This past week on RAW we witnessed the 3rd encounter between Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton where the ‘WWE Universe’ voted for a Streetfight stipulation.
The closing of RAW was particularly interesting as Daniel Bryan gained a clean tap out victory over Orton by using the Kendo Stick as an addition to his No Lock.
The move looked believable, Orton sold it well and he ultimately tapped out making Bryan look great. Nobody thinks any less of Orton but it was the right thing to do to make Bryan look like he can compete in the main event scene.
My question is; why can’t Cena do the same thing as Orton? Why does Cena always have to overcome everything? Imagine how impactful it would have been if Bryan made Cena tap out like that! It would have done the same thing, made Bryan look great and everyone else would have forgotten that Cena had tapped out a few weeks later.
How many superstars from this current mid-card could Cena actually bring up to the main event scene if he took the same approach as Orton’s character did this past Monday?
I’m bored of the ‘Never Give Up’ slogan because it prevents Cena from being a realistic character. I have written many articles being critical of Cena’s character and don’t want to cover old ground but there has to come a time when his booking needs to change.
I know he is designed for children to look up to but even when you are making a superhero character for children to idolise you also have to make him have flaws for us to actually get behind and believe in. Cena’s matches feel like Superman turning up to an Elderly Care Home to defend his Arm Wrestling Championship. Pointless, Repetitive, Boring and in some cases Cruel!
Name one man on the roster past and present who ‘Never Gave Up’ in a match at some point in their career? Cena always seems to be the exception to the rule. Surely it’s time WWE start to see that Cena’s character and direction needs to be tweaked slightly. Countout victories and disqualifications get you nowhere these days (Even Daniel Bryan’s ‘character’ said the same thing on his ‘Backstage’ internet interview after SmackDown last week when he got his countout win over Orton!)
I hope Daniel Bryan’s wave continues to roll. If they do decide to go with him challenging John Cena for the WWE Championship and bring the real life circumstances with the Bella twins in to the mix then they should use it wisely and not have Cena to walk away with another generic win.
CM Punk and Paul Heyman also seemed to move a little quicker than I thought on RAW. The segment where they hugged in the ring was fantastic. The promos from both men were believable and used just enough real life knowledge to keep you interested.
I personally thought that this was enough for this episode and they could have kept the Curtis Axel involvement and backstage argument for the following week’s episode. After all, this build isn’t for Money in the Bank, it’s for SummerSlam at the end of August.
Either way, I’m very interested to see how WWE utilise CM Punk back in the face role and how long they can keep him away from the WWE Championship and John Cena.
Should I just stop letting the character of John Cena bother me? Am I hoping for things that will never actually happen? Or could Daniel Bryan be Cena’s kryptonite?
You can contact Martyn via Twitter @BeansOnToastUK or email him at [email protected].
