Post by Hobby Drifter on Jan 4, 2016 6:03:44 GMT -5
Ok, so, the Cena heel turn is and will never happen. It is reality and I accept that. But I was waiting for a train this afternoon and started thinking about the Daredevil movie. There's a line in there where Jack Murdock, Matt's father, says to the crime boss "I don't work for you no more", which is met with "Oh, Jack...you never stopped. Did you really think you won all those fights? Those were MY guys". I thought doing something like that with Cena could be really interesting. There was all that talk about having him feud with the Authority never made much sense, on account of that he was basically their chosen champion anyway before they started calling themselves "the Authority" and heeling it up. But what if, like Battling Jack Murdock, Cena just didn't KNOW that he was really working for them?
It rattled around in my brain for awhile, and if I didn't get it down somewhere, I feel like I'd go nuts.
What if they pulled something like that on Cena?
Like, John Cena is making more and more noise about wanting to not only tie, but BREAK Ric Flair's record. Fans probably aren't overwhelmingly into it, but he just keeps on Cena-ing. Finally, HHH, in a closed-door meeting, tells John Cena something that the audience doesn't get to hear until later.
Cena storms out of the office in disbelief, demanding a match. He tells HHH to pick any opponent. Somebody good. Get Lesnar, Taker, Cesaro, Reigns, ANYBODY to accept an open challenge.
Cena comes to the ring for an open challenge. Out comes Kevin Owens. The prize-fighter. Owens makes his way to the ring, but Cena stops him. Before the match starts, Cena says to Owens, "If you can beat me, clean, I will hand you a check for one million dollars. No way *anybody else* is going to match that. You're the prize fighter? *scribbles on check* Here's your prize."
Owens beats Cena. He escapes two AAs. He kicks out of two AAs. Cena doesn't kick out of the first pop-up powerbomb. Cena hands over the check.
Cena continues the million dollar challenge, competing mostly in good matches against mid-carders, all of which he wins. But, eventually, Rusev accepts. Rusev, though, says that he wants to make things interesting. He wants to tap Cena out. "How about this? Submission match. You make me tap, and I'll donate 50 grand to your Make a Wish foundation. But if I make YOU tap? I want TWO million dollars." Cena accepts. They both write their respective checks and hand them over to the announcers.
The match is, as predicted, excellent. Until Rusev gets Cena in the Accolade, center of the ring. Nowhere for Cena to go. He's going to pass out. But Rusev releases the hold before he can, rag-dolls Cena for a bit, stomps him, then goes right back into the Accolade. After 10-15 minutes of stomp, stretch, repeat, Cena finally taps. Rusev collects Cena's check from ringside and tears up the Make a Wish one.
Cena is out for a few weeks. When he returns, he stands in the center of the ring to explain why he's been doing with the million dollar challenges. He can't get the words out, but gestures to the screen. It's a low-quality audio recording from Cena's meeting with HHH.
"We don't want you to break Flair's record. Everybody here at WWE loves and respects you, John. You have carried this company on your back for longer than anybody. You worked harder than anybody before or since. Matches every night. No days off. Didn't leave for other, easier jobs. Did all the radio shows, talk shows, interviews. You've granted more wishes than anybody in Make a Wish history. You have selflessly given to this company and to THIS BUSINESS more than we or it can ever repay."
"And I did it all on my own! Without selling out! Without taking the easy way to victory!"
"That's not entirely true. We appreciate what you've done for us. You move merchandise like nobody else. Other guys have flamed out after a short while, like Punk and Bryan, but nobody does it as consistently as you. You're OUR money in the bank. You've been OUR guy for over ten years, and, because of that, we've taken steps to protect our investment. To protect you, John."
Cena doesn't really know how to respond to this.
"You're an amazing competitor, John. You were untouchable for a very long time. And you had that IT factor that nobody else has shown to possess. But you're not that young anymore. You've taken more abuse, for longer, than anybody else. We needed to protect you. And we did. We toned down the violence on the shows. Banned certain maneuvers. We even made it illegal to do weapon shots to the head. Taker and I were fined for that. TAKER and *I* had to pay those fines. And, in some of your higher profile matches, we...we didn't *fix* the outcomes, but we made it clear that your opponents wouldn't suffer financially if they weren't to come out on top.
"I don't..."
"Remember when Kevin Owens beat you in his debut? And how he kicked out of like four of your finishers? And how he's a "prize fighter"? And how he lost his next two matches? Or how Del Rio, a guy who hadn't been around for the last year or so, out of nowhere, came back and took your title right before you were scheduled to take a little break? Remember how Rusev made you pass out in his submission hold, but couldn't seem to eke out the Mania win? Surely SOME of that has to seem a little bit strange to you.
"No..."
"You're BIG MATCH JOHN. You always find a way to get it done in big matches. And afterwards, after their heads stop spinning, your opponents stop by the office and maybe their envelope is thicker than you'd expect the loser's to be. Not as thick as yours, of course. Nobody makes what you do. Even guys like Brock don't make John Cena money. You've taken good care of us, everybody, and we've taken care of you.
Cena storms off in disbelief, demanding a match to prove himself. He tells HHH to pick any opponent. Somebody good. Get Lesnar, Taker, Cesaro, Reigns, ANYBODY to accept an open challenge. This brings us back to the start of the Kevin Owens match.
Cena still can't bring himself to say more than a few words. He leaves.
From there, there's any number of places you could go. John Cena is humanized. Those "miracle wins" for "Big Match John" are no longer a sure thing. Maybe he goes back to the mid-card. Maybe he becomes a part-timer. Maybe he wins the next Rumble or MitB in a Rocky-style storyline. Maybe he loses a brutal I Quit match when there's no way out of it.
It rattled around in my brain for awhile, and if I didn't get it down somewhere, I feel like I'd go nuts.
What if they pulled something like that on Cena?
Like, John Cena is making more and more noise about wanting to not only tie, but BREAK Ric Flair's record. Fans probably aren't overwhelmingly into it, but he just keeps on Cena-ing. Finally, HHH, in a closed-door meeting, tells John Cena something that the audience doesn't get to hear until later.
Cena storms out of the office in disbelief, demanding a match. He tells HHH to pick any opponent. Somebody good. Get Lesnar, Taker, Cesaro, Reigns, ANYBODY to accept an open challenge.
Cena comes to the ring for an open challenge. Out comes Kevin Owens. The prize-fighter. Owens makes his way to the ring, but Cena stops him. Before the match starts, Cena says to Owens, "If you can beat me, clean, I will hand you a check for one million dollars. No way *anybody else* is going to match that. You're the prize fighter? *scribbles on check* Here's your prize."
Owens beats Cena. He escapes two AAs. He kicks out of two AAs. Cena doesn't kick out of the first pop-up powerbomb. Cena hands over the check.
Cena continues the million dollar challenge, competing mostly in good matches against mid-carders, all of which he wins. But, eventually, Rusev accepts. Rusev, though, says that he wants to make things interesting. He wants to tap Cena out. "How about this? Submission match. You make me tap, and I'll donate 50 grand to your Make a Wish foundation. But if I make YOU tap? I want TWO million dollars." Cena accepts. They both write their respective checks and hand them over to the announcers.
The match is, as predicted, excellent. Until Rusev gets Cena in the Accolade, center of the ring. Nowhere for Cena to go. He's going to pass out. But Rusev releases the hold before he can, rag-dolls Cena for a bit, stomps him, then goes right back into the Accolade. After 10-15 minutes of stomp, stretch, repeat, Cena finally taps. Rusev collects Cena's check from ringside and tears up the Make a Wish one.
Cena is out for a few weeks. When he returns, he stands in the center of the ring to explain why he's been doing with the million dollar challenges. He can't get the words out, but gestures to the screen. It's a low-quality audio recording from Cena's meeting with HHH.
"We don't want you to break Flair's record. Everybody here at WWE loves and respects you, John. You have carried this company on your back for longer than anybody. You worked harder than anybody before or since. Matches every night. No days off. Didn't leave for other, easier jobs. Did all the radio shows, talk shows, interviews. You've granted more wishes than anybody in Make a Wish history. You have selflessly given to this company and to THIS BUSINESS more than we or it can ever repay."
"And I did it all on my own! Without selling out! Without taking the easy way to victory!"
"That's not entirely true. We appreciate what you've done for us. You move merchandise like nobody else. Other guys have flamed out after a short while, like Punk and Bryan, but nobody does it as consistently as you. You're OUR money in the bank. You've been OUR guy for over ten years, and, because of that, we've taken steps to protect our investment. To protect you, John."
Cena doesn't really know how to respond to this.
"You're an amazing competitor, John. You were untouchable for a very long time. And you had that IT factor that nobody else has shown to possess. But you're not that young anymore. You've taken more abuse, for longer, than anybody else. We needed to protect you. And we did. We toned down the violence on the shows. Banned certain maneuvers. We even made it illegal to do weapon shots to the head. Taker and I were fined for that. TAKER and *I* had to pay those fines. And, in some of your higher profile matches, we...we didn't *fix* the outcomes, but we made it clear that your opponents wouldn't suffer financially if they weren't to come out on top.
"I don't..."
"Remember when Kevin Owens beat you in his debut? And how he kicked out of like four of your finishers? And how he's a "prize fighter"? And how he lost his next two matches? Or how Del Rio, a guy who hadn't been around for the last year or so, out of nowhere, came back and took your title right before you were scheduled to take a little break? Remember how Rusev made you pass out in his submission hold, but couldn't seem to eke out the Mania win? Surely SOME of that has to seem a little bit strange to you.
"No..."
"You're BIG MATCH JOHN. You always find a way to get it done in big matches. And afterwards, after their heads stop spinning, your opponents stop by the office and maybe their envelope is thicker than you'd expect the loser's to be. Not as thick as yours, of course. Nobody makes what you do. Even guys like Brock don't make John Cena money. You've taken good care of us, everybody, and we've taken care of you.
Cena storms off in disbelief, demanding a match to prove himself. He tells HHH to pick any opponent. Somebody good. Get Lesnar, Taker, Cesaro, Reigns, ANYBODY to accept an open challenge. This brings us back to the start of the Kevin Owens match.
Cena still can't bring himself to say more than a few words. He leaves.
From there, there's any number of places you could go. John Cena is humanized. Those "miracle wins" for "Big Match John" are no longer a sure thing. Maybe he goes back to the mid-card. Maybe he becomes a part-timer. Maybe he wins the next Rumble or MitB in a Rocky-style storyline. Maybe he loses a brutal I Quit match when there's no way out of it.
