Do We Have It All Wrong?

[bingaring]

After the ending of Raw tonight, I am forming a different opinion of how things are going to play out. For weeks now, everyone has been talking about Jericho turning heel and about Cena turning heel. I for one was in that boat up until tonight. I think the writing may be on the wall for a completely different swerve. Hear me out. I think tonight's Raw ending leads to the following scenarios.

First off, Cena will not turn heel. He beat the shit out of Swagger, and most of the punches were closed fist. Cena is "embracing the hate", but not in a heel like fashion. Cena's character is going to evolve into something else. He is going to become super intense, and he is just going to start beating people up. He is going to stop the comedy routines and take on a more serious character. I don't believe going into Wrestlemania that the match between he and The Rock can be one based on promos about "fruity pebbles" and "via satellite". I believe that it needs to be a more personal, and a more physical feud to really put the match over. If not, it may turn into a huge disappointment after all the hype. I think there will be great promos leading into it between Rock and Cena, but I think Cena will slowly evolve into a more serious version of himself.

Onto the whole Jericho turning heel thing. Up until tonight, I thought it was a definite that it was the direction things were going. However, after tonight's ending, and Laurinaitis saying flat out that he is going to "screw" Punk over, we all have to know it isn't going to be that simple. So, hear me out here. I for one don't like the idea of what I am about to say at all, but I think it may be what's going to happen. I think that at the Royal Rumble, Jericho will come to the ring during the championship match. However, I don't think it is going to be Jericho who turns heel and screws Punk, nor do I believe it is going to be Laurinaitis who screws Punk, I think it is going to be a double-swerve, and I think Punk is going to turn and side with Jericho and Johnny Ace, and Ziggler will turn face in the process. This will lead to a short term stable idea of Jericho, Punk, and Johnny Ace, with the the faces being R-Truth, John Cena, and Ziggler. I know it sounds crazy, and I truly hope I'm wrong, but it is really reminiscent of when Austin and McMahon were feuding so hard, and then we saw Austin turn and align himself with McMahon. It just seems too obvious right now.

Do you agree/disagree? I am not saying I think it will definitely happen, but it would be and old school type of "holy shit" moment. I think the end goal would be that before Wrestlemania, the threesome would split with Punk remaining heel and defending his title against a newly face Chris Jericho. Is it possible? Let me know your thoughts. BTW, anyone agree that tonight's ending was actually interesting for a change?

 

[DirtyD79]

It is the most intense I've seen Cena in a long time and who knows maybe it is the beginning of a change in direction for his character. As for CM Punk and Laurinaitis I just figure they're just trying to do the lame Rocky Balboa underdog overcomin' the odds schtick that's been regurgitated far too many times to count.

 

[jgregist]

What was evident tonight is Punk will somehow overcome all the odds and win this week and Jericho/Punk will go off as planned at Wreslemania.

The other thing that happened tonight is we are all but assured of a Ziggler/Foley match at Wrestlemania. Ziggler will get a similar rub from Foley that Edge got on the grandest stage of them all.

 

[covieo81]

what i think is gonna happen is jericho is gonna interfere on behest of mcmahon. he will make his return and laurinatis will do the face turn and be like enough is enough and be tired of being the mcmahon mouthpiece and count punk as the winner.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I can see the aspect of Cena becoming possibly more of a tweener, a more edgy anti-hero rather than a full fledged heel. When Cena is in a serious mind frame, to me, he's usually infinitely more entertaining. It's been obvious for the better part of a few months that WWE has been progressively & steadily doing things with Cena that makes it appear as though some sort of character change is taking place. I do think it's possible he could be going heel but, in any case, I think they're doing a good job of keeping interest in his character going. People ultimately want to see what happens and his angle with Kane has brought out a side of Cena that we really don't see very often at all. As for his match with The Rock, yeah I don't think it's going to be sweet & lovable John Cena in there with The Rock. This whole progression of Cena's character really kicked at Survivor Series when Rock basically upstaged Cena, hit him with the Rock Bottom, and left him laying.

As it comes to Jericho, I have to disagree. I think Jericho is going heel and it's coming about in a brilliant way in my opinion. In three weeks, Jericho has come out to massive face pops and has walked away with progressively more boos each week than the one before. Fans wanted to hear him speak at his return, he didn't and there were some boos that could be heard as he was leaving. They did the same thing last week and there were louder & more boos than the week before. They wanted to see him get in the ring tonight and whip some ass and he didn't. The result was a big chorus of boos following him out of the ringside area. A babyface simply doesn't leave his tag team partners hanging in a six man tag team match the way Jericho did. Jericho is quickly back to becoming one of the WWE's top heels and he hasn't had to say a word or throw a punch. They've just used Jericho's on natural charisma & personality to push this thing along. The writing is on the wall for Punk vs. Jericho at WrestleMania. Punk is the hottest face in WWE and he needs someone for the fans to root against. I look for Jericho to win the Rumble and finally state his intentions in a promo the following night on Raw.

 

[ForzaItalia]

I too enjoyed the intensity out of Cena tonight and have been saying for years that he needed to step away from this goofy, failing comedy gimmick and just bring back that ruthless agression that started him off in the first place. He doesn't need to turn heel. All he needs is more of an edge to him and people will not be as bored with character. I loved the Chain Gang Cena best to be honest.

As for Punk, I like the creativity you showed, but if this was to happen 3 months before Wrestlemania there just wouldn't be enough time to get everything right for this to work. Right now, Punk is never going heel because his merchandise sales are through the roof. Plus, they have invested so much time into Punk being a fan favorite that if he did turn heel then what was the point of the past 6 months? It is inevitable that Jericho will be revealed that he has been working for Johnny Ace the whole time to take down Punk and take the WWE Championship, which Johnny Ace has been trying to do for months. So, no I don't see your idea happening at all as it would make no sense at all for Punk to side with Johnny Ace and the It Begins Promos all point for a Punk/Jericho feud, which is something I really want to see.

As for Ziggler, I think he will be in the role Edge was a few years ago and Foley will put him over at WM28. I honestly want to see Ziggler vs. Triple H really bad and see Dolph go over, but we all know Triple H's ego is too big and we will get stuck with another Undertaker/HHH match, when it should be Kane vs. Undertaker at WM28.

 

[Brian440]

What I think is going to happen with the Punk/Ziggler match is Johnny Ace is going to reluctantly "do the right thing" and count to 3, then after the match, kick punk in the nuts, continuing their fued. I did read that there are plans for a Punk/Laurinatis match sometime before 'Mania. It will probably be on maybe a 3 hour Raw. I can't see this being a PPV match but who knows.

John Cena - I still think a heel turn can be in the works or maybe a tweener. It was definitely a change in Cena tonight, and I like it. No more corny jokes and CenaNation, just beat the shit out of everyone lol

Jericho - He's turning heel. One thing I noticed, and of course I may be looking too far into this, but he was going to wrestle in his trunks. The trunks he's only wrestled in, at least in WWE, when he was heel. The face Y2J always wrestled in tights. It was part of his look and character. Also, he walked out of the match without even doing as much as a headlock. He's not only wanting to speak infront of the fans, but now he isn't wanting to wrestle infront of them either.

 

[XXJJ]

I kind of thought that was the direction they were going with Cena. They were just going to make him more aggressive, and not turn him heel.

I wouldn't be surprised if he just snaps and beats the hell out of Kane at the Royal Rumble. Cena will start firing back at the Rock. And not just laugh at the Rock when he makes fun of him.

Jericho is still turning heel imo. Instead of coming out and attacking a top babyface. He is trying to turn heel by trolling the live audience every week. I still think Jericho as a heel will be Punk's opponent at WM.

 

[QBall111]

What I think is going to happen with the
Jericho - He's turning heel. One thing I noticed, and of course I may be looking too far into this, but he was going to wrestle in his trunks. The trunks he's only wrestled in, at least in WWE, when he was heel. The face Y2J always wrestled in tights. It was part of his look and character. Also, he walked out of the match without even doing as much as a headlock. He's not only wanting to speak infront of the fans, but now he isn't wanting to wrestle infront of them either.

With playing to the fans, I think Jericho's character is he is going to a larger-than-the-WWE character and that he does not have to do anything for the fans and for the first time, I'm going to compare him tonight the way he acted to things I would've seen when he was in WCW

 

[Defekt]

I don't see any of it happening.

That's a realistic scenario for TNA, but the WWE generally doesn't swerve the fans.

I believe Cena will stay face, because he made the WWE $100 million dollars last year, and a face/face confrontation is worth more than a face/heel match at Wrestlemania.

CM Punk will retain against Dolph Ziggler, just as Edge did last year at the Royal Rumble, and stay face. The guy only turned six months ago, and the there are very few main event faces to compete against.

Having Christ Jericho behave the way he has the last few weeks, including abandoning the two biggest stars in the company during a RAW main event, just to turn face is Vince Russo booking. In the WWE, I don't see it happening. If they wanted him to be a face, they would have booked him that way from the start. Nobody is tuning in to RAW to see Chris Jericho not speak.

 

[xBANEx]

Well, starting off with the whole Cena thing I do think, and hope, that you're right. While I'm not a Cena fan I'm not a Cena "hater" either. His thuganomics gimmick was terrible, what he's doing now is head and shoulders better but just doesn't entertain me; he acts far too goofy and cheesy. On the (albeit, rare) occasion he acts more serious I can tolerate him enough to be slightly entertained only to be welcomed back with the goofy, cheesy jokes he's doing a week later. I don't think he'll ever be going heel in all honesty, and if he does, it'll be a long time now. He's far too valuable as a face in my eyes; he's worth 106 million dollars.. that's not really something Vince will be throwing away regardless if he's the #1 in merchandise sales or not. A tweener, more serious-type Cena would be very fresh and entertaining. Depending on who he faces, whether or not he is carried in someones eyes, he has some pretty great and entertaining matches as well.

As for the whole... Jericho/Punk/Johnny Ace thing.. I'm not really sure if I see it. Punk's been pushed as a face for the past six months and if he suddenly turns after all the pushing it will be a bit counter-productive if you ask me. I do, however, feel Jericho and Ace will be together in some form or another. I don't see Ziggler winning the title, obviously, so Johnny will probably do a reluctant, slow three-count and potentially have Jericho come out or whatever. While I feel Ziggler is improving greatly and WILL win a top title by the end of 2012 it's just not happening yet. All signs lead to Jericho vs Punk for the title at WM and it's going to be one hell of a match. As well, Ziggler will be going face, though when is anyones guess, it won't be anytime soon I don't think.

Just some ramblings of a mad man I guess. -shrugs-

 

[SomeAreSet]

Yeah,they're probably giving Cena a darker edge to his character,which is fine by me because I've been waiting for him to get angry and just start beating up people for a long long time. It beats him and The Rock going back and forth with corny jokes. I want him to FU The Rock through the announcer's table before WrestleMania,because I'm sick and tired of The Rock constantly one-upping Cena either on the mic or in the ring. Cena should be allowed to lay his hands on The Rock,or at least make it clear that he's saving all his pent up anger until WrestleMania.

As for Jericho,all evidence points to a heel turn. He's probably going to come out one day and say that the fans don't deserve to see him wrestle unless it's for the WWE title. If he joins forces with Laurinaitis,then so be it,but I hope they do it ASAP,because I'm starting to lose interest in Jericho. I doubt they'll do a swerve with Punk turning heel,but it would be interesting if they did it. It's really odd that Laurinaitis admitted that he was going to screw Punk over at the Royal Rumble,but hey,whatever adds to the mystery. As long as Punk doesn't do an Austin and knock Laurinaitis out,then slapping the mat with his limp hand.

 

[thebarber]

John Cena will be an agressive face going into Wrestlemania, giving The ROCK a complete different opponent to the Cena he thought he was getting.

Chris Jerticho will win the Royal Rumble and the following nnight on Raw, he will announce that he is indeed going after CM PUnk and his WWE Championship, coming back to claim what is his yada tyada yada.

CM Punk will defeat Ziggler after Laurinitis pulls a screwjob and somehow counts a fast three count on Punk, declaring Ziggler the new champion. I see Foley coming out and declaring he is in fact the Anonymous Raw General Manager and ordering the match to restart, with of course Punk getting the victory.

This way, we will see Ziggler feel screwed by Foley thus branching to a feid culminating at Wrestlemania 28. Hell with Ziggler pulling double duty on ppv numerous times last year, I expect him to won the MITB match also at Mania. I see Laurinaitis being removed of his duties and becoming a very effective heel manager taking on a stable of Ziggler, Swagger, returning Kevin Nash and maybe even The Miz. Vickie will stay on the scene as well. Thus giving us some pretty solid angles leading to Wrestlemania

 

[zephyrs]

I was hoping that when this storyline blows up and whoever is really pulling the strings is revealed, it would also be revealed that Laurinaitis was never trying to screw anyone and was trying to act as impartially as possible. Just as a little swerve, seeing how everyone thinks he's a heel.

Of course, after Laurinaitis admitted that he wants to screw Punk, that doesn't seem plausible.

And why did he admit that he wants to screw Punk anyway? What does that add?

As for Jericho, definite heel. No question about it. After what he's been doing the last couple of weeks, I'm amazed that people were still cheering for him. I'm sure fans got the message tonight after he walked out on the match.

Anyway, Jericho's my pick to win Royal Rumble and set up the feud between he and Punk.

 

[TheIndianMessiah]

My guess....
Stephanie Mcmahon comes back as jericho's handler....remember the girl from the "sh-it begins" promos??
Safe bet, no one turns heel, stephanie forming an alliance with Punk and Jericho(Best in the world stable??)screws Mr.John Laurinitus ( Executive vice president of talent relations and the interim general manager of WWE monday night raw). Thus bringing an end to his TV time at WM.
Why do I think so??
1)Throughout the course of punk-mcmahon/hhh feud, not once did stephanie had a bad thing to say about punk, she always seemed amazed by him.
2) Laurinitus messed with her husband with Diesel.
3) His gimmick is too boring.
4) Do any of you have a better idea than this??

CONclusion-
1)Stephanie Mcmahon takes over as the full time gm of raw(she has been working out at a gym for the past 3 months)
2)We get an awesome holy shit ending to punk vs jericho at Wm
3)We get the BEST IN THE WORLD stable.
4) honestly do You guys need anything more??????

For any doubts inbox me @www.facebook.com/IamRishi

 

[Sparky]

Nobody is tuning in to RAW to see Chris Jericho not speak.

No, instead they are tuning hoping he will admit why he is doing this. if they build this up for a little bit longer more people will be interested as long as they don't over do it.

1)Stephanie Mcmahon takes over as the full time gm of raw(she has been working out at a gym for the past 3 months)

You for real? You take the fact she has been working out as a fact she is coming back into the WWE? Right. I just joined a gym, don't tell anyone but in four months I will be debuting as the next big babyface.

I don't think We have it all wrong. I never thought he was turning fully heel. A thought a tweener at the most. It was just a way to tweak his character again. Turning Cena Heel would be an idiotic move. Nothing else.

From the moment Jericho came out and then left again it was obvious what direction they was going with this. No way in hell would they not have him talk if they was keeping him face.

I doubt punk would turn Heel again so soon Not after building him up and the way he has the fans eating out of his hands.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I can see the aspect of Cena becoming possibly more of a tweener, a more edgy anti-hero rather than a full fledged heel.

Yes, I can sooner see that than the notion of his becoming a full-fledged heel. It could be that management doesn't want to tamper with the aura of the $106 Million Dollar Man; his merchandise sales may have more to do with determining his future direction than anything Kane could do.

Still, he's John Cena and WWE wants to freshen his character a bit, rather than letting it go stale. As a good guy, a 'tweener or a bad guy, he's still going to be the biggest thing in the company...... but the corporate machine is wise enough to want to maximize his impact. As a 'tweener, fans can cheer him and/or boo him, which is pretty much the way things have stood for the last year or two.....but the folks who boo him would have a more solid foundation for doing so.

Last night was the first time I can remember Cena not coming out on stage and taking a moment to look at the camera and say something encouraging before heading to the ring. He's been doing that for so long that its omission was significant. Plainly, his character is becoming darker. I see shoal waters ahead.

 

[MVA09]

They are just biding their time with john cena waiting for wrestlemania. Since he has no good opponent to fight, they have bought back kane with a mask to fill in the void until Wrestlemania. Kane makes some fair point about Cena's 'Rise above hate' attitude but its all going to go nowhere coz they are not going to turn cena heel.

As with CM Punk, they can do so many things yet they are doing nothing with him.

 

[D-Man]

It looks like the WWE has found a way to keep Cena around without turning him into a full-fledged heel.

For the past 3-4 years, Cena has been losing momentum as a babyface because the audience is craving some sort of consistent aggressive-streak. Granted, he's gotten aggressive on television before but it's very few and far between and it is a far cry from the Attitude days when wrestlers were constantly on mean streaks, regardless of whether they were babyfaces or heels. From what I've noticed, the WWE is turning up the volume on Cena's "goodie-two-shoes-ness" (if that's even a word) which is both annoying our older members of the crowd and simultaneously making the children happy. Just like Sally and Jack-Hammer have stated, he's evolving into a tweener. It's very interesting, to say the least.

It's pretty obvious that Jericho is turning heel... and it makes perfect sense. Jericho left the WWE as one of its biggest heels. Were we to think he was going to walk out, only to appear a few years later, pulling a complete 180, and acting like the Y2J babyface of the past? This angle obviously tanked during his last return and I think they've learned from those mistakes. There's more money in Jericho a a heel than a babyface and these past few weeks of fucking with our heads is really intriguing.

Lastly, as for CM Punk, the guy has been floundering as a WWE champion for weeks. His crowd responses are dying out and people have been losing interest in him because he's no longer doing what made him popular... cutting edgy promos. This seemed to change last night. Once again, Punk delivered an edgy, emotional promo that sliced into Johnny Ace's character so badly that his emotion came out. THIS is what we've been craving for weeks; not just the fact that Punk is talking again, but the fact that it took a guy like CM Punk to put Johnny Ace over as a character. It was brilliant booking and hats off to both of these men for verbally swinging at each other and hitting home runs.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Cena will obviously not turn heel. That one is a no brainer if there ever was one. It would be foolish to change his well established character before his biggest match ever and more importantly one which depends on the contrast of the character between him and The Rock. I think that he is just going to beat Kane fair and square and then cut a promo on how he has resisted the temptation of turning on the fans time and again because he loves them and that is what keeps him going. I do not know how we have this wrong though because few people think that he will turn heel anyway.

As for Jericho, I think that he will be the one who helps Punk retain at Royal Rumble by stopping JL from screwing him over. I think that he will be a face initially and team up with Punk to take down Ziggler and JL and then turn on him somewhere down the line. I am pretty sure that Punk vs Jericho will happen at Mania but I do not think that Jericho will be a heel from the get go. He is having fun trolling the fans and so I guess the trolling will continue when he sides with Punk only to backstab him at an opportune moment.

 

[1TheGreatOne1]

Idc if Cena turns heel or not, but can they PLEASE not have him come out next week smiling and running to the ring with a cheesy grin on his face.

His character is so bipolar from week to week.
Last night was the first time in a LONG time Cena actually had me interested. He came out to the ring looking serious;- no saluting to the cameras & no cheesy grins whilst talking to the cameras.
From the looks of it the crowd were really into him too.


This proves Cena can be cool/edgy even without turning heel.
Just have him be an aggressive face like Austin was.

 

[Paria]

I believe that John Cena and Kane will eventually team up as a tag team and hold the titles and be the force to beat. It is a very unorthadox team, but just look at Kofi and Evan. Why else would Kane care any at all about how John Cena thinks/feels, if anything I could see Kane just beating the crap outta Cena.

I think Johnny Ace is a great Raw GM the more i think about it, he creates controversy, and that is what keeps us all coming back. I agree that Punk/Ace will be a serious force in the near future.

As far as Jericho......... Jericho has always, will always and absolutely needs to be a HEEL all the way. Some of the best ratings ever came because of Jericho being...well....Jericho. Tell it like it is, it is what it is and it will always be Jericho. Acquiring him is the best move the WWE has ever made. All that i hope is that some day Wade Barrett can be step up and fill Jerichos' shoes. A very hard task, but he has what it takes, just give him the chance and the time, after all, Jericho was not made in one day.

One christmas wish i have to ask Vince for.....please let jericho retire as the WWE Champion. Edge was deserving of that, and the only other person I feel is deserving of that milestone is Chris Jericho.

 

[#1HEEL]

I too enjoyed the intensity out of Cena tonight and have been saying for years that he needed to step away from this goofy, failing comedy gimmick and just bring back that ruthless agression that started him off in the first place. He doesn't need to turn heel. All he needs is more of an edge to him and people will not be as bored with character. I loved the Chain Gang Cena best to be honest.

As for Punk, I like the creativity you showed, but if this was to happen 3 months before Wrestlemania there just wouldn't be enough time to get everything right for this to work. Right now, Punk is never going heel because his merchandise sales are through the roof. Plus, they have invested so much time into Punk being a fan favorite that if he did turn heel then what was the point of the past 6 months? It is inevitable that Jericho will be revealed that he has been working for Johnny Ace the whole time to take down Punk and take the WWE Championship, which Johnny Ace has been trying to do for months. So, no I don't see your idea happening at all as it would make no sense at all for Punk to side with Johnny Ace and the It Begins Promos all point for a Punk/Jericho feud, which is something I really want to see.

As for Ziggler, I think he will be in the role Edge was a few years ago and Foley will put him over at WM28. I honestly want to see Ziggler vs. Triple H really bad and see Dolph go over, but we all know Triple H's ego is too big and we will get stuck with another Undertaker/HHH match, when it should be Kane vs. Undertaker at WM28.

YES! This is exactly what I think should happen (the last statement).

Ziggler vs Triple H - yes Hunter you lose to Ziggler. This could easily be setup at Rumble.

Kane vs Undertaker - nobody is stronger then Kane right now.

Punk vs Jericho is a lock... Unless Ziggler made it a triple threat, but that wont happen.

 

[Trill Co$by]

What was evident tonight is Punk will somehow overcome all the odds and win this week and Jericho/Punk will go off as planned at Wreslemania.

The other thing that happened tonight is we are all but assured of a Ziggler/Foley match at Wrestlemania. Ziggler will get a similar rub from Foley that Edge got on the grandest stage of them all.

There wasn't jack shit evident tonight except that they're building for the Royal Rumble. Seriously, why do people have this act of never believing that WWE might not always be full on with a storyline and can change EVERYTHING at the last minute? Remember when Edge & Jeff were having that "who assaulted Jeff" angle and everyone thought it was Christian? Who did it turn out to be? Matt Hardy, you say? I'd say you just proved my point.

The way I see it, the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches are the last minute change of plans. If WWE doesn't see the full potential in Jericho vs. Punk, they can easily pull the plug and have Daniel Bryan vs. Punk/Jericho instead. The only thing at Mania that's set in stone is The Rock vs. John Cena... and even THAT can change. It's one of the reasons why "Card Subject to Change" appears at the bottom of every card.

---

Back to reality, where obviously the quoted man has never been, I'm going to say that I can see a CM Punk heel turn coming. It's not that too far off the wall when you consider that CM Punk has proven to be far better as a main eventer when he's heel than a face. Afterall, his match with Orton last year at WrestleMania proved that. I can also see CM Punk borrowing The Rock's first title reign storyline where he joins with Laurinaitis and forming their own "Corporation" like stable, which I wouldn't be opposed to. It's been a while since WWE's done the "Heel stable pampered by GM" angle, on Raw. I can honestly say that with that kind of outcome, I would be waiting dearly for Mania.