comparisons, become a tired act as the protagonist to the point that the once adoring crowds were turning against him. Hogan lost steam as the Hulkamania bit was just too worn out to stay relevant; or at least as relevant as it was used to being. It took leaving the WWE for film and then WCW, which was no competition whatsoever for years, for Hulk Hogan to change his character. Hogan was reinvented in WCW. Perhaps Hulkster thought little of legacies back then because sports entertainment wasn’t nearly popular enough to warrant such professional athlete-type psychological intricacies. He was, after all, the one that was building a legacy by which all others in the business would attempt to follow. Maybe he did; maybe he didn’t. I’ll bet that he looks back, now, at his heel turn in 1996 and subsequent stint as the leader of the New World Order, which actually made WCW competition to the WWE and nearly put Vince McMahon out of business, and enjoys the creative freedom of being able to do something completely different and have it actually achieve huge success in its own right. If he didn’t think about legacy before that; surely he did afterward.

Will John Cena have to suffer a similar fate for the WWE to give him some new material to work with? I think that, deep down, Cena would relish the opportunity to turn heel and see if he could equal or surpass the success that he’s had as the top face as the top force of the dark side. He can do it on his terms, in a way that coincides with the PG era that he’s helped to build and, in doing so, he can further his legacy as a guy who was able to get it done both ways – good and bad.

There’s a huge number of wrestling fans out there that would immediately counter that it is not in the WWE’s best interest to change John Cena because of the success they’ve had with him already, the amount of merchandise he sells be it T-shirts/movies/posters/rap albums/PPV DVDs, or the idea that there isn’t a suitable babyface to supplant him if he were to turn heel. These are all fairly legitimate claims, but the same could be said of Hogan if you turned back the clock and there wasn’t a suitable babyface ready to take over. Macho was too old, Bret was too bland, HBK was too young and dumb, and Austin was still too (in) WCW. Business was faltering, anyway, so why not try to revamp interest through turning the long-time hero of the promotion into a villain? Did what they could potentially lose outweigh the potential gains? It was the one big shot that they had left in their tank and they did not pull the trigger. Someone else did, though, and it turned into the dogfight of Vince McMahon’s competitive life…

The fact is that turning the established hero into the villain CAN work. Borrowing from our parallel to sports, take a look at Lebron James. When he came into the league as the most hyped high school player of all-time and actually made good on his talents when he got to the big time, he was a hero and he was celebrated. People loved the idea that they followed a guy from the time he was just 16 to seeing him win two MVPs, carry a team that had no business in the NBA Finals to the brink of a championship, and become the face of the NBA. He was a well-spoken, well dressed, confident, affable, and engaging young man. Then, they witnessed his heartache as he failed to win a championship or even make it back to the NBA Finals with better teams. We were watching the trials and tribulations of a star like we had with Michael Jordan twenty years earlier.

And then he took his talents to South Beach…

Immediately, the hero became the villain. And what happened? Ratings hit 15 year highs! The media took this guy that we’ve hyped as basketball’s savior for almost a decade and helped turn everyone against him and make him basketball’s demise. As a result, people tuned in for NBA regular season AND Playoff games in numbers that had not been so good since the Jordan days. Outside interest was a huge factor, as Lebron as the bad guy drew people in and gave casual fans a reason to watch again. The Villainization of King James should be a book…and it would sell. Basketball will now enjoy another more popular area. There wasn’t even a suitable hero to take Lebron’s place. A guy like Dirk Nowitski, who had been around for over a decade already, stepped into the idol role and defeated the scoundrel. And people loved it...

The same thing could be done with John Cena. Allow me to paint a picture for you. Cena spends the next year doing the same usual thing, playing the same role and getting ready for the ultimate showdown against the Rock. He tries to stay WWE Champion so that he and Rock can have their epic battle with the title on the line at Wrestlemania. Yet, at the Royal Rumble something strange happens and The Rock costs Cena the championship. “Why,” Cena wonders to his Chain Gang. Why would Rock take something that would have only enhanced his match with Cena and ruin it? To Cena’s increasing surprise, the WWE Universe is fully behind the Rock’s decision, even if it meant giving the title back to the dastardly Miz (or whomever). At every turn, The Rock’s reaction is amazing and the one for Cena just OK. They cheer for Rock’s every move, but with increasing volume, the fans jeer Cena’s every counter. For two months, Cena tries to put on a brave face, but it is starting to eat at him a little bit. Knowing of the scenario from past experience, Rock brings it to the forefront that Cena is getting a little irritated about his decreasing fan support…and that this time it is different than it used to be because now he knows that when the Rock whoops his candy ass in Miami, that Cena’s met his match and that he won’t be able to bounce back like before. Cena’s supreme confidence fades throughout the Mania classic with Rock and it ends with no confidence left at all, as Rock pins his shoulders to the mat for the one, two, three. It is at that moment, when Rocky is celebrating like he just won the championship, that Cena can take it no longer and seven years of frustration gets unleashed. Cena annihilates the Rock and what should’ve been an all-time moment for the Great One is reduced to the memory of Cena brutally castrating the Brauma Bull. On the Grandest Stage of Them All, Cena will become the villain. The WWE will sink or swim by taking a calculated risk.

There’s interest in the hero falling to villain status. James proved that. Darth Vader proved that. Hogan proved that. It’s time to see if Cena can prove it, too. Quite frankly, his legacy is at stake. He can go down in history as the consummate good guy that never backed down despite the combination of decreased ratings, decreased fan interest, droves of haters begging him to change, etc. If he does, then he’ll still be remembered as an all-time great. To think otherwise would be foolish and short-sighted. Yet, imagine if he were to turn and make it successful. Stone Cold Steve Austin was never able to make it work, which like it or not sets guys like Hogan, Rock, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, Macho Man Savage, and Ric Flair apart from him. Cena wants to be remembered as one of the greatest of the greats. He’s going to have to play the villain, successfully, before he can get there.

Summerslam Champions League

Group A

HBK vs. Triple H – 3 pts (23-4 differential)
Austin vs. Angle – 3 pts (15-12)
Warrior vs. Macho – 0 pts (12-15)
Nexus vs. WWE – 0 pts (4-23)

Group B

Eddie vs. Mysterio – 3 pts (19-8)
Bret vs. Bulldog – 3 pts (18-9)
Rock-HHH-Angle – 0 pts (9-18)
Cena vs. Jericho – 0 pts (8-19)

Group C

Edge vs. Taker – 3 pts (15-12)
HBK vs. Razor – 3 pts (14-13)
Benoit vs. Orton – 0 pts (13-14)
Eddie vs. Angle – 0 pts (12-15)

(CMV1 note – This was easily the most hotly contested group. I was very surprised at how well Eddie vs. Angle did against Taker vs. Edge. I guess that goes to show how much the IWC loved Guerrero. Taker vs. Edge was easily the more epic match, but Angle and Eddie carry an enormous amount of respect. The match where Orton became the youngest champ nearly knocked off the second WWE PPV ladder match)

Group D

TLC 1 – 3 pts (20-7)
Bret vs. Taker – 3 pts (20-7)
Orton vs. Cena – 0 pts (7-20)
RVD vs. Benoit – 0 pts (7-20)

Group E

Bret vs. Owen – 3 pts (18-8)
HBK vs. Hogan – 3 pts (14-13)
Hardy vs. RVD – 0 pts (13-14)
Taker vs. Orton – 0 pts (8-18)

(CMV1 note – HBK and Hogan get a ton of flack because it was a Hogan match. Overselling aside, that match was about as good as it could have been. Hardy vs. RVD was really good, but I submit that it got so many votes because people hate Hogan. We’ll see how Hardy vs. RVD does against the other two matches)

Group F

The Rock vs. Brock – 3 pts (22-5)
CM Punk vs. Hardy – 3 pts (20-6)
Mankind vs. Trips – 0 pts (6-20)
Edge vs. John Cena – 0 pts (5-22)

Group G

Mr. Perfect vs. Bret – 3 pts (17-10)
Austin vs. Undertaker – 3 pts (16-11)
DX vs. Legacy – 0 pts (11-16)
Mysterio vs. Angle – 0 pts (10-17)

Group H

Brock vs. Angle – 3 pts (23-4)
Rock vs. Triple H – 3 pts (16-11)
Owen vs. Austin – 0 pts (11-16)
Cena vs. Batista – 0 pts (4-23)

Group Stage Game Twos

Shawn Michaels-Triple H in a Non-Sanctioned Street Fight ('02) VS. Ultimate Warrior-Macho Man Randy Savage ('92)

Kurt Angle-Stone Cold Steve Austin (’01) VS. Nexus-Team WWE (’10)

Bret Hart-The British Bulldog ('92) VS. Chris Jericho - John Cena ('05)

Rey Mysterio - Eddie Guerrero in a Ladder Match ('05) VS. Triple H-The Rock-Kurt Angle ('00)

Undertaker - Edge in a Hell in a Cell Match ('08) VS. Shawn Michaels - Razor Ramon in a Ladder Match ('95)

Randy Orton - Chris Benoit ('04) VS. Kurt Angle - Eddie Guerrero ('04)

The Hardy Boyz - The Dudley Boyz - Edge and Christian in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match ('00) VS. Randy Orton - John Cena ('07)

Bret Hart - Undertaker ('97) VS. Chris Benoit - Rob Van Dam ('02)

Bret Hart -Owen Hart in a Steel Cage Match ('94) VS. Jeff Hardy - Rob Van Dam in a Ladder Match (’01)

Shawn Michaels - Hulk Hogan ('05) VS. Undertaker - Randy Orton ('05)

Jeff Hardy - CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match (’09) VS. Edge - John Cena ('06)

The Rock - Brock Lesnar ('02) VS. Hunter Hearst Helmsley - Mankind in a Steel Cage Match ('97)

Bret Hart - Mr. Perfect ('91) VS. Degeneration X - Legacy (’09)

Undertaker - Stone Cold Steve Austin ('98) VS. Kurt Angle - Rey Mysterio ('02)

Triple H - The Rock in a Ladder Match ('98) VS. John Cena - Batista ('08)

Kurt Angle -Brock Lesnar ('03) VS. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Owen Hart ('97)

Source: lordsofpain.net