411 Fact or Fiction Wrestling: Were You Surprised John Cena & Nikki Bella Split?

Welcome back to 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 411’s Tony Acero & Mike Chin.

Questions were sent out Tuesday.

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.

1. You were surprised that John Cena & Nikki Bella announced that they have split up.

Mike Chin: FACT – Real life relationships are hard, and a boatload of media scrutiny plus a reality TV series don’t make things any easier. In and of itself, I’m not shocked Cena and Bella would call it a day, but sure, I’m surprised given that I didn’t know the relationship was in trouble, and given the degree to which their coupling is in the spotlight. Particularly from Cena’s end, I’d have expected the relationship to stick if only out of business concerns (protecting his image and the pair’s reality TV prospects). But whether Cena reverted his instincts, or Bella did indeed break off the engagement because it didn’t really seem like he wanted to go through with the wedding, it registers as a moderate surprise.

Tony Acero: FICTION – Although this may sound weird coming from a writer of a pop culture website such as 411mania.com, the honest truth of the matter is that I care zero, zilch, none, not even a little bit about the love life of John Cena and Nikki Bella. I hate to judge people on their public persona via television, but I Find Nikki Bella to be a carbon copy of any number of females in the Los Angeles area who annoy me to no end. This coupled with the lack of interest in the personal life of John Cena has caused me to be completely numb to any news regarding their relationship outside of the squared circle – even when they brought it into the ring. Suffice to say, I wasn’t surprised because I didn’t care. I don’t care. I never will care.

2. Bobby Roode is in desperate need of a heel turn.

Mike Chin: FACT – While the word desperate feels a little extreme for a guy who just switched brands and got a fresh slate of opponents to work with, I do agree with the spirit of this point. Bobby Roode has done most of the best work of his career as a heel, and that includes his NXT run, which may not have set the world on fire in the ring, but nonetheless positioned him as a bankable headliner. While Roode’s theme music is over with the fans, the Glorious persona, music and all feels awfully heelish anyway. All I can think is that the WWE may have introduced him as a face to generate more heat when he does turn heel (maybe via Money in the Bank?) but one way or another, here’s hoping WWE pulls the trigger on letting him play a bad guy sooner rather than later.

Tony Acero: FACT – While desperate may be too strong of a word, I do find that a heel turn would do him well. It’s not altogether necessary though, so maybe I should have put fiction. I’ve long since stood by the idea that any ONE person can be interested if the writing was better, but look no further than the main event of RAW for proof that there is a significant lack of personal connection with a majority of the characters, particularly on Smackdown. It appeared that the WWE assumed (incorrectly) that we saw Roode as a top of the line big time surprise worthy of a main event spot with tons of build, only for the air to be left out of the building the moment “Glorious” hit. With all of that being said, I do feel that Roode turning heel may allow for the persona of “Glorious” to stretch its wings just a bit more. Should be fun, as it’s only a matter of time.

3. Considering the fact that the female talent is banned from performing in Saudi Arabia, the WWE’s “commitment” to the women’s revolution, and the financial windfall the company will receive, WWE should issue special financial bonuses to the main roster female talent.

Mike Chin: FACT – This is a tricky one given how anomalous and arbitrary the scheme of WWE payouts. It does set a weird precedent, though, to collaborate on a show that specifically bans female talent given the current climate of women’s wrestling in WWE. There’s also some argument to be made for WWE’s recent mainstream success owes in part to the success of the Women’s Revolution, and thus the female talent should see some rewards from any financial windfalls even if they aren’t getting in the ring themselves. This might not be a popular sentiment, but I can also see some contention that, after decades of under-appreciating and under-compensating women, dating back to Wendi Richter, there’s some historical justice in giving the women’s roster some kickback in a situation like this.

Tony Acero: FICTION – What a loaded question for what is, in essence, an over exaggerated feeling of current climate motivation. In other words, no they shouldn’t get a bonus because they are not wrestling, nor should they be upset that a completely other section of the world has values different than us. I mean, are they? Is this really a concern? I haven’t read anything about it, but maybe I missed it. This is not so much the idea of gender equality as it is of a cultural clash that should be respected in this part of the world. I see no reason why the women should get a bonus, nor do I see how this conflicts with the idea that the women’s revolution is very apparent. No, if you want to argue against the revolution, then look no further than the battle royal, the downfall in quality of the division as a whole, and the comparison of just two years ago when there was more than a glimmer of hope that these women were doing things for more than the sake of saying it’s the “first time ever.”

SWITCH!

4. Following Raw’s additions, the tag team scene was the big winner.

Tony Acero: FICTION – I think the show that got the tag team boost is the blue brand. At least, more so than RAW. While AOP may be a staple in the coming months, I see little else in the way of potential and even current growth in the tag team division. I mean, honestly, who did RAW get? The Ascension? Fandango and Breeze? Ha! Come on…

Mike Chin: FACT – My initial instinct was to say fiction here, particularly with The Bar having left, and not having their void filled by one of the other staple tag title scene teams like The Usos or New Day, but rather The Fashion Police and The Ascension, each of which look to take up residence in the already crowded lower card tag scene. On further refection, though, this tag team picture has a lot of room to develop into something special. In the short-term, the duos of Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens, and Dolph Ziggler and Drew McIntyre looks as though they each might work fluidly either as tag teams or upper mid card singles guys as Raw needs them; moreover either pairing could be reasonable rivals to Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt when they presumably capture the tag titles. The best part of the shake up, though, is the prospect of rekindling some of the glory days of the NXT tag team division. With the Authors of Pain gathering steam nicely, The Revival just waiting to be taken seriously, and with Chad Gable on Raw there’s the prospect of an American Alpha reboot. No, Raw doesn’t have #DIY (and Gargano and Ciampa fit the good friends, better enemies mold, besides holding things down in NXT) but with all of the other moving pieces around them, they could turn the Raw tag picture into something pretty special by fall.

5. Chad Gable will be lost in the shuffle on Raw, and eventually reunite with Jason Jordan.

Tony Acero: FACT – Although, as I said earlier, this isn’t because of Chad Gable the wrestler, but of the character, which is fully blamed on the writers. Who is Chad Gable? Can you tell me? Do we even know? What can we say about him as it pertains to character traits? Very, very little. Either Chad is going to re-team with Jordan and help both of them in the process, creating a team that’s actually worth watching, or he’ll cut his hair short and change his name to Thad Cable and have a lisp. There’s really no in between, I’m sure.

Mike Chin: FACT – Despite having considerable upside, WWE just doesn’t seem interested in elevating Chad Gable at this stage. Unless there are designs on shifting him to the Cruiserweight division, I don’t see much hope for him as a singles wrestler on Raw. An American Alpha revival, though? No, the pairing didn’t exactly thrive on Smackdown, but with a deeper tag roster on Raw, and including teams Alpha has proven chemistry against, there’s room for them to thrive. There’s also the possibility of the two having a heel run together, given Gable’s current alignment and the path Jordan was on before he got hurt, which could be a fun a experiment.

6. What is your excitement level for the Greatest Royal Rumble event?

Tony Acero: 6 out of 10 – Truly, they’ve built this up to be important and to matter, but they’ve done an average job of it. I feel no sense of urgency in watching the show, and will likely read the results then watch it when I can. This is in direct opposition of most feelings towards network specials/PPVs. Interestingly enough, it’s not been built badly, and the card looks cool, it’s just that they’ve done an average job of selling all past shows like this, creating a lack of expectations and minimal yearning to watch. Although I may sound like a broken record, the writing behind the forward movement of the storylines is just severely lacking.

Mike Chin: 7 out of 10 – It would be easy enough for the bulk of this show to be treated like a glorified house show, with titles retained, and match ups like John Cena vs. Triple H and The Undertaker vs. Rusev playing it safe with a short, low-impact, greatest-hits-style bouts. But then there are the headlining matches. Whether or not anyone agrees with it, Roman Reigns presumably beating Brock Lesnar in a steel cage is newsworthy and it will be interesting to see how WWE works it out, particularly in the aftermath of WrestleMania. And then there’s the fifty man Royal Rumble. More level heads would suggest fifty is too many, and hopefully entries will be kept to one-minute increments to keep this thing moving. Still the match is a legitimate novelty, and particularly given that there are no real stakes attached to winning, the field is wide open for how this thing will turn out–a refreshing divergence from January’s Rumble.