Absolutely.

I've set out to no longer watch Raw as the main event seen is far too predictable. The WWE title itself only rotates around the same three people and all three of them don't even need the damn title to remain over;

Triple H - The IWC's old whipping boy, I actually enjoyed his 2003 run and was absolutely fine with him for the longest time. Hell, I was one of the thousands of fans at WM22 to help make that main-event enjoyable. Unfortunately, that same crowd also helped turn the wheels to Triple H's face turn, which was fine at first. While I enjoyed the first DX incarnation as well as after Shawn left in 1998, there was absolutely little reason to be a fan in 2006, with every Raw main event somehow involving them or the McMahons/Spirit Squad. What's so "edgy" about one man who's a born-again Christian and the other who is legit married to the boss' daughter? Luckily, we were saved with Trips' second quad injury and broke the tradition of him being in a World title match at Mania every freakin' year. Of course, it was shortlived, as he came back and works even safer nowadays (extremely weak Pedigree) and is STILL main eventing every WM. I think another problem is how they sometimes treat him like Stone Cold, for example Londrick saved him in a match one time, how did he thank them? Pedigrees. Did this lead anywhere? Nope, just a throwaway moment to make the midcard section look even weaker. It also lead to his stupid 8 month title run, and made me BEG for 2003 again, it was THAT bad, add to the fact he never properly elevated Jeff Hardy. He's been doing better recenty with Legacy, but I believe it's only a matter of time before he decides to dominate the title scene once again.

Randy Orton - After his terrible face run in 2004, WWE did the right thing by turning him heel once again. Unlike his first heel run, he wasn't the cocky jock prick that we were delighted to see before. Gone were the days of spitting in Harley Race's frickin face and we were now treated to the punt. Now while I don't have a real problem with the punt itself, it more or less always comes back to haunt Randy. Every time he has punted someone, he suffers the consequences of getting his ass beat left and right. After punting 3 of the 4 McMahons (sadly Linda was spared), he engaged in a bitter feud with Triple H. This was such an intriguing feud, something that had me ALMOST excited to see WM, as I predicted Orton would fully be established as the best heel on the roster. Well....that didn't happen. Randy was made to look like Triple H's bitch again. For what purpose? Nowadays, Randy is just an absolute joke, he's no longer threatening and has resorted to being the cowardly heel who can't win without some stroke of luck. If a champion is not threating in any way, why is he champion?

John Cena - Good God, I swear there is not a single wrestler who I have ever pulled such a 180 on. One of two people I sought to get an autograph of back in 2003, he was big, he was bad, he talked the talk and he walked the walk. Of course, all good things must come to an end, followed by a complete and absolute bastardization of the character. I'm going to completely skip ahead from 2003 and go straight to 2005, since outside of the face turn, Cena was more or less the same. Vince must've gotten drunk one night and made a bet with someone over establishing a new Hogan, I'm sure the bet was a petty one, but Vince McMahon is never wrong DAMMIT! So instead of paying the bet, Vince decided to continue to "build" Cena as the lackluster Hogan. WCW Hogan circa 1994 though. Once his first WWE title reign began, it was headed towards disaster. Cena was pitted against some of the most respected men on the roster. And WWE did EVERYTHING in their power to get the fans on Cena's side. Whether that be, Jericho renouncing being a Canadian, or Kurt Angle being anti-American. It didn't work. So right before the fans demanded that Cena be nailed to a giant wooden cross, WWE saved face by putting the title on Edge, after of course doing absolutely everything he could outside of putting a bullet in Cena's brain. Please don't get any ideas if anyone from WWE is reading this. Put before we could enjoy the Rated R era, Cena mauled Edge and reclaimed the title 21 days later. Around this time, WWE decided that Cena was all power and needed a submission hold to "get the fans on his side" so they gave him the STF so cleverly called the STFU. Cena continued his power matches followed up with an STFU, which made anyone tap within milliseconds of application. So we move onto Wrestlemania 22, where a very hot crowd mercilessly booed John Cena out of the building, outside of a couple of elementary kids in tears, not one person was rooting for Cena. Of course since Cena was "SO CONTROVERSIAL", they decided to give him the win, and the fans looked on...confused. As the months passed, Cena dropped the belt once again in "controversial" style and reclaimed the belt at Unforgiven and went on to have a very very long title reign that ended with him vacating the title due to injury, a title reign that outlasted both Diesel and Randy Savage; ended with vacation...lame. Now I know he was injured, but good lord, at least give SOMEONE a rub. At least Cena will be out until after next year's WM so that'll be good. Actually, Cena ends up winning the Royal Rumble. Well great, Cena is in the WWE title match at WM again, although after being hit with a Pedigree/death, Cena actually LOSES. Onforth we go though since Cena ends up suffering a neck injury a few months later, only to come back once again and win the World Heavyweight Title in his first match back. Now, I'm not booker, but HOW DOES THAT GET PEOPLE INTERESTED? Any smart booker, puts someone in a lame duck match coming back, has them dominate and then proceeds to get into the title picture in the following months, you NEVER blow your load right away like that. Time goes on and Cena loses the belt again through "controversial" methods. But it's ok, he gets a title match at Mania once again after blackmailing Vickie Guerrero by threatening to show a video of her and Big Show rounding 3rd base. But he decides to show it anyways. And Vickie doesn't take him out of the match after breaking his pomise........ok? Anyways, Cena once again wins. No one really cares at this point, I mean how many times can someone get disapointed? Boos now turn into yawns. Cena loses the title again, because losing legit is something that will not happen. After a series of bouts with Big Show, where Cena came out on top every single time, he engages in a feud with Orton and makes him look like a joke at every turn. Cena proved once again that he is indeed not human by getting completely destroyed by Orton, only to turn around and win the belt again in an I Quit match. Seems to be the formula with Cena, gets abused, overcomes with a few moves, poses with belts, met with boos/yawns. Overall, Cena has been built up way too much, it takes everything short of a nuclear holocaust to keep the man down for 3 seconds, he acts like a boy scout and believes he is the voice of the fans. One would think that I would have a problem with Cena, and I do but I'm so beyond bored at this point, I don't even look at the WWE title as a legit title anymore, let Cena just keep it, don't defend it...just stop ruining wrestling for me.

Now that I explained the top three "stars" of the WWE, I'll shortly explain a few more big names;

Shawn Michaels - In all honesty, doesn't bother me at all. He doesn't nearly take up as much air time as the other 3 and knows when to go away and come back. If only he'd explain this to Triple H, as established as they both are, they aren't needed to be around all the time to pull the same schtick. Now, while I didn't enjoy the 2006 DX, the current version isn't as painful to watch and seem to be doing a good job of putting Legacy over.

Edge - The problem here I feel, Edge was NEVER established. He is the "ultimate opportunist" and seems to never beat anyone legit. While I'd probably consider him Cena's arch-nemesis, there's no real feel that Edge could ever beat Cena without a stroke of luck. I'm hoping that if he does in fact come back as a face around Royal Rumble, he gets a nice run and built with credibility. Let's just hope it isn't a 2004 face run.

Undertaker - Don't hate him, don't love him. Much like Michaels, Undertaker doesn't have to be around all the time to help the product. He can still put on relatively decent matches, but the Dead Man gimmick is SO stale by this point, he needs to find something else that can work.

Batista - Much like Cena, I was a huge 'Tista fan back in his Evolution days, and his first title run was actually pretty good. But after his return, he just didn't seem as motivated, it doesn't look like he's having fun and his return to SD only makes me fearful of where the WHC is going to be very soon. The brand should NOT be built around this man, he is generic, injury prone and old.

CM Punk - The savior of Smackdown, the only reason I watch. Now while I didn't initially enjoy Punk when he debuted on ECW (his match with Burke was terrible) he has since become my favorite by criticizing the audience and proving himself right on every occasion. I can only hope that WWE is smart enough and build up enough credibility and keep the belt on him until WM, but that is about as wishful as wishful thinking gets.

Chris Jericho - Admittedly, Jericho felt that his redebut in WWE was a disaster. Not only did WWE blow their load on him right away by putting him in a title match, but they underutlized him in favor of Cena, Orton and Triple H. Of course, Jericho began to come into his own after beginning an enjoyable feud with Michaels and much like Punk, speaking the truth. If anyone could be a placecard champion, it's Jericho.

Big Show is another guy who I'm indifferent about. The man is such a fatass and lazy inside the ring nowadays, it's impossible to think the man used to be capable of doing moonsaults. But if there was ever a chance of him being WWE champion, I would've taken it over the 3 who seem to embody the title nowadays. His alliance with Jericho is ok, although he really need to grow his hair back...bald is not beautiful.

John Morrison - Exciting in the ring, notsomuch on the mic. If it weren't for the InCrowd, I don't think Morrison would ever excel any where past the midcard. If only he keeps up the cocky attitude (ala The Rock), he could very well be the next Shawn Michaels.

MVP - If you would've asked me a year ago where I saw MVP, I would've said he'd be in the title chase, if not champion. Well, after his move to Raw, he's done absolutely nothing productive.

Mark Henry - See MVP

Kane - Dude, what are you doing? You don't have a drop of credibility and you're never going to possibly amount to anything after the disaster in 2003, either change your gimmick in some way or retire.

Christian - I've been saying it for years, Christian is one of the best talents in wrestling today. He doesn't sound like a WWE champion, nor does he look like one. And that's ok, because he brings everything else to the table. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll ever get his chance on either SD or Raw to be the flagship champion, although I feel he has every right to be.

Jack Swagger - Honestly, of all the midcarders on Raw, I feel he has the best chance to break out on his own. Although, giving him credibility would only happen if the only established main eventer that WOULD put him over would; Shawn Michaels. After that, I see Cena and Triple H just absolutely raping him.

Legacy - Much more interesting than their wimpy leader, just dump him already, you can do better! After they're done with DX, I feel a tag title run can do them a lot of good, perhaps a run that can overshadow Orton, much like Orton seemed to do with the IC belt back in Evolution.

Matt Hardy - Well, I guess that heel turn was useless. And much like the rest of his WWE run, he'll be largely ignored. I never understood why he was overlooked for his druggy brother, but I guess he must've pissed someone off.

The Miz - While the guy has improved very much in the ring and on the mic since debuting, I don't feel he'll ever go anywhere on Raw.

Rey Mysterio - Seems the little guy has found his niche in the midcard area, although it would've been better if he didn't get busted for roids and could've MADE Dolph into a star. Idiot.

Evan Bourne - Having him go to Raw was a HUGE mistake? I hope who ever thought that was a good idea got fired or something. He could be a very good competitor on ECW, but I guess WWE thought it would deem more acceptable by teaming him with a midget.

Kofi Kingston - While I enjoy the matches, I don't ever get how he's supposed to develop anymore if you don't develop his character. It would be nice to see him feud with Punk on SD, although not for the belt(s), at least not at the moment.

Shelton Benjamin - You're lucky you're still employed. Never seen a guy who mishandled the ball SO much.

William Regal - Like his Booyaka Booyaka buddy, he is incredibly addicted to drugs and doesn't seem to give a damn about the consequences. Been given to many chances already, please show him the door, WWE.

Chavo Guererro - Bwa-hahahaha! I can't even BEGIN to explain how stupid this angle has been. I didn't watch, but someone did tell me it was recently ended. For Chavo to bounce back from that, I don't know if anyone could. Hope he's thinking of hanging it up soon, I would.

You've got to be kidding, first off Cena absolutely sucks with selling. Even back then when you look at their WM, Michaels CLEARLY works on Cena's leg for a good 10 minutes, and within a couple more minutes, Cena is walking around just fine, completely disregarding "the pain" in the slighest fashion, that's TERRIBLE storytelling, he has absolutely no ring psycology whatsoever. Also their rematch on Raw that everyone loves, really wasn't good either...it was mostly fluff with restholds.

And are you dissing Michaels because of his moveset? I dare you to find someone within the limits of the WWE who doesn't have a non-consistant moveset, everyone does...especially Cena who carries the same equation to every match he's ever in. And saying Michaels is stale on the mic is like calling the kettle black when you look to Cena who seems to channel Martin Luther King or The Rock when it comes to promos. And he fails on both fronts.

As far as being the best worker? Well depends on what you mean by that. If you mean consistant match quality, top guy in the company, most marketable face...then yes. Here's every Cena match in 2007, he comes out, get his ass handed to him for 12 minutes, turns the tide, no sells the prior 12 minutes, throwback, hip toss, MAYBE the top rope legdrop, freestyle, five knuckle shuffle, ducks the offense, FU, STF. I've never seen a more stale finish than this one, it's progressively been going on since late 2005. The only time he carried anyone was Khali, and those were miserable matches to watch.

Overall, being the top guy in 2007 really wasn't that special since that was a terrible year to be a wrestling fan, not only because of Benoit, but a cosistantly lackluster main event...because CENA BEAT EVERYONE! You're shown to be impervious to pain and they have to pull a 1986 by building someone up just for you to go through them, then they go to midcard hell. Sorry but Cena is a joke...I don't care if it's trendy to hate him on the internet but he's so goddamn stale on every level.

As far as Regal, I just remember him getting busted for drugs being part of that drug scandal. He's a good brawler and ring general, I'll give him that. But even by that point in his career, there's no way he was going to be champion.

While Shawn essentially takes a break from the ring every year, the guy who should REALLY take a break is Triple H, his match quality is so broken down at this point, it's just plain sad. And none of these guys should really have the belt on them, they're all above the belt and no one pays any more per ticket to see them as champion.

So the rumor going around is that Cena might be going to SD, I don't know the cause behind this as I don't watch Raw but I guess it has to do with whether or not he wins the title at the next PPV or not. So we either have Cena as a 7 time champion, or Cena beating Punk in 5 minute squashes. Decisions. Decisions.

I think Jack Swagger has more overall skill than Dibiase and Miz. Miz doesn't look at all intimidating in the ring, and Dibiase is so vanilla on the mic that he could never get over as a face or heel. Rhodes is much more charismatic, however he looks like he's 160 lbs and doesn't have a "look".

At this point, I wouldn't even be against pushing the injury prone Mark Henry to the moon, as long as it would get both Orton and Cena out of the title picture.

Syd Lexia wrote:

Cena is very popular with the kids, and as you may have noticed by the WWE's move to to TV-PG, that's the audience that the WWE wants to cater to. And despite all the bitching from the smarks, his merch sells very well. So he does have fans. They may mostly be children and girls, but there are a fuckload of children and girls. I miss Heel Cena though. Heel Cena was awesome. I also miss the days when Cena hulked up by pumping his Reeboks. That was fucking amazing.

I hear this argument a lot, and I still don't get WHY they would still push someone THAT hard. I don't have a problem with his fanbase, I don't see it being any different if he's champion or not, his merchandise is going to sell as much as it did back in 2006. He doesn't have to be in the spotlight ALL the time in order to achieve popular success. And at the same time, WWE is really isolating their fanbase by using all of their energy to cater to one key demographic. Hell, even '80s Hogan cheated if he could get away with it, Cena is SUCH a boyscout that his character is a complete joke. He's the "fighting" champion, yet when he loses he gets serious, when he wins, he jokes around. It's like pulling teeth with this guy, and I can't watch the exact same routine for 4 years straight.

And I also miss heel Cena, I'm not saying they need to go back to that, but that was the last guy I seriously marked HARD for, and only the second guy I willfully got an autograph from, it's baffling to see such a 180, since it was the die hard fans who turned him a face to begin with.

So Batista turns heel and beats up Rey. Too bad they couldn't wait to do this for Wrestlemania, but I guess Bats has to probably get the belt by then and drop it back to Taker. Yawn.

Oh and Cena wins...him and Orton keep dropping the best every 3 weeks...freakin ridiculous.

Doesn't look like it. I don't even care about the WWE title anymore, it's a fucking joke.

Knyte wrote:

I agree and it will stay a joke until for one, it goes back to looking like this: The currenty belt was a cute novelty for Cena's first win. He got his spinner belt. That's was fine, but once he dropped the title, it should have gone back to the original one, not the spinner belt that no longer spins. It is an eyesore, and insults the legacy of the belt. Stone Cold had his own belt too, but when he lost the title, nobody else got to use his "Smoking Skull" belt. That's the way it should be.

Exactly, it did work when Edge won it, because it fit the persona, but Trips, Hardy and Orton look retarded with it.

But even if it was the Winged Eagle belt, it still wouldn't warrent any care out of me, since it's been booked into a corner, because WWE is so fucking retarded by not elevating anyone without making them look absolutely inferior against Cena.

I've never ever ever had the animosity towards a wrestler like I do Cena. He's bascially today's Hogan, without the major success, and tweaked to "look better" by filling the voids that Hogan had by making him do things that Hogan "couldn't".

The STF has got to be the worst execution submission move I have ever seen. I'm not saying the performance itself, but the setup and eventual end to each match. Now, most technical wrestlers target a said body part that will help set up the submission and make it believable as to why it would hurt so much.

Cena, wrestles the exact same match he did before, but adds a submission move at the end, which anyone not named Triple H will tap to in 0.8 seconds flat. No drama, no deliverance as to why this should hurt so damn much.

On a minor note, I learned that Cena was busted open last night with a mic shot, resulting in them pausing the match so they could stop the bleeding. Apparently the fear is, that it could hurt Linda's campaign and they want it to be as family friendly as possible. Since my family hates wrestling, I guess I'm up shit creek.

And it's not like I can't enjoy wrestling without blood, because I can. But having a brutal match and all the sudden after years of bladejobs to just stop. And if it happens by accident, why is it a problem? They said it's a cause for concern because of healty and outside of the Bob Orton fiasco, I don't remember there being any concern. Don't stop a PPV over a skinned knee, it makes Cena look even more like a fucking boyscout.

I didn't watch, but I was flipping through the channels quick enough to see Cena pinning CM Punk.

One of the last big feuds for Cena to possibly have, given away on free TV. Also predictable finish...Cena MUST win, Cena always wins.