At the very moment that John Cena got drafted to Raw in the 2005 Lottery, he became the foil to Triple H that the WWE had been looking for. Trips was the dominant force on Raw from the time that the WWE split their roster in two and they seemingly searched for three years to find a guy that could be the top babyface to his top heel character. Cena came about organically, much like Austin and Rock had before him. Once on the A-show, he became the face of the new direction for the company. In doing so, though, a big portion of the male audience started to turn on him. His once edgy character was replaced with a Hogan-esque, white meat babyface persona that the adults did not care for. In matches against Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle in late 2005, the crowds were split down the middle, by and large. During WrestleMania weekend in 2006, Cena Sucks chants could be heard all over Chicago. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Triple H and Cena had it easy at Mania 22. They did not have to do much to garner a reaction. After an over-the-top pair of introductions, the wrestling was basic, but brilliant in its simplicity. A mere punch had not meant so much in decades. It allowed them to effortlessly blend their top moves into the match and build an incredible amount of drama toward the climax. The crowd just ate Cena alive throughout, chanting things at him virtually the entire 22-minutes of the match. Triple H egged them on. In essence, this was not the birth of the split Cena crowds, but it was definitely the escalation of it to its current levels. Hats off to Cena for not giving up as many of his peers have done in the past. He took it in stride. People legitimately seemed shocked that Cena won. The crowd erupted as if the Bulls had just lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals during Jordans heyday. This is the most underrated match in WrestleMania history. The wrestling was not top notch because Cena was not yet a top notch wrestler, but the crowd elevated the match in a similar fashion to how Rock-Hogan was elevated by the audience at Sky Dome.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
