This week my article will mostly be written well after my usual noon deadline. I woke up this morning and realised I had not watched any TNA for two weeks, and no WWE since Summerslam. As you can probably appreciate, writing about wrestling is never made easier if you have not watched any.
So this morning, I went with a marathon, two episodes of TNA, followed by two of Raw. It was hard going, but demonstrates the kind of sacrifice I am prepared to make to deliver an article for all of you. Some things looked like promising subjects, but were discarded.
- Dixies Freckled Torso. My girlfriend would kill me if I wrote about that.
- The Hardy Boys. a lot of appearances, not much wrestling.
- Bray Storm. I actually quite liked this, but need to wait to see how it develops.
- A new Total Divas title?
- The Gold Star Heel Turn. had a title ready and everything, but…..
The return of John Cena is obviously the big talking point of the week. I want to focus on the one aspect of his recent matches, the title does not refer to Cena, but the Suplex.
It used to be in wrestling that everyone had a signature move, JBL had his clothesline, if he hit it, he won. Bret had the sharpshooter, Flair the figure four. Other wrestlers may occasionally use the same move, but never with the same devastating effect. Jake Roberts is a prime example, his DDT was devastating, anyone else used it, it was good.
Generally, in time, a wrestler retires, others use the move, but not as a finisher, whatever move it is is only a finisher for so long, because fans want to see something new. Wrestlers nowadays hit the DDT, then the match carries on. Similarly, the suplex used to be a devastating move, then moved down a few levels to just another move people do.
Then Brock brought it back. Big time. 16 times.
Don’t get me wrong, like everyone else, I watched as Brock used those suplexes (not sure on a plural of suplex, will go with that.) to destroy Cena, it looked fantastic. It looked so great I saw one person on social media declare ‘Brock legit tried to kill Cena’. God I hate idiots…
While Brock destroyed Cena, and looked fantastic doing it, we should all remember that Cena has kicked out of much more ‘devastating’ moves. John Cena for at least a decade has made a career out of kicking out of big moves.Cena is superman, so if he is destroyed by a suplex or two, they must have been great.
So what that match did was suspend disbelief. While I may not have been as bad as the person I quoted, I watched a match that went exactly as I would expect a real match between the two to go. Brock destroys Cena. I bought into what I was watching. Brock chose the Suplex as his means of doing that, and tradition suggests that that now becomes his move.
Then this week, Cena comes out and destroys that by using a variety of suplexes to do to Bray what Brock did to him.
What I was buying into was that Brock had perfected the German suplex, in the same way fans once bought into the Hogan Leg Drop, the Rock Bottom,the Kill Switch….OK I took that too far there, but you get the point.
What made those moves so good were never the moves, but the person doing the move. He did it all the time, he won matches with it all the time, and no-one else could do it quite like him. Brock effectively made the suplex great again,but only when he did it. Cena then came along and stole it.
And that is not all he stole, he was bouncing around on the balls of his feet, he was telling Bray to stay down, he was stalking him. He stole the whole Brock gimmick. John Cena used Bray Wyatt to send a message to Brock? No, Cena used Bray Wyatt to send a message to everyone that he is still the top dog at WWE.
I flirted with the idea of Cena going into a series of title matches with Brock, getting closer and closer till he eventually finds a way to overcome the odds, now that idea terrifies me, because that scenario looks more and more likely.
Reigns remains in a feud with The Authority, Bray Wyatt was just abused by Cena, the Big Show and Mark Henry are now a tag team, so who else is there? Who am I missing as a likely opponent for Lesnar?
So here is the scenario I would go with. Cena and Brock fight it out, with Cena losing, but getting closer and closer to the victory. Cena then wins the Rumble to get one more shot,after the authority interfere in the rumble to eliminate Reigns. Cena continues to show more and more of the dark John Cena. At the Same time, Rusev remains undefeated right up to the Rumble, where he finally loses in a title match against Brock.
This would give the fans what they want, an American beating Rusev, it turns Lesnar full on face, in time to take on the newly turned heel John Cena at Wrestlemania, screwing Reigns out of the title shot he deserves, and setting up Reigns V Cena once the title is away from Brock.
Everyone wins, Cena gets the much needed turn, we get a new feud for the title, Reigns finally gets a real shot at the title, and Brock only loses the belt because the heel Cena cheated, probably by getting onside with TheAuthority. Cos his girlfriend convinced him to.
It gives Rusev an undefeated streak right up to the Rumble, and allows him to lose that streak to the one in 21 and 1, and as losses go, that would not be too bad for Rusev. It also builds Brock well for the final showdown with Cena, and therefore makes Cena look stronger when he wins, even if he has to cheat to do it.
Sadly, I can see most of the above happening, but without the heel turn. Cena sells merchandise to kids, who need a hero, not a villain to convince them to pester their parents. the parents need a hero to convince them to part with their hard earned…
Before I go, tradition dictates I mention all the other great articles here on sltdwrestling.com. We have recently seen the return to the active roster of both George and Greg, and both have been great additions. ( They made me say that). Duckman, as I understand it will be taking a break from copying my articles for a while as he deals with some family issues, I am sure you will all join me in wishing the whole Duckman family the very best for the weeks ahead.
I am not even going to mention the T word this week, she is killing me….
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