Tag Archives: john cena

WWE still doing that whole ‘Extreme’ thing… now with more Brock Lesnar!

  By Franny | April 28, 2012 - 11:17 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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It’s that time of year, again, kids. Backlash!

Oh, wait, no. That’s right; Backlash is gone and the dying remnants of ECW are thrown at us in the form of a monthly gimmick pay-per-view. I hate to get all negative right off the bat, but you know it’s true. Gimmicks for the sake of having a gimmick don’t make much sense to me. However, somehow, the booking for this year’s Extreme Rules event WORKS for nearly all of the gimmick matches involved.

 First up, we’ve got Brock Lesnar returning for his first wrestling match in around seven years. A month after The Rock makes his big return to WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar’s back in the ring, too. (Speaking of which, I never wrote a WrestleMania article, and probably won’t. The whole show was forgettable. If you want me to complain about it, tell me to, and I’ll write up an article just for you.) Not only is it a return match, but Lesnar’s hot off the trails of UFC.

So how does a ‘real’ fighter transition back to ‘fake fighting?’ Well, you make your return and pop the face of the company in the mouth, busting his lip open. Whether this was intentional or accidental isn’t the point. The point is that something that LOOKED real happened. In a worked-shoot sort of way, Brock just may be correct in his claims of bringing ‘legitimacy’ back to WWE. So, his match with John Cena will be an ‘Extreme Rules’ match. I expect this to be brutal in a good way, but I do hope they don’t go too overboard. The hardcore gimmick will allow this match to be a brawl rather than a wrestling match, which will fit nicely for Lesnar, given his evolved ‘fighting’ background. My pick: Lesnar wins. (more…)

My thoughts before the 2012 WWE Royal Rumble

  By Franny | January 27, 2012 - 8:14 am | Wrestling, WWE
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WWE Champion CM Punk & Raw GM John Laurinaitis

It’s finally every wrestling fan’s favorite time of the year, the beginning of the ‘Road to WrestleMania.’ I for one am especially looking forward to this year’s Royal Rumble for a few reasons. This year, WWE has announced that ‘every’ WWE wrestler is eligible for the Royal Rumble. Will this include existing champions? Could the WWE Champion hypothetically win a shot against the World Heavyweight Champion?

A lot of things seem to be revisited in some way this year. In the 2011 Royal Rumble, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan kicked things off right, exciting the crowd, one stiff move after another. William Regal added to the excitement, taking brutal kicks to the chest from Bryan, showing as always that Regal’s British balls are bigger than yours. Fast forward to 2012: CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are WWE’s main event titleholders and are in high-profile storylines, as they should be. The Miz, who was defending WWE Champion at the 2011 event, is now the #1 entrant. Dolph Ziggler reprises his role as a main event title contender, but this time for the WWE Championship.

I expect to see the rebuilding process start on Sunday for The Miz. Believe me, he’ll have a strong showing. He won’t win it, but I expect a good 20-25 minutes for him. His heat has fizzled out but there’s no way they won’t have a plan in mind for last year’s WrestleMania headliner at this year’s big show. (more…)

John Cena, the Rock, CM Punk, & Triple H: The road to Survivor Series & Beyond

  By Franny | September 19, 2011 - 2:51 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Let the speculation and fantasy-booking begin.

One night after Night of Champions, and we’re already speculating about Survivor Series. Well, I am, at least. The rest of the wrestling world is probably drooling over Hell in a Cell 2011 and how that will go down, however illogical a gimmick pay-per view may be.

Last night we saw John Cena capture his hundredth WWE Championship (or something like that) and Triple H pin CM Punk after a barrage of run-ins on both participants of the match. Peter Gabriel would be proud, as we saw a return of the sledgehammer, as Kevin Nash was laid out by Triple H. It’s sad that I have to stop and think who had something to do with wrestling most recently, Peter Gabriel or a sledgehammer, but I do assume Triple H utilized the weapon more recently than “Big Time” WrestleMania 22.

Anywho, back to business. I don’t see Alberto Del Rio in a Hell in a Cell match. It would make absolutely zero sense and he’d be out of his element. I really don’t know what they’re going to do with Cena, unless they go the tag match route, but that wouldn’t make much sense either. I just don’t logically see a WWE Championship Hell in a Cell match this year.

Triple H and CM Punk WILL however do battle in the massive cage, mark my words. The point of a cage is no escape, and protection from interference, which would make perfect sense for Punk & Triple H. “Awesome Truth” and Kevin Nash can’t interfere if the match takes place in the confines of a Hell in a Cell cage. Given the number of Hell in a Cell matches that have spilled outside of the cage, though, (I mean hell, it’s an annual feature in WWE video games) I think it defeats the purpose and we’d see interference anyway. As far as booking the match, goes, it would work, though. (more…)

Night of Champions 2011: CM Punk, Triple H, John Cena, Alberto Del Rio…Fresh?

  By Franny | September 16, 2011 - 6:53 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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"Are you ready?" -CM Punk with Triple H in 2006

I haven’t been following WWE that closely in recent weeks. I probably could have capitalized on the CM Punk craze by blogging about his classic-of-tomorrow feud with John Cena. However, life happens, and blogging did not happen, so there is some catching up to be done.

Even the most casual fans had to have heard about this red-hot feud. CM Punk wins the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank 2011 at the peak of the hottest feud of the year. He then ‘leaves’ with the title, leaving WWE belt-less. Cue McMahon. John Cena wins a new championship from tournament winner Rey Mysterio, in more of ‘the same’ nonsense. That same night, CM Punk returns, with new entrance music in tow. Somewhere along the way, Triple H returns to inform Mr. McMahon that he is reliving him of his duties, and that Helmsley would be the new acting COO. McHunter books Punk vs Cena at SummerSlam, Kevin Nash returns, and Alberto Del Rio cashes in. Punk is angry, but not at Del Rio; Punk doesn’t trust Triple H or old crony Nash, which brings us to today.

At Night of Champions, CM Punk faces Triple H. If Triple H loses, he steps down from his position. Now, for me, this is a little disappointing, as I think it gives away the ending of the match. Triple H wins after interference from Kevin Nash. At least we’d have an inkling of hope or chance that Triple H would lay down for CM Punk if that stipulation wasn’t present. That aside, this match-up is fresh. Triple H hasn’t wrestled since April, so it could be hit-or-miss.  Regardless, it’s a match that should generate a decent amount of buzz, despite Triple H’s bland rambling promo work. (more…)

Royal Rumble 2011 a success–but you already knew that.

  By Franny | February 2, 2011 - 7:43 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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NASH!!!111oneoneone

After 24 years of pretty much the same thing, WWE did something not too drastic, although they would like you to think it’s a drastic change: adding ten men to the traditional thirty-man match. To compensate, the increments between timed entrances were reduced from two minutes to ninety seconds. This resulted in roughly the same total minimum match length, but helped showcase ten more aspiring stars and offering ten more pay-per-view payout bonuses.

This year’s extravaganza had something for everyone. The ‘smarky’ Boston crowd really ate up the opening sequences, as it featured WWE’s best pure wrestlers in the ring together: CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, and William Regal, with Zack Ryder & Justin Gabriel as ‘buffers’ serving as elimination fodder for the three. The three traded stiff shots and showed the crowd a thing or two: Punk & Bryan will one day tear the house down if given the chance, and William Regal is one tough man.

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Last week’s Raw: Dolph-Orton, Cena-Punk, Royal Rumble build

  By Franny | January 25, 2011 - 4:27 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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I’ve been really ‘uninspired’ lately with the current state of pro wrestling-entertainment. However, any fan knows that the Royal Rumble is the beginning of the ‘Road to WrestleMania,’ and the programming will get a lot better for at least a few months. I decided to get back into the swing of things by catching up on Raw, starting with last week’s episode. I haven’t watched it in months, and I think that helped me actually enjoy it a lot more.

John Cena vs Nexus
The show opens with John Cena cutting a promo on the Nexus. Apparently it’s being led by CM Punk now, which is great news. The Miz and Alex Riley interrupt, to inject the green WWE Champion into different main event situations, and keep the doors open for a Cena-Miz feud.

It's nice to see a champion dress with class instead of wearing jorts.

Pros:

  • Punk leading Nexus is more entertaining than Barrett, and it ensures that Punk won’t be buried anytime soon. It makes Nexus seem a lot more ‘sinister.’
  • Miz & Riley dress like champions. It’s good to see a heel champion come out in a suit. It’s more likely to bring class to the belt than a pair of jorts.
  • Cena: “Cole has about as much street cred as the Jonas Brothers.”
  • Cena makes a reference to having to keep it PG, which I thought was a neat comment aimed towards the older fans.

Cons:

  • Cena’s comedy comments undermines The Miz as a worthy champion. He does have a point, though, as Miz’s delivery sometimes leaves a bit to be desired. Cena also puts ‘Cena vs Orton’ over as an iconic WrestleMania match-up, implying that Miz doesn’t belong in the main event. I think people would rather see someone new headline the show rather than see Cena vs Orton for the 80th time.
  • Cole: “[John Cena] is the Ricky Gervais of WWE.” I’d like to hear an explanation for this one. I fail to see what Ricky Gervais has in common with John Cena. I guess the joke’s on me.
  • ‘Poopy’ jokes.

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Raw Review: Miz/Sheamus, Cena/Nexus, Bret Hart returns…again

  By Franny | July 22, 2010 - 7:35 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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A look into the future: Raw's dysfunctional family unites against the Nexus

I really enjoyed Raw this week. Normally I can’t stand it, but it really was a solid show. I don’t know if it’s because they are beginning to build up hard for their second-biggest show of the year, SummerSlam, but whatever. It’s working.

The picture at the left is from a future Raw. I lost my picture database so future-me re-added pics to the archives. (Just go with it!)

The show started with a high-octane, pay-per-view caliber triple threat match between Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, and Edge to determine Sheamus’s opponent at SummerSlam. For free TV, it was a damn good match, and it was followed up with  a great altercation involving Nexus and the ‘odd couple’ of Edge and Jericho. Jericho called out Edge, and they were either hinting at an all-out feud or the formation of a team. I’m not really sure. Either way, they tried to out-heel eachother by claiming that they could lead Nexus.

Nexus’ music hits, and they deliver a beatdown to Edge. Jericho puts Edge in the Walls of Jericho and realizes Nexus wants him, too. Jericho takes a beatdown of his own. Another great Nexus angle that showcases the young stars. WWE is doing a fantastic job of creating seven menacing young stars, seemingly out of thin air.

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My thoughts on WWE’s first Money in the Bank pay-per-view event

  By Franny | July 21, 2010 - 5:55 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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be the first to admit being wrong about this event. Well, mostly wrong. It looked bad on paper, and I had no interest in seeing it. The Money in the Bank matches just didn’t look ‘right’ for some reason, and the championship matches had even less appeal. I mean, Randy Orton in a Money in the Bank match? Weird. I don’t approve of ‘gimmick pay-per-views’ and having three Money in the Bank matches in a single year makes a world championship opportunity mean yes. But…anyway…

First of all, the Money in the Bank matches WORKED. They turned out far better than I expected, and by the time the Smackdown match was through, I felt like I was watching WrestleMania. I had that “holy crap, this isn’t even a main event” feeling. Big Show once again showed the WWE Universe why he is hands down the best ‘big-man’ worker in the business. I give applause to WWE Creative for writing a pretty compelling match that could be one of the best of all-time. (Best of the Money in the Bank ladder matches, I mean.)

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John Cena and Sheamus join forces to close somewhat watchable episode of WWE Raw

  By Franny | July 13, 2010 - 3:25 pm | Wrestling, WWE
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Rivals John Cena & Sheamus teamed up on Raw.This picture isn't from that show.

I did it. I managed to sit through most of another episode of WWE Raw. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t all that bad, for once. However, I do believe I deserve a medal, a cookie, the Intercontinental Championship, or a TNA contract for my efforts.

WWE decided to mix things up, and showed the WWE Universe that the anonymous GM has a rather unique vision for certain titles.

As a way of reprimanding Alicia Fox for her shady tactics in a previous match against Eve Torres, Fox was added to the main event, making it a six-on-two intergender handicap match. The icing on the cake: the winner of the pinfall wins the Divas Championship. Smarks around the world grunted in disbelief, knowing John Cena was getting yet another shot a WWE belt, but the world kept watching.

The match went just as expected, with Super Cena overcoming all odds and gaining the pinfall victory. Your new Divas champion, John Cena. (more…)