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Well, right off the top I’d like to say I’m happy with the feedback from my WrestleMania by the numbers article last week and I’m always looking for your thoughts when possible. I’ve changed my email and you can now send me your thoughts at ncattles@gmail.com. Ok, now let’s get down to business.
At the end of my last column, I teased that I had one major concern stemming from my deep look into “The Big One” and I’d share that concern with you this time around. It’s not anything that would shock any passionate WWE fan, but the main concern all fans should have, if they don’t have it already, is the WWE main event picture. This issue is something I was well aware of, but the depth of it wasn’t apparent until looking at the past five Wrestlemanias (including this year’s installment).
Over that span of time, WWE has had 23 heavyweight title shots given to a total of 11 wrestlers. Of those 11 wrestlers, five have had a total of five shots with one chance each. Who were those five men? JBL, Rey Mysterio, The Big Show, HBK, and Kurt Angle. Now we don’t have to be great mathematicians to come up with the other numbers that are so startling. We have six other wrestlers that account for 18 of the 23 total heavyweight title shots. That means since WrestleMania XXI there’s been a 78% chance that you’d see Batista (2 shots), Undertaker (2), Edge (2 straight), Randy Orton (3 total, 2 straight), HHH (4), and John Cena (5) in a heavyweight title match at Mania.
Now let me be objective here. All of these guys have deserved to be in top spots and wrestling for titles. They’ve proven themselves inside and outside of the ring and I would never write that any of these guys didn’t deserve to be considered top players. For the most part I don’t have a problem with Randy Orton and Edge getting their title shots. Those two guys are still young and are the best heels in the business today, along with Chris Jericho. I also have absolutely zero beef with Undertaker getting his two chances. Taker’s TV and ring time has been managed so well over the past few years that title contests don’t feel stale.
The problem to me comes down to Batista, HHH, and Cena. Now I know that Batista has had the same amount of shots that UT and Edge have had, but let’s not forget that he’s been injured for two of the past five Manias. It also could be argued that he didn’t main event WrestleMania XXIV because he had been in the main event in practically every pay-per-view leading up to that show. It had become obvious that Batista needed a rest from the title picture, so he got one.
As for HHH and Cena, the numbers are ridiculous to look at. Hunter has been in a WrestleMania title match four of the past five years and the only time he did miss one was when he was injured (XXIII). Too many title matches? Probably. However, there is credit to give The Game. As I mentioned in my last column, HHH has lost his last three WrestleMania main events to three up and comers (Batista, Cena, and Orton). That is something that needs to be pointed out.
But when all is said and done, if there’s one guy that has dominated the scene with both appearances and victories, it’s been John Cena. No, I’m not a Cena basher; I actually believe he might be the hardest working guy in the business over the past five years. But five straight title shots and three of the last four wins? That’s certainly a lot of Cena. However, it’s not until this year that Cena justifiably could’ve or should’ve taken a main event break.
All three of Cena’s victories were against established guys who could afford to put him over and ultimately did the right thing for business. He defeated JBL at XXI, which at the time was necessary. At XXII Cena took the next step and officially became the man by pinning HHH. To top off the Mania win streak, it was Mr. WrestleMania and future Hall of Fame performer HBK who was next on the list. Does anyone have a problem with those three outcomes? And when it came time for Cena to be involved in a Mania match with another young gun (XXIV), the other guy got his hand raised – Orton. Conversely, this year, Cena doesn’t stand to gain or lose much from being in the title hunt and that’s why the break might’ve been the best path.
Now with some of my objective writing, you’d wonder why I’m so concerned when you could say there were viable reasons for the past five years to happen as they did. And maybe that’d be right. However, my true concern is whether or not the WWE will start to see this trend and begin to have the young established stars start putting over the talent that is one big step from the top tier. But, oh yeah, there’s a problem with that scenario too. That’s my tease for the next time, when I’ll look into why the WWE hasn’t been able to set up WrestleMania XXV the way some fans wanted them to. Until then, even with analysis, remember to suspend your disbelief.
