Here's a little fact that you might have missed: in all three of their PPV matches, Cena and Owens never left the ring. In all three of their matches, all of which had moments of greatness, the action never once went outside of the ropes, from bell to bell. This goes some way towards explaining why the matches felt so good to watch. They were tight, focused and clinical. Part of that is their refusal to slow down the pace by doing the seemingly required 'brawling on the outside' segment.
