WWE Monday Night Raw 4/8

WWE Monday Night Raw comes waltzing back into our lives tonight (4/ 8, 2013) from the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, featuring the fallout show from the WrestleMania 29 pay-per-view (PPV) extravaganza that went down last night in the same city.

John Cena is your new WWE champion, The Rock gave him a glowing endorsement, Triple H is still an active wrestler after Brock Lesnar did the job for him, Paul Heyman is still the best performer in the world, Undertaker is still undefeated at "The Showcase of the Immortals," CM Punk is still an insanely talented wrestler, and Alberto Del Rio is still world heavyweight champion.
That's plenty more where that came from but that's what this Raw is designed to tell us.


And once again, the movie we've seen a thousand times plays out in the exact same way.
John Cena defeated The Rock last night (4/7) at WrestleMania 29, winning the WWE Championship for a record eleventh time. He shared a beautiful moment with The Rock, and stood tall at the top of the ramp.
While the boos reigned cascaded down upon him.
Yes, Cena once again sits on top of the professional wrestling world. He did it the right way, by keeping his ego in check and emotions intact. He stood tall, never gave up, and did it the right way.
Which means we'll get the same old Cena we've had for the past decade, the Cena we've long grown tired of.A chance to tell a compelling story. Gone. A moment that would have lived on in history. Missed. An opportunity to radically change the landscape professional wrestling.
Passed by without the faintest attempt to take advantage of the occasion.
I can understand why it went down this way. John Cena will never turn heel. We can point to Hulk Hogan and say, "it happened with him." But Cena is no Hogan. If he clings on past his due date, Vince has no problem removing him from the picture.
And this time, there is no legitimate second promotion for him to jump to.
So why not ride the Cena train for all it's worth? Why not have him stay on top of the promotion for all of 2012, main event the majority of pay-per-views (PPV's), and win every feud he was involved with? And why not build up the rematch with The Rock as a story of redemption, white wash everything that happened in the prior year, and make this a "passing of the torch" ceremony?
Why no? Because it's horrible storytelling that serves no purpose for those watching.
Are fans now supposed to love John Cena because The Rock gave us the okay? Are the smarks going to stop calling for his head because he won "the right way?" Does this win change a single person's perception on who Cena is?
In order; I hope not, hell no, and not in the slightest.
We have spent the past two years engaged in a long term feud that spanned over three WrestleMania's. In some ways, it's was a wonderful pro wrestling storyline.