wrestling / Columns

411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Is John Cena The Wrestler of the Year?

July 10, 2015 | Posted by Larry Csonka

Welcome back to the latest edition of 411 Fact or Fiction, Wrestling Edition! Stuff happened, people loved/hated it and let everyone else know. I pick through the interesting/not so interesting tidbits and then make 411 staff members discuss them for your pleasure. Battling this week are Mike Hammerlock and Wyatt Beougher!

  • Questions were sent out Monday.
  • Participants were told to expect wrestling-related content, as well as possible statements on quantum physics, homemade pharmaceuticals, the Turtle Total Trip Theorem, pizza and hydroponics.

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    1. John Cena is the Wrestler of the year so far for 2015.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – In my opinion, there are two ways to determine Wrestler of the Year – the first is looking strictly at match quality and consistency, and the other is to look at a performer’s overall year in terms of character work, angles, and the metric used for the former method. After careful consideration, I think Cena comes in second no matter which way you look at it. To his credit, he’s been doing some of the best work of his career, and the meme going around that says he’s consistently had Match of the Night on every show since winning the US title isn’t far off; however, if you look strictly at the match quality and consistency, I think Cena comes in as runner-up to Prince Puma, and if you look at everything that goes into a performer’s year, I think he comes in just behind Kevin Owens. Ricochet/Prince Puma was my Wrestler of the Year last year because of the stellar work that he did in both personas throughout multiple promotions, picking up titles in pretty much every promotion that he wrestled in 2014. He’s continued on that streak this year, and even if you limit it to his most recognized work at Prince Puma in Lucha Underground, I think he just edges Cena out in overall match quality and consistent in-ring performance. Cena has arguably had a larger number of high quality matches, but Puma’s best matches (the “One Night, One Fight” match with Johnny Mundo from a few weeks ago stands out as probably his best match of the year), to me, were just slightly better than Cena’s for two reasons. First, because Puma actually sells when he’s on offense, and second, because his matches don’t all follow the same narrative structure like Cena’s do.

    And if you’re looking at all-around performance by a particular wrestler, Cena jumps ahead of Puma for the simple fact that Puma has yet to speak. To his credit, he does an excellent job of emoting through a mask using just his body language and expressions; however, even with Konnan as his mouthpiece, Cena still trumps the Lucha Underground champion in that department. Unfortunately for the leader of the Cenation, there’s another performer under WWE’s umbrella who is having an even better year than him, and that’s the man he’s currently embroiled in a feud with, Kevin Owens. Is there a more surprising WWE Superstar than Owens? He’s not the body type that we’ve come to expect from the WWE upper card, his promo style is a complete departure from the catchphrase heavy style that WWE has preferred since the Rock and Stone Cold first skyrocketed to popularity, and he made his name outside of the WWE’s developmental scene. As we’ve seen time and again with the CM Punks, Daniel Bryans, and Cesaros of the world, that will only get you so far once you hit the main roster, and stars who first made their name in the independent promotions never seem to get the same booking love that home-grown talents like the Randy Ortons, Batistas, and especially the John Cenas get. If I put CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, and Kevin Owens in a line-up and told you to pick the one who would actually come out of a feud with Cena looking stronger than they went it, Owens would probably be one of the last guys you would expect, wouldn’t he? And yet in the seven months since his WWE debut at NXT Takeover: [R]Evolution, Owens has run roughshod through NXT, dominating people in a way that even former powerhouse champion Big E Langston was unable to do. His first main roster program has been with John Cena, the destroyer of careers, and yet Owens looks poised to come out of it a bona fide main event level talent. For the past decade or so, we’ve come to expect a certain homogenization within WWE – in their booking, in Superstars’ appearance, and in the type of matches and promos that Superstars are expected to produce. Owens flies in the face of all of that, and, with the possible exception of Brock Lesnar, no one on the main roster feels fresher or more vibrant than the former Kevin Steen. When you take all of that into consideration, I think it’s hard to argue that anyone has had a better first half of 2015 than Owens.

    Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – There’s an argument for Cena, much like in 2013 when I thought he was the WOTY, but he doesn’t top my list at this time. I’d rank Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens ahead of him. Prince Puma, Jay Lethal and Roderick Strong are all having big years as well. AJ Styles, Kazuchika Okada and Shinsuke Nakamura have their claims on WOTY too. In fact, Hallowicked might deserve the accolade. It’s a crowded field and Cena’s work with Rusev is the worst of that bunch. Much as I’d like to, I can’t unsee that feud. I will give Cena credit for sharing more of the spotlight in 2015. He effectively handed Rollins his main event slot at the Royal Rumble. He briefly made Rusev look like a beast at and after Fast Lane, before crushing the poor bastard. Owens is the hottest thing going at the moment, and hopefully he wins this feud with Cena. Cesaro is poised to make a move again coming off his latest two matches with Cena. The Franchise may be the only guy on the planet who could improve his WOTY chances by losing a bunch of **** matches.

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    2. While Ethan Carter III winning the TNA Title was a good idea, it should have been booked to make the victory come off as more important.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – Honestly, at this point, what could TNA have done to make the win feel more important? By booking months’ worth of tapings for a few days before one of their two actual pay-per-views, they backed themselves into a corner in terms of keeping the finish of the Angle/Carter match a secret, so they could not have done it at Slammiversary without having to tape several nights’ footage with the new champion before he had even won the belt. More to the point, like I said a few weeks ago when last I appeared in this column, there’s a very real possibility that more people saw the title change hands on Impact than they would have if it had happened on PPV, as PPV isn’t a viable business model for TNA in 2015. As for the match itself, I know from reading Larry’s review of the July 1st Impact that he would have preferred a clean win for ECIII without all the Tyrus interference, but at least Tyrus was ejected and didn’t play a direct role in the finish of the match. As for Angle throwing twenty-plus German suplexes, my favorite match of 2014 (at least prior to Zayn/Neville) also featured over twenty German suplexes, and while Angle/ECIII was no Cena/Lesnar, I just don’t feel like it was as bad as it could have been. Remember Jeff Jarrett-as-champion-era TNA? When a single main event match would have run-ins from America’s Most Wanted, Gail Kim, and the Harris Brothers, multiple ref bumps, AND a guitar shot? Compared to that, this was relatively tame, and the finishing sequence of the match, with Angle kicking out of the One Percenter, Carter surviving the grapevined ankle lock, and the flash roll-up pin, actually helped to build up the ECIII character in my opinion – for the first time, he showed that he could rebound from adversity and fight through a hold that should have ended the match because the title was that important to him.

    Mike Hammerlock: FACT – Part of the problem with the EC3 win was he should have been the guy beating Lashley this spring, not Kurt Angle. He spent months marking time in between his bloodbath win over Rockstar Spud and his TNA title win. He lost a lot of steam during that waiting period. Angle threw down against Eric Young while EC3 tussled with Mr. Anderson, and the stories never seemed to intersect. Carter should have been causing a lot more mayhem during those months so that his ascension felt inevitable. Instead it felt episodic — and now EC3 gets his turn. A better match surely would have helped as well. EC3 can wrestle, but he needs to prove he’s got that ****+ ability in him. Think of the other champs in the business. Seth Rollins, Kazuchika Okada, Jay Lethal, Alberto El Patron and Prince Puma all have big game skills. It’s a competition for eyeballs these days and TNA needs to make the case it’s got a must-see champion. He’s not going to feel like a true champion until he delivers that kind of performance. Hopefully it happens soon.

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    3. WWE needs to run more events on the network like the “Best in the East” special from this past weekend.

    Wyatt Beougher: FACT – WWE needs to realize that they’re not Netflix – realistically, they’ve gotten all of the subscribers that they are going to get based on an admittedly outstanding collection of classic cards. If they want to get more people to subscribe, they have two choices, and only one of them is actually viable – they can either air RAW live and the first run of Smackdown on the Network (impossible because of their current television rights deal), or they can add other, original wrestling content, like Beast in the East. And honestly, why haven’t they been doing this more frequently? The NXT live specials reportedly do solid viewership numbers and they’ve obviously got the production staff in place to do these live shows, so why not make them a quarterly thing, like the NXT live specials are? Then do a theme special every third month, so you’ve got a rotation to supplement your regular main roster live specials – Live House Show in January, Network Exclusive Elimination Chamber in February, NXT Live Special in March, Live House Show in April, Network Exclusive King of the Ring in May, NXT Live Special in June, and so on, and so forth. This way you’re generating Network-exclusive live content that fans of wrestling actually want to see.

    Mike Hammerlock: FACT – To its credit, the WWE has been putting regular between-PPV shows on the Network: King of the Ring, Elimination Chamber, Beast in the East. It’s still trying to find the right formula for them, but I expect these sorts of shows will be happening every month. What worked best at BITE (love that acronym) was the NXT Championship match, which had been given lots of build. Fans were invested. It should have been the main event since these B shows are the perfect place to highlight secondary titles. Instead of constantly making Ryback an early-in-the-show segment of Raw or an A show, give him a feud that culminates as the headliner of one these B shows. Same thing for the tag titles or the Divas title. The Ziggler-Rusev feud might pay off a lot better at a B show too, especially if there’s a crazy stipulation attached to it. I’ve never understood why they don’t do more of that with Raw and Smackdown, and look no further than this past Monday night to see how cool it can be when a secondary title gets main event treatment. Remember back in early 2014 when Daniel Bryan and Bryan Wyatt fought the Usos in a cage match as the Raw headliner? Of course you do, because it broke the standard WWE television formula and it was awesome. So, regular B shows should be the direction for the company, but they also need to push the creative envelope. I’ve said this multiple times before, but it bears repeating, the innovation in where the company airs its product via the WWE Network needs to be matched by an innovation in what it’s presenting. Same shit, different channel doesn’t do the trick.

    SWITCH!

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    4. Setting the next NXT live event for Summerslam weekend was an excellent idea.

    Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – I’m sure it’s smart business for the WWE to create a festival weekend atmosphere around SummerSlam. NXT will play to its biggest crowd ever at the Barclay’s Center. Odds are it will be a dynamite show since NXT events always deliver. Yet it’s an August weekend and people do have lives. There comes an oversaturation point. The chances of me watching NXT on Saturday night and SummerSlam on Sunday night are slim to none … and I write a wrestling column. If you’re ever going to get out and do something, a Saturday in late August is just about the ideal time for it. Now, like new wave pioneers Sparks predicted, they’re gonna stop Saturday night. On top of that, it might start a million arguments. Lots of women have made peace with the notion that one Sunday each month is given over to a wrestling show. Got a feeling you’ll have to pry Saturday from their cold, dead hands. I suppose, thanks to the Network, people can always watch it on a later date. Complicating all of this is the big ROH-New Japan show in Brooklyn that same night. So even if NXT pulls off a quality show, it might not even be the best pro wrestling event in the borough that night.

    Wyatt Beougher: FACT – I actually went back and forth on this, as it seems like any time an NXT live special is scheduled for three days before a PPV, we get a report that the main roster talents are infuriated at being shown up by the developmental guys. Ultimately, though, it makes sense in this case, because Summerslam is supposed to be the counterpoint to WrestleMania and WWE wants to make it a weeklong “experience” like WrestleMania is. Adding a live NXT event during the build-up to the event can only help give fans more incentive to arrive in the area a few days early, and if they’re already there for NXT, there’s a chance they’ll drop some money at meet and greets and whatever other events WWE schedules between the NXT show and Summerslam.

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    5. The return of WWE Tough Enough has been a failure so far.

    Mike Hammerlock: FACT – What’s the point of Tough Enough in a WWE where NXT already exists? An NXT behind the scenes show would make more sense. Then we’d be invested in talents we could continue to follow in the WWE. A dopey contest where meager talents scramble to get their 15 minutes of fame is a recipe for boredom. Apparently the world agrees. The show has started with TNA Impact 2014 ratings and it very well could be headed for an XFL downward spiral. The 2011 reboot only got one season with 50% higher viewership. The someone-must-go-home-each-week reality TV formula is thoroughly played out and Tough Enough was never well loved. I’m not even sure who this is supposed to hook. Do you see MTV bringing back Road Rules, which was actually popular, to foist on a new generation? If anything, “failure” is too kind a term, Tough Enough has been a disaster. My question is will they put this show out of its misery before it finishes the season?

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – Initially, I went with Fact here, because I haven’t seen a single minute of this season of Tough Enough, but then I remembered that I haven’t watched a single minute of Tough Enough since sometime early in season two, and that means I’m probably not the best judge of how successful the return has been. Instead, I did a little research, and Tough Enough is generating a lot of reviews on sites like this one and getting a lot of news posted about it, so even if the viewership numbers aren’t where WWE expected them to be, it’s still getting them press, so I can’t chalk it up as a complete failure.

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    6. With no new news regarding a second season and Univision reporting that El Rey has lost $72 million this past year, Lucha Underground will not survive to see a second season.

    Mike Hammerlock: FICTION – It’s coming back. I refuse to believe otherwise. Supposedly people have signed contracts and if El Rey wants to stop losing money, it shouldn’t scrap its highest profile show. LU is its ticket to getting onto more cable systems. Old Godzilla and Shaw brothers kung fu movies are great, but good luck building a network around them. The delay in announcing taping dates for the second season seem to be tied up in working out the Spanish language broadcast and in letting the first season wrap up. There’s been talk of LU moving from Unimas to Univision, which has a larger footprint. And that might be waiting on the success of the Season 1 finale: Ultima Lucha. I’m assuming the whole thing gets sorted out and they start taping shows again in September (just like last year). No way is the best wrestling show on television going out this quick.

    Wyatt Beougher: FICTION – Admittedly, this is just pure bias from a huge fan of Lucha Underground, but I’m clinging to the belief that the promotion will live on in some way, shape, or form for a second season. Lucha Underground is, from week to week, the most consistently awesome wrestling show in North America, and it would be such a shame to see it not be able to continue past this season. Honestly, I’m not sure how much that $72 million loss is going to factor into anything, because, as I understand it, Comcast Corporation is required to carry minority-owned channels as part of their deal to acquire NBCUniversal, and honestly, a lot of that is probably up-front money for the rights to air stuff like the Shaw Brothers’ kung fu film library, Miami Vice, and other syndicated programs and movies that they’re airing. I’m sure they do have money tied up in producing shows like From Dusk Til Dawn: The Series, the recently-canceled Matador, and Lucha Underground, but the former has already been renewed for a second season, so it’s not like Comcast is going to pull the plug on El Rey. From what I’ve read, it seems like LU tracks pretty well and is one of the most viewed shows on El Rey, and if the Spanish-language broadcasts get moved from Unimas to Univision, that’s a much larger potential audience that the show could reach, which could help to offset production costs. If that move doesn’t happen, then I could see the show being drastically scaled back, but I do think that it will survive to see a second season.