The Extreme Rules Main Event *Spoilers obv*

[Dale]

Thought this deserved a thread of it's own.

Now I quickly skimmed over the posts in the Live Discussion Thread once the PPV ended just to get a rough idea of what people made of the match and how it finished. In regards to the finish of the match, i'd say the thread threw up about a 60/40 split in favour of Cena winning. Onto my thoughts.

I thoroughly enjoyed the match itself and I thought outside of the finish it was booked pretty well. Brock was looking like a total beast playing into his MMA background with the takedowns, elbows, submissions and ground and pound and the second Cena started to fight back he immediately shut him down. It was like a cat toying with it's injured prey. Then the inevitable John Cena comeback happens except instead of the usual 5 moves, it's a 2 move variation despite being DOMINATED for what felt like an eternity.

Sure I despise John Cena but I just don't see what this achieves at all. You've brought back Brock Lesnar who's even bigger than when he left 8 years ago to make the WWE legitimate again, put him in a match that heavily favours him due to it being Extreme Rules, have him dominate Cena for the entirety of the match only for him to lose to two moves. Sure I'm overreacting and not letting this storyline play out but for me it totally kills the buildup they did for Brock as they had him lose his first match back, one that heavily favoured him.

Personally I believe this injury thing Cena's doing is a work so they obviously knew leading into the match that he would be taking time off so why in the blue hell would you have him win? We Are Legion said it best in his column "Shouldn't Lesnar and Johnny Ace come away from that match looking strong so things seem much more dire to the WWE fans? Almost as if "Okay, Cena couldn't hold a candle to this guy, who in the blue hell can possibly stop this guy?"

What also bugs me is some of the reasonings i've read for people justifying Cena winning, things like; He's the top guy, he's loyal to the company, he sells the most merchandise, he's worked all sorts of matches, he took and ass kicking blah blah blah. That's cool and everything but none of that should factor into the outcome of the match and the storyline itself. The match should have gone the way it did but with Brock kicking out the AA and finishing off Cena, sending him away for however long it is. That would have been HUGE. Brock Lesnar returns, dispatches off the face of the company for a couple of months and runs rough shot over RAW until a returning hero in John Cena comes back and gets his revenge and control back over RAW. But no, John Cena who has hit rock bottom ( no pun intended) after losing to The Rock at WrestleMania and being dominated by Brock in the leadup, gets a telling off by Edge so he wears his supercharged chain and padlock that will give him the fight to overcome this? Get the fuck out of here.

Just for once I thought WWE might actually do something a tad out of the blue, but no back to the safe predictable bullshit we've come to expect from them. God forbid they have Cena lose two consecutive PPV's against huge guys like The Rock and Brock (connection ) written off of TV with an "injury" where during that time he rediscovers himself similar to the storyline TNA has going with James Storm. I'm not sure why i'm left surprised though, it's not out of the ordinary for them to use John Cena to kill any interest people had in a feud now is it.

Looking back having re-read this post, this was a more brutal version of LAST YEARS match of John Cena's Extreme Rules match. Miz & Alex Riley dominate John Cena throughout the match before John Cena gets in his flurry of offense and submits? Miz to win the WWE Title.

I think that's all I wanted to rant about :hm:
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[We Are Legion]

I agree Brock winning that match would have been monumental and would have been the perfect direction to take Brock in wake of Cena's time off. Especially since WWE appears completely unwilling to ever turn Cena heel. At the very least WWE should invest more into the heel they already have (Brock) and give him the rub so whatever he does between now and whenever Cena returns be something terrifying to think about. I have absolutely no idea what the purpose is of giving someone the rub who is not even going to be on tv for several weeks afterwards, that's only okay sometimes if said wrestler is retiring.

I appreciated the effort in Brock utilizing some of those MMA moves, but WWE took it a little far when Lawler starts saying "Cena needs to get his hands up" when Brock mounted him because it was really encroaching into something WWE isn't, almost as if they were trying too hard to seem like MMA. I thought that was pretty tacky in all honestly.

 

[The Cork]

It was all sorts of dumb, masked by it actually being a good match.

Brock looked a monster for the majority, but the result takes alot of that away. Prince Albert just beat Cena clean on Raw, yet Lesnar couldn't do it even when going with dirty tactics. Strange stuff, and I doubt they can pull back from this.

 

[Keith]

I think from WWE's point of view they couldn't have Cena lose another massive ppv match so soon after the one he lost at Mania. I always thought he might beat Lesnar as WWE had built him as the underdog going in, and seemed like logic that he would overcome the odds to save face, then again with him taking time off it would have added to the storyline and his comeback to have him leave with a defeat to Brock, as it would be seen as the final straw.

 

[Aniking]

I think from WWE's point of view they couldn't have Cena lose another massive ppv match so soon after the one he lost at Mania. I always thought he might beat Lesnar as WWE had built him as the underdog going in, and seemed like logic that he would overcome the odds to save face, then again with him taking time off it would have added to the storyline and his comeback to have him leave with a defeat to Brock, as it would be seen as the final straw.

Summed up most of my thoughts right here.

I truly wasn't fussed about who won the match, but your post, Dale, really places me on your side. I absolutely agree with you! Lesnar being built as an unstoppable monster, dominates Cena in their match, but a punch to the head with a chain and an FU onto the steel steps finishes him off? What the fuck is that shit? Not to mention if they went with the way you described then they wouldn't have a match at Over The Limit that sounds shit (Cena/Laurianitis) and they would've avoided Lesnar ripping apart a dressing room.

If Cena's taking time off, this Raw should've had him come out, explain the injury, say he's leaving for an extended period of time, apologise as he couldn't stop Lesnar, then leave. In the mean time, Lesnar does what he likes on Raw and eventually Cena returns and defeats him at, idk, Summerslam.

 

[Prodigy]

The thing is, people forget that Brock is a human. Sure, he was built like a Monster for his return, but let's not forget that he'd been out of the ring for years and didn't have any momentum in terms of wins going into the match. Not only this, but Brock's MMA record isn't exactly great is it? Not only this but Cena is one of the most decorated guys in the business which makes him look as good as Brock, and equal. Also they could mention something about Brock saying he's an ass kicker, not a Wrestler, and the Wrestler won on the night or something. Also, what about his illness? Why can't they bring that into it? Say the bump he took on the steel steps really damaged him IDK.

Whatever happened, I'm sure Brock won't be hurt by it in the long run.

 

[Keith]

You make some very good points, also if your being more realistic (which wrestling should be) then a chain to the head and slam on steps should be more than enough to put anyone away.

 

[Defiant]

Very good read Dale, I pretty much agree with everything. Brock winning would've done so much more, downright intimidating too if they'd have him kick out of the AA.

Its like WWE still don't realise that nobody likes Cena booked this way. That superman finish is what got people against him at the height of his popularity. Its like watching a guy stop moving and take a beating so he can put in cheat codes.