I know
that these blogs are usually up Wednesdays now, but the computer has to go in
for a short fix and I won’t get it back until next week. So you lucky people
have it early this week. And this time around, we’re going to take a short look
at the biggest decision of Elimination Chamber, Kevin Owens’ massive victory
over John Cena. Because let’s be honest, with the exception of Ryback’s
Intercontinental Championship victory, everything else whilst very good, was
ever so slightly predictable.
When
Kevin Owens walked down that aisle with the NXT Championship over his shoulder,
I began to believe that events wouldn’t go his way. After all, even the most
die hard John Cena fans can’t deny that the United States Champion has a
reputation of breaking careers rather than making them. I just couldn’t see John
Cena agreeing to lose to Kevin Owens and if he did, certainly not cleanly.
Should Kevin Owens triumph, then it certainly wouldn’t be cleanly in my mind.
How wrong was I for once? Well the answer to that would be very wrong. Because
not only did John Cena lose cleanly without Kevin Owens having to cheat, but
John Cena actually leant a hand in making his first ever star and for that he
has to be complimented. Because quite frankly, I never saw it coming.
I was disheartened
by the reaction to Kevin Owens on the night from the WWE faithful, there were a
lot of them that didn’t seem to think Owens belonged in the same ring as Cena
and showed that. This is something we will come to in a moment. But first, I
would like to address the match itself. Clean, crisp and thoroughly engaging,
John Cena’s selling of Kevin Owen’s moves wasn’t brilliant and at times looked
laughable when he simply sprung up from moves which would have brought the
house down in NXT, but overall, I can’t fault John Cena for his commitment of
getting Kevin Owens over. It wasn’t only John Cena’s best match since Fastlane,
but it was also a genuine shock when Owens drove Cena into the canvas with his
Pop-Up-Powerbomb and covered him for the victory.
It’s
not often you can say this about WWE, but this match provided a genuine shock.
And for that, everyone involved deserves a huge round of applause. None more
so, than Triple H. Because he stood up to Vince McMahon and quite rightly made
the WWE owner see that if Kevin Owens lost to John Cena, then it would have a
knock on effect to NXT and devaluate everyone Owens has ran through there. It
would have made them seems flimsy. But Triple H stood up for what he believed
in and it’s a sign of things to come when he takes the reigns. Maybe the future
does have a place under Triple H after all. He’s someone who can see that the
new blood need massive victories under their belt.
Now
onto two points which give me cause for concern. The first is the aforementioned
reaction to Kevin Owens, who received a worrying number of jeers from the
audience when he stepped into the ring against John Cena and even more so when
he pinned Cena to take the victory. It seemed as if John Cena’s fans and a
majority of the WWE Universe itself didn’t agree with the result, but I have to
ask myself why. Surely these people can see that the future has to be cemented
now and as much as those dim Cena fans wanted their idol to prevail they must
be able to see that this result is for the best? If John Cena had won, then it
would have severely hurt the future of this business. They need to get into
their heads that you can only rely on old hands for a certain time before a
change is needed.
The
second is the rematch at Money in the Bank. For me, this should have been a one
off for now. Kevin Owens vs John Cena should have been a special attraction for
Elimination Chamber only, a result which WWE used to propel Cena into another
storyline with this loss hanging above his head. It could have opened other
avenues for him in 2015, unable to get over the loss to a better talent. But
WWE are once again milking the cow dry and instead of saving this for another
year until Kevin Owens makes it to the main roster proper, WWE are preferring to
wheel it out now.
It’s
the wrong decision. Because like WrestleMania after Fastlane, presumably it’s
been booked so John Cena can gain some revenge on Owens which isn’t going to do
the company or the NXT Champion any good at all. If Kevin Owens looses to John
Cena one week after beating him so brilliantly then it’s going to render
Elimination Chamber pointless and make Owens look like a flash in the pan. That
cannot be allowed to happen. WWE booked this, they’re going to have to swallow
their pride and do the unthinkable which is have John Cena lose twice in a row
to someone he would usually be permitted to defeat. Because if John Cena
defeats Kevin Owens at Money in the Bank then it’s going to need a third match
to decide the feud and we all know how that usually turns out.
For
now though, Kevin Owens’ words after he defeated John Cena ring true. John Cena
is the past and his time should be over. The world now knows Kevin Owens is the
future and, fingers crossed, WWE are more bothered about the future than the
past.
Onwards
and upwards…
