7. If He Cant Lose Cleanly, He Becomes Predictable
Its generally accepted that a babyface champion on Cena or Hogans level gets an astonishing level of protection when it comes to deciding who they lose to and how. That means that on the rare occasions when they put someone over cleanly it means something huge - Daniel Bryan and Brock Lesnar are two obvious recent examples that spring to mind. However, in the vast majority of other matches the outcome is as predictable as canned laughter and TV dinners. Thats why Cenas run as the United States Champion with the weekly open challenge last year was so rewarding for us long time fans to witness. The competitive matches that WWEs top guy was suddenly having on free television were fresh, dynamic and exciting, quickly becoming a standout segment on RAW. Why? Because for the first time in years, it seemed as though Cena could lose to someone below him on the pecking order. There shouldnt be this huge gulf of ability between the upper midcard and the main event. It makes everyone else in the company look like numpties. Bret Hart and CM Punk worked with everyone and (generally speaking) made them look as good as possible. Cena may be huge in the business, but hes smaller than Jack Swagger, an amateur wrestling standout, and Cesaro, a physical freak with astonishing timing. He should have trouble taking both those men out and it looks better when he does, makes him out to be a more heroic fighting champion. If he always defeats the odds, theyre not that odd to begin with.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
