So, it's come to this...
After one year on top of the world of professional wrestling, John Cena's reign as WWE Champion has come to an end. Obviously, it is not exactly how anyone pictured "The Champ" being dethroned. A torn right pectoral muscle has, as many of you know, sidelined Cena for a minimum of six months, with the looming possibility of an entire year hanging over his head.
To Cena fans, this is the worst thing that could have possibly happened. To Cena-haters, it is divine intervention. To WWE, this is a creative and financial disaster. But to the rest of the wrestling world, it is nothing short of a God-send.
I have neever been a big John Cena fan, but I have a lot of respect for him. The man has more than adequately carried the company's championship for the majority of the past three years, and held together a division and a product that is sorely lacking in competition. While Smackdown's World Heavyweight Championship saw three men surrender the title due to injury (Batista, Edge, and The Undertaker), John Cena managed to hold his title for over a full straight year undefeated. His reign was controversial as his popularity seemed to wane with every victory, but the bottom line here is that John Cena wrestled as the World Champion for three straight years, and that is a feat not seen since the days of Hulk Hogan, and before him men like Bruno Sammartino.
Cena has worked hard, but it was high time he took a reprieve from the ring. The long greuling and relentless schedule was bound to take it's toll on him sooner or later, and last Monday saw the result of that. From a corporate standpoint, Cena's popularity as champion was rapidly growing smaller every week, as the fans clamoured for a change of the guard.
This draws attention to a few of WWE's many problems, not the least of which is a overtaxing work schedule and a lackluster creative team. While I could go on for pages and pages criticizing Stephanie McMahon's actions as creative director, I will instead focus on the opportunities this unfortunate event has placed before the company.
John Cena, being a man of the highest caliber, was determined to participate in his Last Man Standing Match at this Sunday's No Mercy pay-per-view against Randy Orton, whom, given Cena's injury, would've most certainly become the new Champion. On ECW on SciFi Tuesday night, Vince McMahon announced that there would be a WWE Championship match at No Mercy, and that a new Champion would be crowned. He didn't, however, mention who the participants in that match would be. This has sparked another round of controversey in the already crowded rumor mill of professional wrestling. Who will the challenger for the title be? Several names have been thrown around, and many fans believe they already know who the new champ will be.
However, the match at No Mercy is contingent on one variable: will the WWE still put the title on Randy Orton in John Cena's absence. This is unlikely, as Orton's momentum was due primarily to the growing dislike of Cena, and it would take a face of Cena's caliber to put Orton over properly as a heel champion. There are few of those left, and most people will agree that those who are left need to focus their attention somewhere outside the WWE title.
A poll on WWE.com has proven that the majority of fans want to see Triple H as champion following No Mercy. The internet or "smart" wrestling fans would disagree strongly. Triple H is a great wrestler and, as history has indicated, is perfectly capable of carrying the World Championship for the company. But Triple H's return has signaled a decline in the ratings for RAW on Monday nights, and putting him over as World Champion may only worsen that decline. Fans want someone fresh, someone new, or someone who hasn't had a good title opportunity in some years.
Many fans say that Chris Jericho will make his triumphant return at No Mercy. Fans have claimed to have deciphered the cryptic "SaveUs.222" message seen flickering ominously across the television during the last two RAW broadcasts. Supposedly these signs indicate Jericho will return at No Mercy. I personally think fans have read a bit too much between the lines of this promo and, at the very least, I doubt the WWE creative team's ability to create a product that deep so as to predict future events. However, whether these revelations are true or not is really irrelevant, as a return by Jericho at No Mercy would certainly generate a new burst of fan interest in WWE and specifically RAW. My only issue is that Jericho has not been an active member of the company for two years now, and to simply emerge and conquer Orton for the top title would be the equivalent of Goldberg or Lesnar's victories over Triple H and The Rock (respectively), and we all know how those careers turned out.
Others think that this is the perfect opportunity to unleash the brewing weapon that is Mr. Kennedy. Suprisingly, support for Mr. Kennedy has not suffered due to his involvement in the recent steroid abuse cases against WWE. After his 30 suspension, Kennedy is still considered a top star in the company, and the fans continue to keep his popularity on the rise. Putting Kennedy over as champion, or at least throwing him into title contention would establish him as an official main event star on RAW, and after his match with John Cena this past Monday, it's clear that is what fans are looking for. However, I don't think it would be wise for WWE to put over a man who has just come off a 30 suspension for steroid abuse. Not only would it look bad for the company, but it would give the impresion that Kennedy is being rewarded for something that is clearly no longer acceptable in any form of sport or entertainment.
The newest story is that WWE has changed course yet again in their creative decisions as it relates to the "SaveUs.222" message. Fans are now claiming that after so many of them deciphered the message and discovered the answer to be Chris Jericho's return, WWE has changed the nature of the message to be the return of "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels. Shawn has been out since the night following his WWE Championship match against John Cena at Wrestlemania 23, and should have recovered from knee surgery by now. While the rumor was that HBK would not be returning until Survivor Series in November, the current situation within the company may dictate an early return for "The Showstopper." However, as Triple H has already shown us, the fans may not be so receptive to the idea of HBK being inserted into the main event at No Mercy. The fans want a change of pace, and while we haven't seen HBK in almost six months, the minds of the fans (contrary to popular belief) is not so short-term that they will not remember Wrestlemania and feel that the same product is being regurgitated to them.
This brings me to my pick for the challenger at No Mercy, and it may suprise some people to learn that it is not Shawn Michaels. From a business standpoint, from a ratings standpoint, from a financial standpoint, and as a fan, the man I choose to face Randy Orton for the WWE Championship at No Mercy is "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
Now many will wonder why Flair would be my choice, especially considering the reports that he gave notice to WWE and plans to retire by Wrestlemania 24. But these same reports are the reason why we need Flair in the main event.
Whether fans remember it or not, Flair is a main eventer. He currently sits on Smackdown doing jobs for the likes of The Great Khali and Kenny Dykstra. Flair is bigger than that, Flair is better than that, and Flair deserves better than that. Ric Flair, ladies and gentlemen, is not just Triple H's friend and former manager. Ric Flair is not just an old man who hobbles down to the ring to throw around a few chops. Ric Flair is not just wearing that robe because that's what he's always worn. He's wearing that robe because he has the money to affort a $70,000 article of clothing. He's wearing it because not so long ago, he was the biggest name in professional wrestling. He toured the country and could go an horu with the best of them every single night in any town. He really is a "limousine ridin', jet-flyin', kiss-stealin', wheelin' dealin', son of gun...WOOOO!"
Flair is the last of a dying breed of wrestlers whose accomplishments were not fabricated by some creative team. He is a sixteen time World Champion because at one point, he was the only man capable of holding the world title against the men he was ordered to wrestle. No one in history has held more championships than "The Naitch." And this man, this hall-of-famer, this one of a kind wrestler, this true and honest legend, will be hanging it up for good in just a few short months.
How will Flair be remembered? As the manager for Evolution? As the man who lost to Randy Orton? As the man that got the hell beat out of him by Triple H, or Kenny Dykstra or The Great Khali? I sure hope not.
Flair deserves to go out on top. Flair deserves to walk into Wrestlemania as a seventeen time World Champion and drop the title to the man he deems most worthy of his last job. For this reason, Flair should be inserted into the main event at No Mercy.
This serves a number of purposes and works on so many creative levels, it would be rediculous to not even consider it.
Think about it: Randy Orton is "The Legend Killer". If he is going to attain the WWE Championship at No Mercy, then he should have to defeat one last legend on his way there: Ric Flair. I am convinced that Orton will walk out of No Mercy as the Champion, as it is the easiest creative direction that requires the least change to the original story. But if they were to change their minds, it would make sense, and be a boost to the morale of fans around the world, to see Ric Flair come out as Champion one last time.
At the very least a match at No Mercy would throw Flair back into title contention and make the fans believe that this is a man who can compete with the young up and coming stars as well as the more girzzled veterans, of which Flair is king. Once in the main event picture (as champion or no) Flair can wrestle men like Triple H, HBK, Orton, and even give the rub to Kennedy on Kennedy's way up the ladder. If he is champion, Flair should hold it until Wrestlemania, where he drops the title to a young man who he deems will use the match and the rub as a means to establish himself as the next great superstar to carry the WWE. This would fulfill Flair's code of "To be the man, you've gotta beat The Man."
This may be Flair's last chance at greatness, and his last hope to establish a legitimate legacy with the current generation of wrestling fans who haven't experienced the real Ric Flair. It is a window of opportunity that is afforded few men, and who better to take advantage of it than "the Man" himself.
"To be the man, you've gotta beat The Man." That man is the legend, "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
