Eyes On WWE: The 5 Best John Cena Matches At The Royal Rumble

By @TrueGodImmortal 

The Royal Rumble is only a few short months away. 2018 has flown by so fast. However, the history of the matches at the Rumble are all solidified, including the matches that are not the main focus. One star who has had some success at the Rumble is John Cena, a legend in his own right. Today, we look at Cena's top 5 matches at the classic PPV. Which matches are here? Let's find out.

5. John Cena vs Edge
Royal Rumble 2006

-So, there are a number of matches that Cena has been in, that I could have selected, but for me, this is probably the one that many hold in high regards outside of the obvious. Cena spent a number of years wrestling in the actual Rumble so those don't count, but for all his one on one or triple threat contests, this is the one that makes the top 5 barely. Edge and Cena had solid chemistry in the ring, but their feud was just really starting to begin, and as a result, you would see them slowly getting familiar with each other in the ring more. The match went about 15 minutes and as expected, the crowd was once again divided between these two. I didn't like the ending because Edge tapping out was probably the wrong move, but it was clear that WWE was building to Cena vs Triple H, so this was expected. A solid match, just nothing too special compared to the others on the list.

4. John Cena vs Randy Orton 
Royal Rumble 2014

-The fans were essentially not happy about this match taking place. Truthfully, the WWE should have did what made the most sense. It should have been CM Punk vs Randy Orton with Punk defeating Orton and Bryan winning the Rumble. However, WWE was not in their right mind as usual, and we got this match instead. What sticks out about this however is the fact that this match was actually really good. Cena and Orton have had decent chemistry over the years, and this was no different. Anytime Orton and Cena can turn a crowd from being bored and booing to invested and cheering, this is a success. Cena would come up short in this match, but nonethelss, he could add this match to his collection of good ones on PPV.

3. John Cena vs Umaga 
Royal Rumble 2007

-Anytime we see the stipulation Last Man Standing, we always know what to expect. It is usually brutality, aggression, and sometimes blood. This match had everything you could hope for. It made Umaga look like a monster while still making Cena look strong as always, but I had no issue with the booking of this match. Umaga looked solid, Cena looked solid, and for nearly 25 minutes, these two ripped each other apart. Cena walked away victorious, but he would never really be the same again due to this match taking so much out of him.

2. John Cena vs AJ Styles
Royal Rumble 2017

-So, the Rumble. 2017. Cena going after another title to break a record that shouldn't be broken. How does WWE book him? To win another title. Still, despite the terrible outcome, this was a great match and had both men at the top of their game. While I personally would prefer their Summerslam match to this one, but this is a very good match. AJ steals the show alongside Cena and they create a classic for the ages. Like most of his matches as time progressed, Cena would be in control and put a pointless end to the momentum that AJ was building. While AJ would bounce back soon enough, this match would see a small fall for him, as Cena used a multitude of finishers and aggression to win the match and the WWE Title, ending the reign of AJ Styles, a top wrestler in his era.

1. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins
Royal Rumble 2015

-This was an easy choice for me. Cena, Rollins and Lesnar really went above and beyond for this match and this is a true classic. Brock was in need of a big match and Rollins needed a star making turn and this was the match to do it in. Brock, Rollins, and Cena gave us a classic that saw Seth steal the show, Cena show up as well, and for Brock to have perhaps his best match in the WWE since returning. That match was perfection in the ring and mo one expected Brock to lose, thus, the result of the match was fine. When talking Cena at the Rumble, no match is better than this one by far..

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 11:41 PM  1 comment

Eyes On Smackdown Live: The Worst Of 2017

By @TrueGodImmortal

Smackdown in 2016 was the best thing in the WWE and as 2017 came along, it was still king in the company. With Daniel Bryan as the General Manager and Shane McMahon as the Commissioner, Smackdown has had a number of ups and downs over the year and today, we will take a look at the worst of the show this year. The truth of the matter is, there were a few things that really took the life out of Smackdown during the Wrestlemania season and beyond. Which of those decisions took the momentum from the Blue Brand? Let's take a look at those decisions. 

*John Cena Wins WWE Title From AJ Styles 

-For a Cena fan, I'm sure this was a good decision. However, what was advanced by just giving Cena his 16th title reign and cutting AJ's reign short? Nothing. The truth of the matter is, Smackdown had a great champion in AJ and the fact that he held so many wins over Cena was great. This did nothing to change the title picture, especially considering the fact that Cena would go on to lose the belt at the very next PPV. This was just an unnecessary title change just to give Cena another notch under his belt.

*Too Much Shane McMahon 

-I don't mind Shane as a performer but I'll be the first to admit, I have no desire to see him wrestling anymore. Shane is older, isn't that gifted in the ring, and his feuds don't carry that much for me as a viewer. He will go above and beyond to make his matches fun, but the one dreaded thing about WWE is the overused McMahon play they haven't seen as an issue. For one, despite AJ Styles vs Shane being a solid match at Mania, one would only wish for a different match for AJ because it really didn't seem like a win for Styles honestly. Shane would end up wrestling once more in a singles match, fighting Kevin Owens in a solid Hell In A Cell match that only happened to showcase Shane falling off the side of the cell. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Shane would make himself the team captain at Survivor Series for Smackdown and would end up as the last remaining member of the team instead of Cena, Orton, Nakamura, and Roode, which was a horrible decision. Smackdown is doing well now, but truth be told, we could use less Shane this year and beyond. 

*Randy Orton Winning The WWE Title 

-I assumed when Orton feuded with Bray Wyatt that we would get a great feud for the WWE Title and that Bray would get a few wins over him to retain his title and get momentum. I was wrong. Orton would end up defeating Bray at Wrestlemania for the title just a month and some change after Bray had won it. It was hot potato with the title in the early part of the year and with all of the talent on the roster, the fact that they gave the belt to both Cena and Orton in the same year at this point is honestly hilarious yet also ridiculous. I thought that when WWE gave the belt to Orton that it couldn't possibly get worse this year. I was VERY VERY WRONG.

*The Jinder Mahal Experiment 

-The worst part of Smackdown this year and it isn't even close. Who the fuck came up with this idea? Really? I mean REALLY. Honestly. Like.... what the hell. Trust me, I'm all for newer stars getting shots, but usually when you do that, you pick guys who are overlooked, guys who are popular, guys who the fans have been asking to see in more matches. That was NOT the case with Jinder. No one, and I mean, no one was asking for this shit. At all. Sure, there are idiots who call themselves fans who jumped on the bandwagon, but those are sheep who take whatever they get and like it. The fact remains, Jinder ruined the entire flow of the show and his reign was a bunch of shit that went on far too long. Sure, a month or two reign would be okay during the early Summer, but there was no way you could actually let him hold the belt for the better part of the year.... right? Well, apparently, the WWE was hellbent on trying to force this narrative that Jinder could bring in the Indian audience. It failed. Miserably. Ratings dropped. Revenue dropped. Interest dropped. The naive fans would say Jinder is great, but don't be stupid. He's been one of the worst elements of the entire program and he can't cut a good promo or wrestle good matches regularly to save his life. This was the worst of Smackdown this year.

*The Mishandling Of Shinsuke Nakamura

-Nakamura is a star. He's the man. He's popular. He's the top wrestler IMO besides AJ Styles on the roster and somehow, the WWE doesn't know how to book him. After a few noteworthy wins over John Cena and Randy Orton, they would have him lose to Jinder Mahal twice, for no reason, then they would make him the first wrestler eliminated at Survivor Series. It's simple. Book him strong. Make him win matches. Give him a true title shot and a title reign. One can only hope the WWE actually gives him the Royal Rumble win and the Wrestlemania main event against AJ Styles for the WWE Title, which would be the biggest match possible on Smackdown.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 2:30 AM  No comment

Eyes On WWE: What If John Cena Stayed On Smackdown In 2011?

By @AmeenKnows 

For a little background on how I came up with the idea for this article, I work a 16 hour shift every Sunday. So that means I have a lot of time on my hands and what I do with that time is I look up random episodes of wrestling and watch them. For those who may want to go back and watch the 2011 Draft, it happened on April 25th. Anyways, back to more important matters.

The 2011 Draft kicked off with The Big Show and Kofi Kingston eliminating Mason Ryan to earn the Smackdown brand the first pick in the draft, which turned out to be none other than the man who called the blue brand home 6 years earlier, John Cena. However, by the end of the night, there was a 6 man Raw vs Smackdown tag team match. Team Raw consisted of The Miz, CM Punk and Alberto Del Rio. Team Smackdown consisted of John Cena, Christian and Mark Henry. Team Raw won this match and Cena was subsequently traded back to Raw. Why even waste our time or a draft pick to keep Cena on the same show? That's when I started thinking what if Cena had stayed drafted to Smackdown.

Raw Without Cena
Now since Raw won the match, they still need to have someone drafted over to their show so let's just plug in Jack Swagger in that spot since he was brought over to Raw in the supplemental draft. The day of the draft, Cena was already penciled in to face The Miz and John Morrison in a Triple Threat Steel Cage match for the WWE Championship. Cena won that match so that means in this scenario that Cena loses and let's give the title to Morrison. Okay, so Morrison beat R-Truth for his Number One Contender's spot at Extreme Rules. Truth turned heel that same night so moving forward Morrison beats Miz to retain the WWE Title, then proceeds to feud with Truth. Without the company's resident Superman in the fold that means there is a realistic chance that the ever-so entertaining Conspiracy Theorist R-Truth could finally have a taste of Gold. The problem with that is there's a lack of babyface competitors on the roster to carry Raw for the rest of the year. So this means we miss out on the 5 Star Classic between Cena and Punk at Money in the Bank. This is not to say that Punk wouldn't become a WWE Champion, but he'd have to go an less interesting alternate route whether it be with Morrison replacing the role of Vince's Batman to Punk's Joker. Or maybe the momentum created during the "Pipebomb" turns Punk face a few weeks early to feud with a heel Truth, although the dynamic of that feud would change with Truth laying under a crushed table instead of Cena while Punk sits a top the ramp, letting everyone know how he really feels. Even though ADR cheated his way to the WWE Title he doesn't have the notch in his reign of beating Cena at Vengeance and Hell in a Cell, but then again he also doesn't drop the belt just a month after winning it at SummerSlam.

Smackdown with Cena
With Cena on Smackdown, the entire brand experiences a shift in power. In reality, Cena was involved in the WWE title picture in some form for the rest of 2011. Over on Smackdown, Christian wins his first World Heavyweight Championship. However the question is, does Randy Orton still come out on Smackdown 2 days after Extreme Rules and beat Christian for the World Title? We got an entire summer worth of great matches between two fresh opponents who have insane chemistry. Orton was a boring World Champion and having Cena as the leading babyface may have been better in the short term, but it also gets in the way of Mark Henry's Hall of Pain arc. I doubt Henry cleanly beats Cena for the World Heavyweight Championship so if they did add Cena to the Hall of Pain arc, I think they'd do it early in the arc to let Henry at least beat Cena down to boost the credibility and let Orton and Christian continue feuding. That also gets in the way of Daniel Bryan's cash in at the end of the year if Cena is the one holding the title at the end of TLC instead of a beat down Big Show.

When I started this article I actually had a positive mindset about Cena's return to the blue brand. It had been so long since he was really a big part of Smackdown at that point so I thought it would be a good thing. However it hurts a lot of great things that happened that summer. Taking away a 5 Star Classic just for possibly a month or 2 of Conspiracy Theory R-Truth as WWE Champion just isn't enough. Also, having him on Smackdown could possibly threaten a great Orton/Christian rivalry, threaten Daniel Bryan's Cash In and derail the Hall of Pain. So maybe it was a good thing after all that he got drafted back to Raw that night, but if that's the case they could have used those 2 picks to make different moves. Maybe they did it for ratings, but it's still a confusing move nonetheless.

-Ameen

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Eyes on the Ring 1:08 AM  No comment

Eyes On WWE: What's Next For John Cena?

By @TrueGodImmortal

John Cena, love him or hate him (I mostly hate him), is a legend in professional wrestling. He's been at the top of his game for the last few years, and despite missing a prime opportunity to have a Wrestlemania classic with The Undertaker this year, Cena has virtually done it all in the WWE. With that being said, as he enjoys his current part time role in WWE while earning more Hollywood fame, what is left for him to do? He won title no. 16, and has recently just got engaged to his girlfriend Nikki Bella, so what else is next? Let's take a look at a few things that could possibly be next for Cena.

*Match With Roman Reigns 

-This is likely going to happen between Summerslam and Wrestlemania 34 in some form of Smackdown vs RAW match. The smartest thing to do for WWE would be having this match  at Wrestlemania 34, and keeping both men out of the title picture. I'd hope Cena wins this one, but this would be another forcing of Reigns and another victory in a row. Still, this has to happen. It's the old vs the new superman essentially. The ultimate clash.

*Feud With Finn Balor

-I would like to see Finn turn heel and somehow end up in a feud with Cena. You could bring the Club into it or not, but Cena needs to feud or have a match with Balor at some point before walking away. Now that he's part time, there are limited opportunities for Cena matches and feuds, but this is one that needs to happen. I feel like the crowd would be electric for this and the match, at a Summerslam or Survivor Series or Mania, would be a huge draw.

*Putting Shinsuke Nakamura Over

-Nakamura is reportedly in the role of Cena now in terms of dark matches to keep people around for 205 Live after Smackdown ends. With that being said, the ultimate showman in Nakamura against the biggest name in the WWE over the last 10 years or so is a match that we need. Preferably at Summerslam, I think this match would be huge and honestly draw attention not just here in the US, but especially overseas. Imagine Cena vs Nakamura in Brooklyn for Summerslam or in front of 80,000 strong at Wrestlemania. That energy, the crowd, and most of all, that match would be electric. If there's one thing that Cena definitely should do before 2018 ends, it is put Nakamura over, which he probably wouldn't have an issue doing. Cena vs Nakamura. Just imagine how big that could be.

*Giving Baron Corbin His Biggest Feud

-Truthfully, there's no other match or feud for Cena on Smackdown that we haven't seen before minus perhaps a possible Sami Zayn feud. However, Cena vs Sami doesn't have that much of an appeal to it. We've seen AJ vs Cena plenty of times, and Cena vs Owens a few times, so the only feud that would appeal in terms of putting a young heel over on the brand is this match/feud. Corbin is improving and is due for a big push, so what better way to elevate him than to have him take on the veteran that is Cena. Cena vs Corbin probably wouldn't spawn a classic match, but the feud itself is enough to spark interest for just about any fan of the product. This is likely to happen anyways before 2017 closes out.

*Long Awaited Samoa Joe Feud

-If there's one feud that we have all wanted, it's this one. Samoa Joe. John Cena. One on one. This could very well be his Wrestlemania bout on a RAW vs Smackdown deal, similar to how he could end up battling Finn or Reigns. Regardless, this is the most intriguing match of them all for him, besides Nakamura. Joe is a tough fighter, a submission guy, and they have their own history with each other from years ago. The story built in this would easily work and the promos could be good as well. The match would be a lot of fun to witness as well, and if this feud were to spread out over a few months due to a brand change for either man, this could end up as a feud of the year candidate in WWE. Samoa Joe vs John Cena, Wrestlemania 34. Book it WWE.

*Win WWE Title No. 17

-This doesn't really need to happen, but knowing WWE, it just might. This would elevate Cena beyond Flair in the record books, and while I don't want that... it might be possible and I could see it happening. This might be the feud that WWE does when they go with Cena vs Corbin and let Cena put Corbin over for the belt. This could be something we see at Mania 34 after Corbin wins the Rumble (just a thought). Whatever the case, knowing WWE, this could be a reality sooner than later.

There's not much left for Cena to do, but these 6 possibilities all seem like they could very be a reality within the next year or two. At that point, it might be time for Cena to hang up the boots completely and move onto Hollywood. Will he? Who knows, but there aren't many new challenges for Cena at this point. What's next for Cena? I guess we have to stay tuned to find out.

-True

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Eyes on the Ring 7:42 PM  1 comment