[quote name='Demolition Man']If we are lucky we'll get three matches announced for the PPV. If that. Especially given that they have two whole weeks to book it and as of right now there is not one single match booked.[/QUOTE]
The local area markets around where ONS is being held are advertising McMahon/Lashley. Imagine them trying to pull that match off in Hammerstein. :lol: As for three matches booked in advance...well, if they book one singles match in addition to the title match, then they're left with roughly 3 unbooked ECW wrestlers.
I'll expect Cena/Orton and also Edge/Batista II, just because creative...just isn't.
ZL, Cena may be bad, but look into the crowd sometime, man. There are kids in those arenas with Cena shirts, hats, wristbands, plastic (or real!) Cena belts, and probably the goddamned Cena underoos too.
Put the WWE in this position:
"Um, sir, we have two types of fans right now."
"Oh, yeah? Tell me about them."
"The first average 25 years old, 260 pounds. They complain about everything, watch our PPVs on webstreams, buy our games used during B2G1 sales at EB, and bootleg dvds. If they ever spend any money with us, it's to buy a new "Cactus Jack" shirt because the old one is too small."
"Fascinating. The other?"
"It's a tag team, really. They average 5 years old and 45 pounds. Their tag team partner is their parents' money. They buy everything: popcorn and sodas at the arena, shirts, belts, more shirts, more belts, action figures, wastepaper baskets - they even bought the WWE-branded christmas wrapping paper over the last holiday season. They worship at the altar of John Cena, and everything he does. Our studies also show that this average fan's mother also enjoys Cena, but for vastly different reasons than the child."
"So what's the bottom line?"
"Well, sir, it is this: would you rather cater to fans who bitch and moan about everything, take good wrestling for granted in favor of their "next high (spot)," and don't spend a dime? Or, would you rather cater to children and their seemingly simplistic concepts of black and white, in the process alienating the first kind of fan (who would be alienated even if you did cater to them); however, catering to the young fan would result in one substantial difference: revenue."
"Hmm. I'll get back to you on that."
It makes sense for them to push Cena; there's nothing we can do to change that. My friend, whom I talk about wrestling with at the bar on weekends (the wife and friends love *that* :lol
, suggested that Cena's inevitable heel turn is going to be HUGE. I'm intrigued by that, and I can't help but think that smart marks are, most importantly (and often forgotten), marks, first and foremost. Since they are the kind of people to celebrate that which is unpopular and express disdain for "mass appeal," (I empathize here, so bear with me), they're going to be major fans of Cena once he tells the fans to go
themselves. I am really interested in the idea.
Of course, a Cena heel turn, to be effective, has to occur in the context of him being the dominant, unbeatable champ. If he turns heel after getting handily beaten by the returning Triple H (again, as predictable as the sunrise - the title loss, anyway), then it won't be very meaningful. Cena has millions of kids eating out of the palm of his hands right now, and a heel turn from him would be white
in' hot, IMO.
(of course, the previously mentioned marketability of Cena puts a lot of pressue on the WWE to keep him popular and babyface, just to sell more
in' sweatbands).
Snitsky
