No feud in WWE this summer was more visceral, more real than the one between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins. You couldnt help but feel the hatred oozing from both men (when the writers werent screwing things up with childish pranks like gimmicking Rollins briefcase) as the former brothers in arms attacked each other. Fans desperately wanted (and want) to see them get their hands on each other, making this a must-watch feud. And then suddenly, John Cena swooped in to become part of the storyline. First Rollins cost Cena his title rematch at Night of Champions. Then Cena and Ambrose started a weird rivalry for the right to fight Rollins, which included Cena offering the Lunatic Fringe some veteran advice. For several weeks, Cena found himself inserted into this Ambrose/Rollins blood feud, only to lose a key match for the right to face Rollins and was rewarded with a number one contenders match for his loss. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apcQDmfQENY Nevermind that Ambrose has been redirected to Bray Wyatt and Cena is leading his Survivor Series team against an Authority team led by Seth Rollins. Within two months, Cena has managed to wedge himself into the hottest feud in WWE. Funny how that works out. In the span this year alone, John Cena has gone from thoroughly defeating a unique villain in Bray Wyatt, to competing with heir apparent Roman Reigns, to garnering sympathy as Brock Lesnars punching bag, to wiggling his way into the Ambrose/Rollins feud, to forming an alliance with Dolph Ziggler. While Cena is still WWEs biggest star and absolutely should be in major angles, the sheer breadth of these storylines and the wrestlers he has been matched up with and against makes it feel like WWE is trying anything it can to keep Cena relevant without freshening him up.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.
