Hello all, and welcome to the first edition of 13 Decrees. Unless you are just waking up out of a coma, you know that the WWE Royal Rumble is days away, and the card is as stacked, intriguing and unpredictable as it has ever been in years. It matters not how lackluster the television may have been in the months leading up to it- if you are a wrestling fan with a pulse, you are pretty pumped for the big event on Sunday.
As such, there is no shortage of predictions on who will win each singles or tag matches, as well as the big Rumble match itself. I tip my hat if I were wearing one to all of the writers and reviewers who have taken up the task of trying to estimate the outcomes of all these match ups. Fellow fans that I know personally have asked me for my guesses, and I have reluctantly given them with the disclaimer "opinion subject to change." This today, dear viewers, will not be an addition to any of the prediction pieces. Instead, I want to focus on one match in particular- the third one-on-one encounter between AJ Styles and John Cena for the WWE title.
If anyone out there is really concerned about my guess for the result- it will be #ANDNEW. Cena wins. I have a strong feeling based on how the verbal exchanges have been going. Additionally, with all the hosting gigs that Cena has on his plate (next up: Nickelodeon Kids' Choice), I have no doubt in my mind that Vince is thinking to himself how good that strap would look hanging off of John's shoulder while's he's on the red carpet. I could be wrong, but my gut tells me that Cena will walk out with the world title.
But I don't want him to. In fact, I'd be pretty disappointed if he did.
For those wondering- no, this is not the usual internet anti-Cena-ism. This has nothing to do with disdain for his "five moves of doom" or the staleness of his "whitemeat babyface superhero persona." I honestly don't even know what the heck that is. I get the superhero babyface part, but 'whitemeat'? I'm not sure I even want to know.
This has nothing to do with an undying affection for the Nature Boy Ric Flair and his hollowed record of 16 world title reigns that I feel should not be tied or broken, but rather revered and unspoken of out of the mouths of mere mortals. For one thing, Ric accomplished this feat without the benefit of brand splits. Plus, I always thought that '16' was the number that WWE stuck with (seeing as how they love to rewrite history), and that he actually had more reigns than that (please correct me if I'm wrong). No, this has nothing to do with the hatred of characters or the worship of legends, or even holding onto some sort of 'wet dream' created by an undying affection for the illustrious independent wrestling hero.
"Are you sure this is not because you secretly harbor hatred for Cena?"
Positive. I don't hate him. I don't love him, but I don't hate him. Even when he became popular as the "Dr. of Thuganomics", I wasn't floored, but I found him watchable. During his run at the top, when he transitioned out of his rap gimmick, my WWE viewing habits were inconsistent; but I do remember thinking to myself whenever I checked back in, "man- he STILL has the title?!?" Over the years, and especially during his descent down the card into US title territory (even though he was clearly still the man), I've grown to appreciate him. I may not miss him during his hiatuses, but I do realize that we are in for a treat whenever he performs, for the most part. I can admit that the guy has his fun moments- even if they aren't necessarily enough to make it onto my top 10 list of all-time favorites.
"So... I guess you are in love with AJ, then, huh?"
Nah. He's not my type.
I'd rank Styles higher than Cena, but he doesn't quite make the list of favorites either. At least not yet. Trust me when I tell you that this is NOT an AJ lovefest.
If you want to know where all this is coming from, please click on the video below:
https://youtu.be/oZHp0uvr7Ek
When I watched that segment on Smackdown, I was a little bothered by it, but I figured I was overthinking it. Every time I went back to it in my mind, however, I became even more bothered by it. Not to the point of losing sleep or my regular real life being disrupted or anything, but you understand. I know that I'll never be able to watch wrestling with the childlike mindset that I had when I was... well, a child, but it's nice when a wrestling show can keep you invested in a story without throwing something in the narrative that slaps you out of it. WWE usually is prone to doing this, but it normally does a good job of keeping things in line on the blue show. We know who we are supposed to cheer, and we know who we are supposed to boo, for the most part.
Now, tell me, based on the video above- why am I supposed to cheer for Cena? I mean come on... "guy from Atlanta?" For starters, that guy is from Gainesville, which is roughly an hour away from Atlanta. Secondly, that 'guy' has a name. "Why did that bother you so much?" It probably would not have if it wasn't for the fact that Cena was such a company guy and loves the WWE with all of his heart (based on his own words). He has stated himself that even with all of his outside projects, his main goal is to bring as much eyes to WWE as possible. Granted, he did take the time out to promote the Rumble and his match on the Today Show. That's great. But if you are such a company guy, and you want eyes on the product, while also realizing your own mortality and understanding that you need stars to fill in the void of your absence- why wouldn't you say that guy's name? Why wouldn't you be sure to repeat it a couple of times, possibly causing casual viewers to hit up their search engines to see who this guy is? I totally get that it is a feud, and I don't mind you declaring that you will beat him. I just found it rather disrespectful and negligent as the top guy to leave AJ's name out. If it were Ronda Rousey or Floyd Mayweather, we'd know the names of their opponents; wrestling, due to its decline in popularity over the years, needs a little help when it comes to media. That was a good opening to pump up someone who is not as well known as you, even with you pretending to put him down and claiming victory over him. But you couldn't bother to say his name?
If I am over-analyzing the Today Show appearance (or even if I missed something from it, as the only view I have of it is when they played the clip on SDL), I apologize. But the Today Show appearance was not my only gripe. See below:
https://youtu.be/gMMZkJTpeiM?t=682
Hmmm... I don't know guys. If I were WWE champ, grateful as I might be for that distinction alone, I think I'd be a bit miffed at how far back in that poster I am too. But did you hear what John said? AJ has "only been hot for 6 months"? Oh, I get it. Because if it didn't happen in the WWE- it doesn't matter. Whatever. Never mind the past two decades of his work. Six months- got it.
Well, how about the "I wasn't built for the indy scene" line? Was that not disrespectful to all the guys that came from the indies? So you weren't 'built' for the indies, but Styles, Ambrose, Rollins, Cesaro, Bryan, Owens, Zayn, and a host of others were? Surely he didn't mean to imply that those who did come from the indies were not 'built' for the WWE... If I'm reading too deep into that line, wasn't Cena reading too deep into Styles' line about him being a "sorry excuse for a wrestler" in order to respond in such a manner? I really wonder how those who came from the indy scene, and those who are still in it, feel about all of this. I'm not trying to stir a pot- and if it didn't bother them, then I should move on. FYI, I am life-long WWE fan, with a few breaks here and there. I am not an avid viewer of independent wrestling, and have never even heard of the majority of those guys I mentioned until they came to the WWE. But still...
"You're not on my level, you're not even on the level below me."
I can picture Vince saying this to other promotions. That's probably why he had John say it.
"I get more done in a day than you do in a career..."
Guess John's "day" began sometime around 1998.
"You're not a guy from Atlanta- you're just a guy."
Ouch. Just dreadful.
"You are holding onto that championship because I let you!"
Take THAT, AJ! IN YO' FACE, SUCK- wait a minute... Isn't AJ the same guy who pinned Cena (Counts on fingers) THREE times? How come John didn't bring THAT up?
Is anyone else seeing what I'm seeing? Yes, I heard the chants and cheers, so people n the live audience obviously bought it. As for me, I'm wondering why in the world am I supposed to root for a guy who says things like that, while Styles is just forced to stand there and take it. I understand that this is all a work, that both guys follow orders, and that Styles got in a few barbs of his own. But what I heard from Cena's mouth was not something that was characteristic of their feud up to this point. Cena was not speaking to the guy who pinned him clean at Summer Slam, then did it again at No Mercy. And the look on AJ's face was not that of an evil, pissy, whiny, or arrogant heel who was fuming at what his nemesis was saying. It looked more like he was being scolded by his dad.
I am not against realism being injected into story lines in wrestling. Nikki Bella and Natalya are having a feud based on their personal lives, and both are saying things to each other that have elements of validity-even if they are ad-libbing some material. And though we know which of those two ladies we're supposed to cheer for, they are presented as equals. Neither of them always have the verbal upper hand. But the in the video above, Cena was the clear winner of that exchange, in a fight where he was allowed to bring a gun to counter AJ's slingshot. It was moment among many that was produced by WWE that snapped me out of my disbelief-suspension, and had me wondering if AJ done made somebody upset backstage. At any rate, while I was already looking forward to the match, that promo did NOT make me want to see Styles lose.
I get that WWE has a lot of critics (as does Cena himself), and they take it upon themselves to answer them, with one method being to slide it in the script. You can make a star say whatever you want him to say, but in my opinion, that was not a good look for the man holding the most prestigious title in your company- heel or not. As I stated earlier- I don't hate Cena, but I really disliked what he had to say. I'm not an AJ fanatic, but I felt a great deal of sympathy for him. It's not his fault he doesn't have 10 WWE years under his belt, and neither is it his fault that his name is less recognizable than that of his opponent's. Regardless, this Sunday's PPV, which already had my vested interest, will most assuredly have me glued to my screen -especially for this match for the world title. And thanks to what I perceive to be a bad judgement call on creative's part- I will be rooting for the bad guy.
Thanks for watching as always. See you again soon, and enjoy the Rumble!