How did so many people NOT see Henry's turn coming?

[BigJerichool222]

Surely the second he asked Cena to stay, it was insanely clear what was going to happen, right? Were all these people worked by the tears or something? It gets so much praise but I thought it was a good angle yet too obvious.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

One thing that I think a lot of people forget is that sometimes predictability is okay.

Like when Austin won the Royal Rumble in 2001, everybody knew Rock was winning the title so they could wrestle at Mania.

Unpredictability is good, but too much of it leads to Russo booking. Sometimes the logical outcome is the best outcome. And it's quite in character for Cena to trust somebody who is obviously going to turn on him.

The other thing is even if you could see it coming, sometimes WWE doesn't do the logical thing and just getting invested in the storyline is fun even when you know where it's going.

Sometimes the best things in wrestling are what is predictable and logical to happen next, and enjoying the ride becomes the fun part - same as rewatching a match you've already seen.

Whether the Henry angle is necessarily a part of this I don't know, but for me, however obvious the ending was, the setup was so perfectly done - a great promo by Henry for one, and a good reaction from the audience - that I didn't care that it went to an obvious place.

[BigJerichool222]

Oct 29, 2014 4:47:26 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

One thing that I think a lot of people forget is that sometimes predictability is okay.

Like when Austin won the Royal Rumble in 2001, everybody knew Rock was winning the title so they could wrestle at Mania.

Unpredictability is good, but too much of it leads to Russo booking. Sometimes the logical outcome is the best outcome. And it's quite in character for Cena to trust somebody who is obviously going to turn on him.

The other thing is even if you could see it coming, sometimes WWE doesn't do the logical thing and just getting invested in the storyline is fun even when you know where it's going.

Sometimes the best things in wrestling are what is predictable and logical to happen next, and enjoying the ride becomes the fun part - same as rewatching a match you've already seen.

Whether the Henry angle is necessarily a part of this I don't know, but for me, however obvious the ending was, the setup was so perfectly done - a great promo by Henry for one, and a good reaction from the audience - that I didn't care that it went to an obvious place.

Right. I'm not saying the angle wasn't good or well done, I'm just legitimately stunned so many people were worked by it.

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

Oct 29, 2014 5:10:16 GMT -5 BigJerichool222 said:

Oct 29, 2014 4:47:26 GMT -5 "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay said:

One thing that I think a lot of people forget is that sometimes predictability is okay.

Like when Austin won the Royal Rumble in 2001, everybody knew Rock was winning the title so they could wrestle at Mania.

Unpredictability is good, but too much of it leads to Russo booking. Sometimes the logical outcome is the best outcome. And it's quite in character for Cena to trust somebody who is obviously going to turn on him.

The other thing is even if you could see it coming, sometimes WWE doesn't do the logical thing and just getting invested in the storyline is fun even when you know where it's going.

Sometimes the best things in wrestling are what is predictable and logical to happen next, and enjoying the ride becomes the fun part - same as rewatching a match you've already seen.

Whether the Henry angle is necessarily a part of this I don't know, but for me, however obvious the ending was, the setup was so perfectly done - a great promo by Henry for one, and a good reaction from the audience - that I didn't care that it went to an obvious place.

Right. I'm not saying the angle wasn't good or well done, I'm just legitimately stunned so many people were worked by it.

Honestly, I was worked by it too, and all I can say is that I think I got worked by it because WWE the past decade or so has a history of telegraphing something logical and awesome and then not doing it, at all.

[PKO]

For me, it was because it makes so much sense for him to retire. He gets injured every year, missing months of action, and he's in his 40's. His retirement has felt imminent since the end of his World Title reign, and his speech really did feel like the end. Cena's involvement did tip me off, but I was still shocked,

[hossfan]

Because Henry sold it like a pro. I remember reading the Raw thread here the night it happened and people kept switching their opinions back and forth on whether or not he was really retiring. Yeah, the fact he asked Cena to stay, and he references never winning the WWE Title, and even the amount of time he was given to say his goodbyes should have made it clear it was an angle, but Mark was so convincing it was enough to give you doubt.

[Deleted]

I saw it coming, but still thought the segment was very well done. Wasn't part of the thread though, was at my aunt's that night facing the horrors of not having Internet access.

[Session Moth is over]

It was a fantastic segment. I thought that their PPV match was the time to put the top Championship on Henry.

Looking back at it I'm in two minds. While I feel Wall of Pain Henry is the best work of his career and he deserved a run as champion I also know if he did win we would have never gotten Bryan beating Cena in a classic match at Summerslam.

[mcmahonfan85]

i didn't see it cause i wasn't watching

[mrbananagrabber]

I didn't see it coming. I'm just not in the running.

[Magic knows Black Lives Matter]

I didn't see it coming because I totally expected Henry to retire. I mean, why wouldn't he? He's old, he gets hurt seemingly every year, it's not like he had a ton of momentum at the time (we were at least a year removed from his Hall of Pain peak), it made too much sense that he would retire. I thought it was weird that he asked Cena to hang around but I figured, "hey, maybe him and Cena are tight IRL and I just never heard anything about it."

[unc40]

Cena being involved didn't tip me off of a possible heel turn because Cena always gets himself involved in things that is none of his business.

[phen0m2112]

Had me hook, line, and sinker. Greatest promo from the most unlikely source ever, imo.

[CATCH_US IS the Conversation]

I saw it coming simply because I honestly don't think Mark Henry would get a "retirement angle" if he really was retiring.

[Cvslfc123]

Nothing in the history of WWE was as predictable as the fate of the WWE title between Royal Rumble 2013-Wrestlemania 29

[saintpat]

I marked for Mark.

[Instant Classic]

Oct 29, 2014 8:56:33 GMT -5 PKO said:

For me, it was because it makes so much sense for him to retire. He gets injured every year, missing months of action, and he's in his 40's. His retirement has felt imminent since the end of his World Title reign, and his speech really did feel like the end. Cena's involvement did tip me off, but I was still shocked,

He gotta lot left in da tank!

[Brood Lone Wolf Funker]

I honestly wasn't sure which one you were referring to originally