A Small History of My Declined Interest

[BifEverchad 0]

WARNING - This post exceeded its original length. I may have rambled, but I had to get a lot off my chest as I put a lot of things into prospective.

So don't complain that this post is too long. If you don't want to read it, don't read it. This is your warning.

 

 

The other day I starting thinking and wondered to myself, what have I really missed? Or have I really missed anything?

 

I've proudly watched Vince and Co. like most of us, since I was a child, and I grew up on it. Since around 1986, to be exact. Right around the time of Macho Man breaking Steamboat's larynx, I watched almost everything WWF/WWE related and loved every second of it. As years went back, era to era, superstars came, superstars left, a lot of them died, and with them a lot of my love for the WWE died as well. Not to sound so melodramatic, but it's true, it did. Now I don't know the cause or the reason for it, nor do I really try and understand what happened, it just did. Well..maybe I got older, maybe the business just changed or maybe the product just plain sucked. Either way you slice it, I found myself resenting the WWE and snarled at it, mocked it and became very bitter.

 

I've tried to pinpoint my exact decline, but the best time frame I could come up with was around 2005. Summer to be exact. Edge was feuding with a returning Matt Hardy, Cena was the big face Champ taking on the likes of Jericho, Christian and Kurt Angle, and Orton was feuding with Taker. Around this time I started to miss more and more PPVs, and eventually RAWs (never really watched SD! as religiously anyway). Now the product wasn't that bad, I'll admit it. There was some decent angles going down and the workers put off great matches. But something just wasn't right...or at least the same. Maybe Eddy had a lot to do with that, I don't know. But I join the majority of everyone here in saying I sure as hell miss that guy.

 

On to early 2006, when Edge cashed in his MITB against Cena, went on to win, then lost it back to Cena at the Rumble. That Rumble was good too, the promos were classic and the show really went off well. Rey won, but no big whoop, you could see what they had going, so whatever. Onto Wrestlemania, which was also pretty darn good. Triple H came out to the ring on a throne dressed as a Conan the Barbarian-type king, while Cena came out with a tommy gun and was accompanied by a group of "gangsters". It's ok, I can deal with that, after all - its Wrestlemania. But as the months went by I found myself getting sick of what was being presented. The whole "been there, done that" phrase came to mind and I started to watch less and less. Especially when "God" teamed up with HBK the next month. I'm not an overly religious person and I wasn't offended by what they did with this angle, it was just plain stupid. Regardless, it didn't last that long, but still. At the same time we have little tiny Rey Mysterio going around defending the World HEAVYWEIGHT Title against JBL and Cena fending off challenges of Triple H and Edge. Not too bad, well..I assume. I never really did watch nor pay attention, because this is around the time that the Spirit Squad were all over the show. On the other side of the coin, King Booker was starting to shine on SD!, so that was a plus. But a consistency for every good thing, there was about 10 shitty things.

 

Now I understand from a business standpoint that you need characters and stars to sell the PPVs and merch, but come on. Look at who we had up in our faces around this time. The Great Khali, Impostor Kane, The Spirit Squad, Rob Conway, Umaga (who I hated the first 2 years he was around), Bobby Lashley, and Simon Dean. All of which I fucking despised and refused to even give a chance at the time. But then I saw another little glimmer of hope..

 

On the May 15 edition of Raw, Rob Van Dam lost the Intercontinental Championship to Shelton Benjamin. I thought, ah fuck, RVD is being de-pushed yet again..going to TNA soon.. I guess. But then the next week, RVD informed WWE Champion John Cena that he would be cashing in his Money in the Bank contract at ECW One Night Stand for a WWE Championship match. AWESOME. The week after that, Van Dam was selected by ECW Representative Paul Heyman to be drafted from Raw to WWE's new ECW brand. SWEET. Then at One Night Stand, Cena lost the WWE Championship to Van Dam in what can only be described as the greatest ECW match ever held on WWE PPV. The crowd alone ate Cena up and spit him out in time for RVD to kill him with a 5star frog splash and win the title. I thought a new dawn could be upon us. A new direction? A new ECW? Crazy. And it was. ECW didn't last that long before all the old faces were eventually filtered out and ECW on Sci-Fi was basically just a 3rd brand/show. However, CM Punk debuted and put off some decent to good matches. Perhaps one of the only highlights from an otherwise sad, sad show.

 

Now at the same time, a lot of guys were starting to come into their own, and started to show signs of solid wrestling and character development. Guys like Orton, Nitro (Morrison), Booker and Finlay were all on my radar. While at the same time, pieces of shit like Viscera, Snitsky and Eugene were still employed. Actually I have nothing bad to say about Nick Dinsmore. I actually feel bad for him. He was saddled with a shitty gimmick and did it to the best of his ability, but the character just plain sucked ass. But there was a lot of dead weight around and/or they didn't know what to do with the weight they had there. Batista was being pushed beyond belief, Kennedy was hailed as the next big star even though I never did see it. SmackDown! pulled off a shitty version of the KOTR, but some good did come of it as we got to experience, "King Booker" in all his glory. By Great American Bash, King Booker was in full effect and he captured the World Heaveyweight Title from Rey Rey.

 

The summer of 2006 was "the Summer of DX". Gag me. Now don't get me wrong, I loved DX when they first started. I loved HBK and Triple H, always have. Back then they were hilarious. But that was 9 years prior to this new incarnation. A lot went on in those 9 years. Every single thing they did in this run was absolutely pathetic and annoying and uncalled for for either man. We didn't need a watered-down version of DX. We didn't need a silly, babyface Triple H making cock jokes towards Vince McMahon. We didn't need any of it. To make matters worse they feuded with the fucking Spirit Squad of all people. Rey and Chavo had a hideous feud over Dominic, the Big Show was the ECW Champion and Hogan was back, yet again, for his annual payday. Oh and Jeff Hardy was on the way back. Summerslam however, was a decent show. I think it was actually the last Summerslam I watched live on PPV, so there we go.

 

Unforgiven 2006 I actually regret not watching, still to this day. If only for the TLC match between Edge and Cena and the Trish farewell match. I loved Trish, take it easy. Anyway, at the same time Jeff Hardy was back in effect and feuding with Johnny Nitro, which created some good matches. But DX were still being pushed down everyone's throats every week, and have moved on to feud directly with Vince and eventually him, Shane and Big Show. Wonderful. In the next few weeks and months, we seen Ric Flair feud with the Spirit Squad, MVP debuted, Lita retired, RKO formed and Batista was once again World Heavyweight Champion on SD! How could anyone be willing to call themselves a "fan" after the December to Dismember PPV? The Main Event was an Elimination Chamber, ok. Who was in it? Big Show, Lashley, RVD, Hardcore Holly, CM Punk and Test. The rest of the card was filled out with the likes of Kevin Thorn, the FBI, Mike Knox, and Balls Mahoney. Wow. Enough said. Lashley went on to take over as ECW Champion and feuded with RVD and Test. Wow again.

 

On to the next PPV, Armageddon, which gave us ONE memorable moment and it was from a 4 way tag team ladder match. That's right, the now infamous Ladder shot to Joey Mercury's face. The match itself was good, but nothing too memorable outside of the bleeding faucet face. Onto the Rumble, no wait..New Year's Revolution. Jesus, too many PPVs. What the fuck were they thinking? THREE PPVs in the matter of 4 weeks. No wonder I started to tune out. Anyways, NYR gave us a Steel Cage match between Jeff Hardy and Morrison, a clusterfuck tag team match, the much-anticipated Carlito/Chris Masters match, HHH's injury in the RKO/DX match and the WWE Title match between Cena and Umaga. It was around here that I warmed up to Umaga. But the match itself wasn't that great. Much like the whole PPV. The Rumble on the other hand, was as great as always. I always loved the Rumble and continue to watch it no matter if I'm watching full-time or not. Anyway, the undercard was decent, but none too great. Another tag match with MNM/Hardyz, and a couple of shitty ECW/SD! Title matches. The Cena/Umaga LMS match was actually really good, and as I said I began to warm up to Umaga, and Cena...well, he impressed me in this one. Actually pulling off a great Main Event style match. The Rumble itself was great as expected with The Undertaker winning it for the first time in his career. The months leading into Wrestlemania were as cookie-cutter as you could get. With Triple H out of comission he put HBK in his role and Cena-Michaels was set for WM23. They did the whole we're-tag-champions-but-we've-got-a-match-at-WM type build. Benoit/MVP started feuding, MNM and the Hardyz were still fighting off and on, and the UT was going up against Batista at WM with his streak on the line.

 

Wrestlemania 23 was pretty good. Not amazing, not even great. But it was what it was - Wrestlemania, and that, was good. The Battle of the Billionaires took the most attention, while we got an ok MITB with Kennedy, of all people, winning. Which I thought was fucking stupid now looking back on it. He lost an SD! Title match at the Rumble, then an ECW Title match at NWO, then he won MITB. Weak. Anyone else in the match could have won and I would have been happy. That's another thing, 8 people? Way too many. 6 is bad enough, but 8 is too crowded and indy-ish. Anyway, we did get a pretty good Cena/HBK match and UT beat Batista and the streak continued.

 

The next few months get really, really cloudy. I only seen 4 PPVs, that's right FOUR, since then. Those being Backlash and Judgment Day 2007, Royal Rumble 2008 and Wrestlemania 24. The first two I watched simply because a friend of mine didn't want to see my love for the WWE disappear and insisted that we go to the theaters to see those shows. Which were ok at best. I went to see Edge, HBK Benoit and MVP mostly. The rest was just filler, oh and what filler it was. The McMahon's were now aligned with Umaga and feuding with Lashley and the Hardyz faced Cade&Murdoch - both matches on back-to-back PPVs. Oh joy. Just as my likeness for Cena developed he faces The Great Khali at Judgment Day. Sigh. I know, I know. Hogan took on Andre, Bundy, One Man Gang, Bam Bam etc, but fucking Cena ain't Hogan. I get it. i know what they are doing. But it's just not what I would have liked to see. Especially with Edge, HBK, Benoit, Orton and the Hardyz all on the card. Regardless, I'm not gonna blame Cena, because it's clearly not his fault, but he sure as hell don't help. And he's only getting worse from what I have seen recently. Who does he think he is, The Rock? God damn it. Oh and that guy Chris Benoit killed himself and his family in one of the most shocking stories in all of 2008. That didn't help either..

 

Anyways, fast-forward to 08. After some pondering, I watched the Rumble with a friend in January after seeing virtually no wrestling shows for months and what is the big surprise - Cena returns. Yeah, it was cool and a shocking surprise....to those who watched the few month prior to this, but I just started watching again and this was certainly no "treat' for me. The Rumble match itself was great as always, a couple of new faces and it was in the mecca, MSG. I was intrigued by the Flair storyline and felt it was only right to watch that unfold. Also the Floyd Mayweather/Big Show match-up got my attention and hell, it was Wrestlemania. so I decided to watch. Wrestlemania 24 looked like one of the most gorgeous PPVs of all-time when I seen it. The outside venue always holds a soft-spot in my heart. From top to bottom, this WM was one of my favorite ones from this new era. Flair retired in an awesome match with Mr. WM himself - HBK, the MITB was actually really good, one of the better ones of that match I've seen as well, the Title matches were all pulled off well and of course, the Undertaker streak continued. But as much as I like to try and get back into the shows, everytime I tune in, it rots me. I get bored very easily. Easier than ever actually and I found myself watching episodes of "The Hills" instead of RAW. Crazy right? I know. But that's why I'm here. I'm trying. It's like I broke-up with a girl I know wasn't quite right for me, but in the longrun I do love her and I'm just trying to find a way to see that again. Then again, it is only wrestling.

 

So in closing, don't take me as an almighty hater, because I'm not. I just find it very hard to conform to what wrestling is today. I'm aware of a lot of things that I haven't mentioned here and I understand the logic and reason for some of the decisions that have made. But at the same time, I do get frustrated that it isnt like it used to be and I realize I need to take it all for what it's worth. I do like the looks of what is going down lately and there are a LOT of new faces especially recently. Also, I'm not really sure why a lot of people are still playing the 1999-HHHate while there's a perfectly good fool in John Cena to hate.

 

 

-Final Synopsis:

 

THE GOOD (no problems)

Edge, Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, CM Punk, HBK, Triple H, Randy Orton & (The) Legacy,

Undertaker, Rey Mysterio, Miz and Morrison, The Colons, Shelton Benjamin,

Santino Marella, Matt Hardy, Jack Swagger, Evan Bourne, Matt Striker

 

THE BAD (could do without, but not too bad)

Batista, MVP, Kane, The Big Show,

 

THE UGLY (go away now)

John Cena, Mark Henry, The Great Khali, Cryme Tyme, Manu, R-Truth,

all New-Gen. Divas, Mike Knox, Vladimir Kozlov, The Boogeyman

[bob_barron 0]

Also, I'm not really sure why a lot of people are still playing the 1999-HHHate while there's a perfectly good fool in John Cena to hate.

 

That's not true in the slightest. People hate Triple H because of family connections and the fact that the guy had to be force fed everyone's throats for years before they finally accepted him as a main event player, mainly because you had no choice. That and Triple H had that run where he was just burying guys.

 

Cena's a guy who established him with the rapper gimmick and got himself over, to the point that the company had no choice but to push him. He doesn't bury guys and has proven to be a success on top, selling untold amounts of merchandise and helping to push the company to new profits.

[ChrisMWaters 0]

Barron, thank you for making a point about why Cena shouldn't be hated like that.

 

Personally, I think most of the Cena-hate really came about after he moved to Raw due to the fact that he was feuding at the time with a then-face Chris Jericho (turned heel shortly after), then a "Heel many fans like" Kurt Angle.

[BifEverchad 0]

John Cena is the Jonas Brothers of wrestling.

 

I hate him.

I don't give a shit about how much merchandise he sells, I never bought any of it.

[Old School 0]

I don't give what the thread title has to do with the post. I mean, you basically just summed up the storylines/PPVs that we've all already watched. Talk more about how you were feeling and what you were thinking and whatnot.

[bob_barron 0]

John Cena is the Jonas Brothers of wrestling.

 

I hate him.

I don't give a shit about how much merchandise he sells, I never bought any of it.

 

You may not like him, but the guy's great in the ring and totally deserving of the push WWE gives him. The guy comes back, and RAW ratings go back up again. He's the face of the company and deservedly so.

 

His matches always seem to have tremendous heat, and he rarely has an off night.

 

That's completely different from Triple H- I'd say the peak of HHHate was 2002-2003 and that was when Triple H was just all over RAW (Cena isn't) as ratings and profits plummeted, all while having heatless main events.

[BifEverchad 0]

I don't give what the thread title has to do with the post. I mean, you basically just summed up the storylines/PPVs that we've all already watched. Talk more about how you were feeling and what you were thinking and whatnot.

I did, you obviously didn't read my long-winded post..

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

R-Truth, MVP, Henry, Crime Time, Cena...

 

You just hate blacks

[BifEverchad 0]

You may not like him, but the guy's great in the ring and totally deserving of the push WWE gives him. The guy comes back, and RAW ratings go back up again. He's the face of the company and deservedly so.

 

His matches always seem to have tremendous heat, and he rarely has an off night.

 

That's completely different from Triple H- I'd say the peak of HHHate was 2002-2003 and that was when Triple H was just all over RAW (Cena isn't) as ratings and profits plummeted, all while having heatless main events.

 

Great in the ring? You seriously have to be kidding. Cena is like a fucking robot in there and when he isn't, he flips and flops through his matches like a fool. That's a lot of what bothers me. He walks, talks and acts like a fool. Yes, he has been in some good matches, I will give you that. But that's because he's usually in there with a guy that can make him look good (see, Jericho, Angle, HBK, HHH). There's no doubt the guy works hard and I respect him for that, I just don't like his character and more importantly his matches. The only reason his matches have "tremendous heat" is because people want to see him lose or get his ass kicked. So no matter how many people cheer him for winning, there's just as many people cheering when he does lose (see, last Monday night's match with HBK).

 

Word Life, Bob.

 

[cabbageboy 0]

One thing I've noticed in the past year or so is Cena's matches really don't even draw that much heat anymore. The way his whole return was handled last year (winning the Rumble out of nowhere, cashing in at No Way Out, losing at WM) is something that may well have burnt out people on Cena. Even in a "I hate this guy" sort of way.

 

Another thing to note is that Cena's matches only work while watching it live. Try watching a Cena match on DVD after you've already seen it and there's no suspense as to who wins. The crowd doesn't mean as much in that context.

[SamoaRowe 0]

One thing I've noticed in the past year or so is Cena's matches really don't even draw that much heat anymore. The way his whole return was handled last year (winning the Rumble out of nowhere, cashing in at No Way Out, losing at WM) is something that may well have burnt out people on Cena. Even in a "I hate this guy" sort of way.

 

Another thing to note is that Cena's matches only work while watching it live. Try watching a Cena match on DVD after you've already seen it and there's no suspense as to who wins. The crowd doesn't mean as much in that context.

 

Didn't see Survivor Series, did you?

 

[bob_barron 0]

Great in the ring? You seriously have to be kidding.

 

No, not at all. When Cena's in the ring, you're almost always guaranteed a good show

 

Yes, he has been in some good matches, I will give you that. But that's because he's usually in there with a guy that can make him look good (see, Jericho, Angle, HBK, HHH).

 

I disagree with that. Cena and Umaga had an awesome brawl at the Royal Rumble, and I enjoyed the Cena-Khali series. Did you see Summerslam? Cena v. Big Dave was just awesome, I wish it had more time.

 

only reason his matches have "tremendous heat" is because people want to see him lose or get his ass kicked.

 

Right, but working a match is all about getting the crowd involved and drawing heat, and Cena does that in spades, whether the crowd wants his head or the kids are pulling him to win.

 

So no matter how many people cheer him for winning, there's just as many people cheering when he does lose (see, last Monday night's match with HBK).

 

But that doesn't seem to effect his drawing or ratings power, and it makes his matches that much more fun to watch.

 

Another thing to note is that Cena's matches only work while watching it live. Try watching a Cena match on DVD after you've already seen it and there's no suspense as to who wins. The crowd doesn't mean as much in that context.

 

Watching the PPVs again on 24-7, the matches still work I feel. I wasn't too high on the Cena-JBL series, but they just don't seem to gel well together, except for that I Quit match.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

John Cena is the Jonas Brothers of wrestling.

 

No one is going to take your opinion serious after you say dumb shit like this.

[BifEverchad 0]

I Love it

 

 

John Cena is the Jonas Brothers of wrestling.

 

No one is going to take your opinion serious after you say dumb shit like this.

Antwon, it was a fucking joke.

 

No one is going to take you serious with an Anthony Anderson avatar...

[garfieldsnose 0]

I think the WWE can make do without BifEverchad as a fan. I mean a WWE Universe member.

[bob_barron 0]

I Love it

 

Yea, that was great. Really gave the match a big match feel, which is what Cena brings to the table.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

That's not true in the slightest. People hate Triple H because of family connections and the fact that the guy had to be force fed everyone's throats for years before they finally accepted him as a main event player, mainly because you had no choice. That and Triple H had that run where he was just burying guys.

Also, HHH is a pretty terrible face right now. His verbal sparring w/ Vickie is just painful to sit through.

 

Also also, it's pretty funny that Bif is complaining about "1999 HHHate", while at the same time wallowing in Cena hate, which is 1-2 years out of date.

[Maztinho 0]

Show me a match with Cena in it that is god awful. I mean, like, holy shit I can't watch another second of this match. Ones like Taker had with Giant Gonzalez. You might hate Cena's style and call it repetitive, but none of his matches are BAD. They might lack rewatching value, he might be overpushed, but that's not his fault.

 

He's told to go make the Rocky Balboa comeback, so he does. Vince wants the title on him as much as possible and so it is. But you can't say that Cena has bad matches. If anything you could criticize him for being the quintessential WWE worker of the new milenium, he has is few spots, he works them well. But nearly everyone in the WWE works like that now, they have their 5-6 moves that show up every match, on a PPV someone will throw in something a little different now and again, and they have a false finish, then the true finish.

 

Blame the overall WWE style, not Cena, who does what he does well.

[BifEverchad 0]

I Love it

 

Yea, that was great. Really gave the match a big match feel, which is what Cena brings to the table.

You've topped me again, Bob Barron..

 

Bif's sorry baby. I just get crazy sometimes!

I'll make it up to you, I promise, baby, I promise..

 

Also also, it's pretty funny that Bif is complaining about "1999 HHHate", while at the same time wallowing in Cena hate, which is 1-2 years out of date.

I guess you were like the majority of the people in this thread and never actually read my novelistic post.

I said I haven't watch very much at all in the last 2 or 3, even 4 years, so I'm only now realizing how much I dislike Cena.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Cena's bad? There hasn't been a guy who knows how to figure out a crowd and work a match around the atmosphere like Cena since Lawler. He's the only guy these days who can make Shawn Michaels look great in the ring. Fuck, everyone is entitled to their own opinion... but this is ass.

 

 

[bob_barron 0]

A lot of the Cena hate is so unwarranted. Yes, the promos they script for him can be cringeworthy at times but he backs it up in the ring and I admire how far the guy has improved. He was terrible in 2003 and look how good he's become.

[BifEverchad 0]

I thought this was a message board open for discussion, but it's obviously going nowhere.

I don't like Cena and everyone else here sucks his dick.

 

 

What happened, Eddy and Beniot died so now you all have the hots on for Cena?

[Angle-plex 0]

I do. Have you seen his pecs?

[BifEverchad 0]

[The Niggardly King 0]

Benoit was an overrated roided psycho midget.

[bob_barron 0]

I thought this was a message board open for discussion, but it's obviously going nowhere.

I don't like Cena and everyone else here sucks his dick.

 

 

What happened, Eddy and Beniot died so now you all have the hots on for Cena?

 

People are discussing what you said, bif. You said Cena is terrible and said he should be hated like Triple H, and people are justifiably jumping to his defence.

 

And Cena's easily one of the best wrestlers in the company. Most people have come around to that.

[Brett Favre 0]

John Cena is the Jonas Brothers of wrestling.

 

Fuck you. John Cena is the Bob Dylan of wrestling.

[The Niggardly King 0]

[BifEverchad 0]

Fair enough..

 

JOHN CENA is JESUS CHRIST.

 

Meeting adjourned.

[The Niggardly King 0]

No, that's Randy Orton