[quote name='neocisco']He was joking.[/QUOTE]
Indeed he was. I actually grinned after I read his obvious jab towards Batista.
[quote name='mykevermin']
So, Cena did not turn, WWE showed they're afraid to take chances again. With that in mind, there's a PPV in 4 weeks. I'd like to see a little armchair booking from y'all: set up the Raw portion of the TLC PPV (or, at the very least, the Orton title match).[/QUOTE]
Tonight, Barrett will dismiss Cena, and Cena will leave after giving a flat, dramatic speech, saying how he "did the right thing, et cetera."
Then Randy Orton will sneak-attack Barrett, 'cause that's what faces do, and thank "John." He'll say how he will find a way to thank him, and Barrett will cut in, and those two will have a war of words. Nexus will swarm Orton, Orton will fight them off for a bit, until "the numbers game" renders in the Nexus favor.
Nexus will leave Orton "battered and broken, bah gawd", the Miz will cash-in his title shot, and beat Orton for the WWE Title title belt. (I always wondered why they named it the "WWE Championship." It makes little sense. Sorta surprised WWE hasn't renamed the title to the WWE Universe championship.)
So, then we'll have Orton, Miz, and Barrett in a feud, which will see its apex as a Triple Threat TLC match at the TLC PPV.
Sorta wondering how long it takes Cena to film a film. In what part of his WWE career did he film Legendary and Fred: The Movie? I can't remember the last time he left WWE TV.
[quote name='mogamer']When looked at in this perspective. It makes sense why Mysterio not just wins feuds, but buries his opponent in them. I would say that currently Rey Mysterio is more "super" than "Super" Cena. Right now, he's right under Hunter The Barburyer.[/QUOTE]
Rey Jr. and John Cena are on par with burying their colleagues in feuds. I think Rey Jr. puts people over more often, but when they execute the "comeback" portion of his matches, he does shovel more dirt, at a quicker pace, than Cena.
[quote name='neocisco']I see Cena merch sales as being somewhat comparable with 80's Hogan merch sales. A Hogan heel turn in the 80's was unthinkable and not just because of merch. I certainly don't see Cena's popularity on a par with Hogan's back then but Cena's appeal with kids is arguably second only to the first Hogan era. That kind of influence and the accompanying sales of whatever trinkets and tchotchkes is far more valuable to a company than the temporary heat of a storyline. Yes, heels sell merch, but we are in a TV-PG era and it's a different audience at this point. Plus, I don't think a heel Cena would be crazy popular like some heels of the past. IMO, it would viewed as a betrayal by his core fanbase and they wouldn't want to wear his name and image. The vocal minority of the IWC who might actually like the heel turn wouldn't even come close to making up the revenue difference. The majority of the IWC steals PPV feeds so why would they buy a t-shirt?
It's all just my personal theory. Do with it what you will.[/QUOTE]
To teens, bad guys are 'cool' and cheered. That's what teens do: They rebel against the norm.
To younger kids, bad guys are 'jerks' and booed. That's what kids do: They want to believe that good will always triumph over evil.
The more I think about it, the less I believe they'll turn Cena heel. WWE lacks faces, and turning their biggest face just doesn't make sense. If anything, they should turn Orton heel, as he's a natural heel/awkward face. Plus, it makes more sense, in the storyline. Orton tells Cena to do the right thing, Cena gets fired, and Orton laughs and reveals, "It was me all along, Austin!"
I dislike the entire character that is Randy Orton--but he's a lot more tolerable as a heel than face. Plus, Orton has said himself that he prefers to be heel. It's a win-win situation: WWE puts over Orton as a big heel, and Orton stops crapping in gym bags.
The only negative factor is that Barrett would be buried in an Orton-Cena feud, and this turn would lead to nowhere new.
I guess, in regards to leading to new avenues, I still support pushing Orton as a face and turning Cena to a heel. But, WWE doesn't have enough super-faces to do this. Their biggest faces draws are Big Show, Rey Jr., Randy Orton, MVP, and maybe Edge (as Edge, to kids, is probably more villain than good guy). If executed properly, Bryan Danielson and Santino could be hugely popular face names. Santino gets an incredible pop during his matches, and Danielson is always well-cheered.
ing megastar here thanks to the crowd going nuts for him. So of course they jobbed him out first. Having Del Rio get KOed was a smart way to get over the big punch without having him actually lose. It's a shame they didn't build this up, because it was actually quite good. 
