2 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE SmackDown (Apr 3)

3. Contradictory Cena

John Cena
WWE.com

This wouldn't have been bad had Cena not made fun of the way Bray Wyatt's 'Fiend' looks and proudly exclaimed that he "wasn't afraid" of the masked nightmare. That one statement set WWE up for yet more failure on an episode rife with it.

If JC wasn't scared of Bray's gimmick, then why did he look so creeped out as SmackDown went off the air?

On one hand, it's interesting that it was Wyatt sans mask that spooked Cena. On the other, this just didn't make much sense. Cena went from supercharged bad ass veteran to scolded schoolboy who didn't know where to look in a few short minutes. He needed to be one or the other, not both.

Contradictions rarely work in pro wrestling, at least not for strong babyfaces. If Cena wanted to play the brave big boy, then he had to do so for the entire segment. Shifting from powerful to panicky when Bray didn't even do anything was rather lame.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.