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Welcome back to the EXCELLENCE IN COLUMN WRITING exclusively here at LordsofPain.net / WrestlingHeadlines.com by yours truly, Mr. Tito. I'm just getting pounded with emails and other communications on when I'd write next, particularly commenting about RAW and Smackdown post-SummerSlam. What, was the 2 review columns of NXT Takeover Brooklyn II and WWE SummerSlam 2016 not good enough for you? Can't I have a break? Reviewing 2 shows was exhausting, especially that marathon known as SummerSlam... I'd shorten that a tad bit next year... My overall thoughts on WWE SummerSlam 2016 are that I'm OK with the show because 1 match was a valid "Match of the Year" candidate... The rest of the show is just gravy. I'll take ONE GREAT MATCH as a trade-off for a card full of decent matches, OK matches, letdowns, and bad matches. Just give me 1 incredible moment and I'll be satisfied enough. John Cena vs. AJ Styles was AMAZING and I believe that I'll give it my "Match of the Year" when 2016 ends. Sure, I consider Nakamura vs. Zayn from NXT Dallas to be the better pure match, but Styles/Cena did more to elevate AJ Styles upward than the outcome of Zayn/Nakamura. I couldn't be happier for AJ Styles right now... Years upon years of being misused in TNA and then once he's freed, he tries new things, changes his look, and matured significantly as a wrestler. I'm so excited at the notion that he MAY win the WWE Title this year. I still contend that AJ Styles won Vince McMahon over by those Roman Reigns matches, particularly the 2nd one which was an amazing accomplishment. But let's give legitimate props to the man who 100% cleanly put him over, John Cena. This column has been very pro-John Cena since my 2010 comeback. If you read my columns after his move to RAW during 2005, I wasn't too crazy on how he toned down his Thug Life character into a vanilla babyface. His in-ring ability wasn't there yet back then and without the rapping, I thought his promos were lame. I retired as a columnist during late 2006 and when I came back as Mr. Tito and watched wrestling regularly again, I began to appreciate him. He was a much better wrestler and his WWE environment was much weaker than previous top draws like Hogan, Austin, and the Rock. Much thinner roster of WWE superstars and in my opinion, a much weaker Creative Team. And I've been quite critical of many Internet Fans since 2010 who under-appreciated John Cena's talent. They pass him off as a "modern Hulk Hogan" and call him "Super Cena" when Cena received favorable booking over opponents that the internet liked. Yet, I saw John Cena as the ONLY top drawing wrestler in the WWE since 2004 when Austin, Foley, Lesnar, and the Rock were left the WWE. Many think that Randy Orton is a top level drawing wrestler, but he's struggled on his own as a draw without Cena. I thought Batista did well but he left during the early 2010s. I never thought that Cena had a strong roster of opponents like other great superstars had. Cena, as the top guy, has been forced to do "more with less" than other top drawing superstars. In my opinion, the WWE has been incredibly fortunate to have John Cena to fit their PG Era model and also to help erase the bad stigma that Chris Benoit's murders/suicide gave the WWE. WWE was in trouble without John Cena to re-assure parents that wrestling was OK for their kids to follow. Make no mistake, John Cena is a DRAW. Period. Numbers on houseshow attendance that he headlines versus what he doesn't headline validate that along with consistently strong merchandise sales. I am often amused at the Ratings call by many WWE fans... And I'll agree, ratings keep going down... But the FACT remains that the WWE lost most of its audience since the early 2000 Attitude Era peak through 2004, particularly on RAW's ratings. Through early 2000, RAW did a rating that was on average around 6.3 but could be legitimately pushed above 7.0 at times. By 2004, the WWE was below 4.0. Ratings before John Cena's November 2015 exit were just under 3.0. After Cena left for time off and then injury, RAW is now consistently under 2.5 in the ratings. But the WWE eroded significantly from 2000 to 2004 and through 2004, the WWE lost the majority of its top stars for years (Foley, Rock, Austin, and Lesnar). By the way, John Cena was not World Champion nor did he move to RAW until following Wrestlemania 21 during 2005. Numbers remained fairly consistent for the rest of the 2000s. Want to talk Pay Per Views? Sure, we've already covered that during July 2014 with my Did WWE Kill Its Pay Per View Market. The late 2000s saw the WWE flooding the market with 2 branded Pay Per View events per month (RAW & Smackdown) while also jacking up prices. In a 15 year span, WWE went from $29.95 (price during Attitude Era) to $34.95 to $39.95 and then $44.95. As I described above, RAW lost a large amount of their audience between 2000-2004... Raising prices while flooding the market with extra Pay Per Views to purchase is not exactly how you manage a decreasing audience. Again - Houseshow numbers with and without John Cena, merchandise sales. All you need to know about John Cena and being honest here, his character is more geared towards younger than older. But who buys more merchandise? But a top DRAW is only as good as his surrounding cast. Hulk Hogan had Andre "the Giant", "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Ordorf, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, and the Ultimate Warrior - all time greats and top level DRAWS. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin had arguably the best heel character of all time in Vince McMahon while having amazing opponents like Mick Foley, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Kane, Triple H, Kurt Angle, and the Rock. Speaking of the Rock, most of the same wrestlers mentioned as supporting cast for Steve Ausitn and also, well, STEVE AUSTIN. If you'd like to talk about technicalities, RAW's viewership did, in fact, begin to decline following Wrestlemania 16 during 2000. Rock was the #1 babyface star back then... Just saying. But my point remains that Rock, Austin, and Hulk Hogan had AMAZING supporting casts. Who has John Cena had as his #2 draw? Randy Orton? Ehhh... Triple H and the Undertaker eventually became part-time wrestlers. Batista left... In my opinion, it wasn't until 2011 that John Cena almost had his #2 drawing companion in CM Punk. Then, well, we all know the story about Punk. The Rock came back but he was only part-time. Together, though, Rock and Cena helped Wrestlemania draw strongly over 1,000,000 buyers for 3 consecutive Wrestlemanias. Plus, Cena lost to Rock for the first match at Wrestlemania 28... Daniel Bryan, but again, destructive booking after Bryan's feud with Cena. WWE has tried many, many people with John Cena but those wrestlers on their own fall flat away from John Cena. Brock Lesnar returned during 2012 and Cena/Lesnar drew strong at Extreme Rules that year. But then at SummerSlam 2014, Cena was booked to be destroyed by Lesnar who was booked stroner than ever. I like Seth Rollins, but he's still learning at the top. The fact, though, is that John Cena has TRIED to make stars. Don't believe me? Look at the last 6 SummerSlams: - Lost to CM Punk during 2011 - Lost to CM Punk in Triple Threat during 2012 - Lost to Daniel Bryan - Lost to Brock Lesnar - Lost to Seth Rollins - Lost to AJ Styles Repeating myself here, John Cena lost his FIRST match to the Rock at Wrestlemania 28. Who won their first match against John Cena on a Pay Per View? That's Kevin Owens! Pretty sure that Rusev beat John Cena in their first Pay Per View match. Alberto Del Rio beat Cena at Survivor Series 2015 for that US Title. Who was losing to Randy Orton for the merged WWE Title/World Heavyweight Championship to end 2013, early 2014? Yep, again, John Cena. Nothing but GREAT matches, too... Cena is an excellent in-ring wrestler. Many of you suggest that Cena has been fed nothing but "former Ring of Honor/New Japan" wrestlers as opponents. So? Many of those ROH/NJPW wrestlers have their match with John Cena as their best WWE style match. It's not like Cena stood in the ring and the guys worked around them. I'd easily argue that Punk, Bryan, Styles, and Rollins had their best WWE matches with Cena. Better yet for most of the cases, Cena will PUT THOSE WRESTLERS OVER. Sure, he'll slaughter a Miz/Alex Riley duo, but why shouldn't he? One of those wrestlers is the current Intercontinental Title holder while the other no longer works for WWE. Many of you found my "WHO SHOULD WIN: John Cena. He shouldn't be the one elevating talent." comment from my SummerSlam Predictions Column to be controversial. It was NOT a slight at AJ Styles but it was more of a comment on how WWE is too reliant on John Cena to elevate other wrestlers on a one-shot basis. Getting a single win over the company's #1 star does NOT make you become a top drawing star. WWE used to have a feeder system within its promotion known as a "midcard" where this title called "Intercontinental Title" was used a stepping stone before becoming "promoted" to the main event scene. After all, Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Rock, Steve Austin, and Triple H proudly fought over Intercontinental Title gold before receiving a promotion to the Main Event. Then, they could beat the top star if the timing was right... Many wrestlers are placed with John Cena for a program with the expectation that Cena will instantly elevate them by just having a match. However, many of those wrestlers are NOT READY to be a top drawing wrestler. I often hear criticisms of the Wade Barrett, Bray Wyatt, Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Alberto Del Rio, and Seth Rollins feuds. I actually agree with the Seth Rollins comments, although his WWE Title run during the Summer of 2015 resulted in RAW being permanently below 4 million viewers and trending towards 3.5 million. But I'd argue bad booking for Rollins as he feuded with Corporate Kane. Wade Barett and Bray Wyatt? Can either of those guys make it through 6 months without injury? Seriously... I'd argue that Wade Barrett was FAR from ready during 2010 as the Nexus quickly diminished as 2010 wore on. The results of Miz and Del Rio speak for themselves. Cena tried his best with those guys but much of those wrestlers either weren't ready for the Main Event spotlight or shouldn't have been there. In my opinion, John Cena should NOT have had 15 World Title reigns but rather than just a few World Title reigns but in length of 2-3 years each. Seriously. WWE's World Titles have switched too many times during the 2000s and 2010s. Cena debuted with the WWE during 2002 and he won his first WWE Title at Wrestlemania 21 during 2005. Thus, in 11 years, John Cena has more than 1 World Title reign per year on average. That's INSANE. And then you consider others who are also above 10+ title reigns or near it for the past 11 years. John Cena's drawing potential could have been even greater if he had a 2-3 year WWE Title reign and running a strong "fight all contenders" storyline like he did during 2015 with the United States Title. Because of the bad booking by the WWE Creative Team regarding World Titles, the WWE may have actually limited Cena's drawing power (and other wrestlers as well). My point was that wrestlers should climb the WWE ladder to GET to John Cena as opposed to being the only guy elevating talent on the roster. Much of the Upper Midcarders just beat each other up from 50/50 win/loss booking that nobody gets over. Then, you don't see Randy Orton putting over talent and when he does, he lacks the emotion to sell the loss. Ditto Triple H... They go through the emotions when they know it's their turn to lose. Watch John Cena at SummerSlam 2016 being STUNNED that he cannot pin AJ Styles, particularly after the Attitude Adjustment from the top rope. He was selling the fact that whatever he tried, Cena could not beat AJ Styles. Then, shortly after that, Cena lost the match 100%. Afterward, Cena sold that he was defeated by a better man. Now, I'd argue that AJ Styles DESERVES his spot... He's a veteran of the business and in a short time in the WWE, his growth is ABSURD. He's the best pure in-ring performer that we've seen in the World since either Kurt Angle or Shawn Michaels during the 2000s. He pulled 2 great matches out of Roman Reigns and I seriously believe that those matches won over Vince McMahon who was so unsure of Styles that he had Chris Jericho beat him at Wrestlemania 32. Then, he was placed with Reigns for someone for Reigns to beat but in the end, AJ Styles actually delivered a great match with Reigns. Best Reigns has ever looked in the ring and the 2nd Pay Per View match was actually BETTER. What AJ Styles did from his exit from TNA wrestling to joining the WWE to becoming the wrestler you see today is remarkable. It was like he made the most out of freedom from TNA, changed his look, adapted to newer wrestling styles, and seemed to add an extra energy level or enthusiasm to his character that wasn't quite seen in TNA. Something clicked and kudos to the WWE (Triple H, EVP of Talent) for signing the guy. He appears in the 2016 Royal Rumble to HUGE pops and since then, AJ Styles has been doing well on merchandise and has helped WWE attendance improve on houseshows following December 2015's drop in attendance that carried into early 2016 when Cena left during November 2015 and then became injured during early 2016. Each and everytime that Styles has been in the ring, FANTASTIC matches. It is actually proving to be impossible for AJ to ever have a bad match. Then, WWE turns AJ Styles heel... Feuds with John Cena for the past few months and produced some great wrestling the process. AJ Styles got further over because John Cena was willing to share his star and allow himself to look vulnerable against Styles. AJ then beats Cena 100% clean at SummerSlam. That is INSANE... In my opinion, the WWE needs to make a legitimate Creative change... Go rewatch Wrestlemania 13's match between Steve Austin and Bret Hart. Go master that double-switch. Book a match in which AJ Styles turns babyface and Dean Ambrose turns heel... Ambrose isn't drawing as champion, as Smackdown's ratings have declined since the Brand Split began... I believe that Ambrose's personality just isn't typical for a babyface draw and may fit better as a diabolical heel. AJ Styles gets a decent pop, despite being a heel, and switching him to babyface would complete the push. Then, AJ Styles can win the WWE title and possibly begin to draw... I think Styles has the love of Internet Fans and Older fans... Can he draw with younger fans? Maybe? If you're proud of AJ Styles, HELP HIM OUT. First and foremost, go to iTunes and buy his WWE theme song. Best $1.29 that you'll ever spend. Then, go to WWE Shopzone and buy his merchandise. Be sure to buy his merchandise at live events and make sure that you attend Houseshows that AJ Styles is advertised to wrestle. Mention "AJ Styles" often on Social Media because WWE collects data on that stuff. If you want AJ Styles as a consistent, long-term main eventer, FIGHT FOR HIM! Oh Dixie Carter... How can you let that remarkable talent be on your TNA roster for 11 years and not see this potential? You better let Billy Corgan be in charge for a while... For John Cena, I believe that his longevity and doing business at SummerSlam 2016 has elevated him as the #3 WWE Superstar of the Wrestlemania Era (1985 to present). On Hulk Hogan and Steve Austin, the biggest drawing talents in WWE history, are above Cena. I know that this could be an unpopular opinion, but would the Rock be strong without those Steve Austin feuds? Cena has better longevity than the Rock and a much weaker supporting cast. SO happy for AJ Styles... ------------------------------------- QUICK HITS - Very happy for Bayley... Just use her well, WWE. Just ask the daughters of Triple H & Stephanie which female wrestlers they like and I guarantee Bayley is popular. But I also think that male wrestlers enjoy her to because the character sells well and has consistently provided great in-ring wrestling. - On the other hand, NXT wise, I don't know what WWE is trying with Carmella. She seems lost without her Enzo/Cass buddies. - Don't like the WWE Universal Title's look, but I really like the Tag Title and Women's Title looks for Smackdown. The blue shade looks classy and the colors of the Women's Title seem to pop. - I still don't like the finish of Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar. Should have resulted in a pin or submission. The rematch won't sell. WWE just pissed away a unique dream match. - Something that needs to be said about Finn Balor and Sasha Banks getting hurt... I'm not going to be critical of NXT, so don't worry... I'm a big fan of NXT. In fact, what I'm about to say would praise NXT for how they booked Sasha Banks. There is something lost in today's wrestling where wrestlers feel that they have to hit high risk spot-after-spot to get a match over instead of just regular psychology. What is psychology again? It's selling emotion while also performing actions that cause reactions from your audience. For example, in NXT, the HEEL Sasha Banks would taunt her opponents, taunt the crowd, and do evil things like stomping on Bayley's hand while she held her in the Bank Statement submission. However, as a babyface, which the WWE is forcing her to be, she's clueless out there... Thus, she performs more high risk moves to get the fans' attention. Finn Balor is all high risk... You can't perform high risk moves often throughout your matches and expect to remain healthy. - I don't understand the Seth Rollins hate... How is he injuring other wrestlers? So a 50+ year old wrestler (Sting), whom WWE legitimately pushed as a World Title contender, is a bit fragile when working a high level match? Now, Balor tears up his shoulder and it's Seth's fault. So you have an older wrestler and a spot machine as examples... Who else has Rollins hurt? Yep, nobody. - Hard to praise 3.3 million viewers for the Post-SummerSlam 2016 RAW numbers when 2015 saw RAW have 3.7 million viewers following SummerSlam 2015. - I like the work of Big Cass, but let Enzo remain as his friend and mouthpiece. Cass can speak but Enzo certainly helps out. - So... WWE has a need for Tag Team depth on both RAW and Smackdown rosters and yet WWE is forcing the Dudley Boys to RETIRE as a Team? Alrighty then... I guess we'll enjoy the Hype Brothers and Fandango/Tyler Breeze on Smackdown. - I really like the Heath Slater character... What he's presently doing is working. - HOLY COW at the Miz on the Smackdown talk show following the broadcast. BEST WORK FROM THE MIZ IN YEARS! A few weeks ago, I argued that Miz will only work well in the WWE if he sheds the Corporate WWE image. - I don't care what any of you say, but I'm going to root for Nikki Bella to succeed on Smackdown. I like Becky Lynch's in-ring ability but I'm not too crazy on her personality. The rest of Smackdown's female talent does nothing for me... People don't give Nikki enough credit for improving as a wrestler and enhancing her looks. That, and 2013-2015 wasn't exactly a hotbed for Women's wrestling. AJ Lee was great but soon left and Paige/Natalya just aren't big draws for the female group. What WWE should do is let Nikki win the first Smackdown Women's Title and THEN let Asuka debut on Smackdown to immediately challenge. Asuke is exceptional and I believe would be a big draw in WWE. OK, my eyes are blurring late at night here and that's a good time to stop writing. SO JUST CHILL... 'TIL THE NEXT EPISODE! Comments and feedback are welcome. Follow and Tweet me @titowrestling or login in below to post comments. © Mr. Tito and LordsofPain.net/WrestlingHeadlines.com - 1998-2016
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