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Monday Night Raw 27/2/12 *SPOILERS*


Daaaaaad!

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I'd love to be able to believe that The Rock is deliberately being shit to help John Cena. I was saying to someone else that if it weren't for getting The Rock vs. John Cena which will obviously be amazing, I'd rather have not seen The Rock again with this being what we're getting. At least if he's deliberately doing it, I can take that.

 

I just can't believe it though. The most likely thing with the wrist notes is that he didn't have much time to get shit remembered I reckon.

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Rock's getting huge reactions, so thats all that matters from that point of view. He's giving the fans what they want. They want him to bury Cena, so he does. When you have the people, you dont need to work as hard. Cena's in a different position, because Rock is a returning hero and Cena is trying to expose him as a phony, so the level expectation on the microphone is always going to be different, because Cena cant just go out there and get the reactions the Rock can. When the fans are so for you, you can go on autopilot. Thats why Hulk Hogan's promo against the Rock when he came back in 2002 was world class, yet his usual promos are standard Hulk Hogan promos, where he plays to the crowd and pretends to cry and all that shite. Rock just shows up, cuts his promo and the fans are happy. Thats how its going to be until he leaves again.

 

I thought Cena came across as a massive dickhead. Like, a proper baiting heel. He did great, but there was nothing likable about him as he throwed it down. No earthly idea how this one is going. Cena got buried for a good 10 minutes, by their former top guy. Everything about his character was picked apart and the fans agreed with every word. It goes back to the Hogan and Rock thing. For weeks Hogan told the fans "I'm the biggest star there's ever been, Rock didnt pave the way like I did, Rock's just the flavour of the month, I headlined 9 WrestleMania, Rock isn't even in my league" and when it came to WrestleMania, the fans were solidly in Hogan's corner. Each word was getting reactions like "yeah, it used to be better back then". Its the same deal now. You cant allow someone like the Rock to tell the crowd your top babyface is shit, unless you are going to turn him.

 

Also, Rock must have massive wrists if he can write a 20 minute promo on them. And he must be a bad actor, if he cant remember a promo.

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I thought Cena came across as a massive dickhead. Like, a proper baiting heel. He did great, but there was nothing likable about him as he throwed it down

I don't know, he reminded me of the sort of attitude he had as the rapping heel which garnered him cheers from the same sort of people who mostly think he sucks now.

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That would be all well and good, if not for the Rock telling everyone how shit he was a few minutes earlier. Rock tells the audience Cena is a phony and then Cena comes out and cuts a heel promo. If you put The Rock's setup and Cena's delivery together, it makes Cena look like the heel and Rock look like the insulted babyface. Rock looked like he just got served up as the show went off the air, and Cena walked to the back with a massive grin on his face. It looked like a fairly obvious heel and face dynamic to me. And even if thats not what they were going for, did the Cena come out of it looking more popular with the live crowd?

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Thing is though, I reckon Rock's become a bit flavourless, so although he's talking down Cena constantly and the audience appear to agree, it all feels a bit detached from the general usual non-Mania month stuff. To me, all this stuff only plants the seed in the fans that Cena is cool again, so that when the Rock leaves and we go back to him fighting Alberto Del Rio or whoever, the booing crowd have decided John's not such a pussy after all.

 

Honestly, this whole feud feels like it exists in some other WWE, totally detached from the run of the mill goings on. That can be applied to the entire character of The Rock, actually. I can't see any of Rocks comments having any resonance that hangs around after he's gone again.

 

He's a bit like Tracy Smothers or Luke Gallows coming to your local indy show. He puts over the best face or slags off the top heel, proper gets the fans going with the catchphrases, the gimmicks and the theme music, but absolutely none of it matters long term once he's out the door. Then mentions of his time only benefit the other guy in question. It just so happens that it's the fucking Rock, so it comes with much greater expectation.

 

Even in the Hogan/Rock scenario, Hogan was a more embedded member of the roster than a 2012 Rock would ever be. Things would matter next week on Raw, and Smackdown, and the shows and months after that.

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That would be all well and good, if not for the Rock telling everyone how shit he was a few minutes earlier. Rock tells the audience Cena is a phony and then Cena comes out and cuts a heel promo. If you put The Rock's setup and Cena's delivery together, it makes Cena look like the heel and Rock look like the insulted babyface. Rock looked like he just got served up as the show went off the air, and Cena walked to the back with a massive grin on his face. It looked like a fairly obvious heel and face dynamic to me. And even if thats not what they were going for, did the Cena come out of it looking more popular with the live crowd?

I was responding more to there being nothing likeable about him in the promo, which I personally disagree with. Of course, it was a promo with a heel dynamic but the attitude made him look uber-cool in my book. We're at the stage now where Cena has his minority and Rock his majority and as you rightly say, it's staying that way. Rock will always be more popular with the live crowd but I don't think the Cena die-hards will switch allegiance even after last night.

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And he must be a bad actor, if he cant remember a promo.

Tell that to the ghost of Marlon Brando. I get what you're saying though.

 

Work/shoot, people are talking. This feuds biggest strength is we have no clue where they are going. They've spent months trying to get Cena cheered, but last night was either a massive miscalculation or Cena is playing subtle heel. Maybe they have finally realised they're wasting their time trying to get Cena cheered. Maybe next week they'll try and rectify it.

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And he must be a bad actor, if he cant remember a promo.

Tell that to the ghost of Marlon Brando. I get what you're saying though.

 

Work/shoot, people are talking. This feuds biggest strength is we have no clue where they are going. They've spent months trying to get Cena cheered, but last night was either a massive miscalculation or Cena is playing subtle heel. Maybe they have finally realised they're wasting their time trying to get Cena cheered. Maybe next week they'll try and rectify it.

 

I don't even think it's about trying to get him cheered or booed. It's like Bret's USA-only turn in 97. They've plugged into the importance of having him say what his character would say. What we know about John Cena, we can use in finding his promos totally believable. Same as The Rock. I don't imagine they're putting much thought into who's the face and heel, they have a pretty good idea of how the overall crowd noise will sound when both guys are in their together. They're just staying very loyal to the John Cena character (and to a lesser extent, the Dwayne part time wrestler Johnson character), and that's what makes the words and deliveries hit home so well.

 

EDIT: Blimey, it's fucking brilliant all this like isn't it? Wrestling's mint sometimes.

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That would be all well and good, if not for the Rock telling everyone how shit he was a few minutes earlier. Rock tells the audience Cena is a phony and then Cena comes out and cuts a heel promo. If you put The Rock's setup and Cena's delivery together, it makes Cena look like the heel and Rock look like the insulted babyface. Rock looked like he just got served up as the show went off the air, and Cena walked to the back with a massive grin on his face. It looked like a fairly obvious heel and face dynamic to me. And even if thats not what they were going for, did the Cena come out of it looking more popular with the live crowd?

 

I dont think Cena was that much of a 'heel' to be honest, the crowd were already beginning to shit on the segment, with some audible boos for The Rock, after rambling on and on and on and on and boring everyone senseless. He came out added some 'pep' and fucked off again, which was definitely required to prevent The Rock looking even more forelorn and, well 'beaten' really.

 

In a verbal joust, it was a case of less is more, and Cena came off looking way better from it. The Rock, just looked like a shell of what once was. It's worrying because his live stuff including the cringeworthy opening at Mania last year has largely been miles off the pace. I appreciate that he hasn't wrestled full time in forever, but its just so out of place and ill judged, and its getting old quickly. Even some of me mates who pissed off with the changed to PG from attitude, agree that the 'new' Rock is a shell of what once was, and that has to be a worry, because they were being drawn back in again to see him Main Event at Mania

 

Seeing someone like the The Rock, who was usually quick witted, and more importantly fun, even when a Heel come out and do that, just shat on things and The Rock was hardly getting the same deafening cheers at the end of the segment than when he came out on the start.

 

The worm maybe turning here, and he isnt doing anything different presently to change things up.

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So the strategy for the three headline matches at WrestleMania is to treat the participants as big stars, establish they don't like one another, then have them and/or others talk about why it matters who wins?

 

Worth a shot, I suppose.

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Three?

 

Also, Rock must have massive wrists if he can write a 20 minute promo on them.

"The Rock's got a big hand. And you know what that means... It means he's gonna write a shit promo on there."

 

I am sick of jokes about my giant hand.

 

gianthand.jpg

 

The first such incident occurred in...

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