How much does John Cena need to be Champ?

Okay, so I am going to have to admit something before I start writing this.  Like most men over the age of fourteen, I am not a fan of John Cena.  Even when he made is debut against the uber heel Kurt Angle as a fresh faced champion of "Ruthless Aggression", I just could not buy into him. 

As I have never been a real fan of Smackdown!,  I never saw Cena's rise through the ranks and, from what I've been told,  his best material.  See I was too busy watching Raw and the rise of Evolution and the developement of a talent that appealed to me more than a white rapper at the time, Randy Orton.

So by the time Cena reached my television in the WWE draft of 2005, he had become the watered down, PG-era, XXXL t-shirt wearing "Champ" we know today.  From the little I had seen of Cena previously I had expected to see a guy with a chain round his neck, a throw-back sports jersey and some controversial lyrics.  What did I get?... A pack of bublegum.

And thats the problem.  We are still getting the same old act.  It is hard to understand how someone who has never evolved as a performer for half a decade is still at the top of the business.  Take the top names in wrestling history and they have all changed their act at some point to stay at the top.  Bret Hart turned anti-American,  Shawn Micheals turned degenerate, Austin started saying "What?" and who could forget the unforgivable betrayal of Randy Savage creating one of the greatest heels ever in Hollywood Hulk Hogan.  All of these men had title runs before and after these changes because the stayed fresh in the eyes of the fans.

There has however been an ever so slight shift in the WWE as of late.  Do you remember when the last championship reign of John Cena was?  Well it finished at last year's Summerslam and he has had very little title action since.  Okay so this is mainly due to his fued with The Rock but that ended five months ago.

So at WWE Night of Champions, Cena gets his first one on one title match on PPV this year.  If he wins then normal service is resumed with Cena no doubt coming out to the ring the next night on Raw and telling us "The Champ is here!"

But what if Cena loses?  As the heel, CM Punk can afford the loss and use it in his continued fight against the world that is doing everything to hold him down.  But what for Cena?  Another fued with the Big Show?  Does Cena turn heel?  Many people feels its too late for that.  Cena had a great chance to turn heel earlier this year but stuck with the Cenation.  The Rock put him in the prime position to change pace but what is the difference between Cena before The Great One's challenge and the Cena we see today?... Nothing.

For so long Cena defined himself by that championship.  Without it and without The Rock what cause does he fight for?  If he doesn't beat Punk in his own home town of Boston then where does he stand in the eyes of the WWE? There is an ever growing queue of  young Superstars waiting to get into that top tier.  Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler are on the edge of greatness with real talent both on the mic and in the ring.  Thay are also still evolving and that's what makes them exciting to watch.  Most of us can pretty much predict a Cena promo before its even started.  Let's not go into his matches. 

Cena is in real danger of being pushed out of the championship picture for good.  Out of all the biggest names in the history of the business only Hogan has lasted longer on the title scene.  Everyone has their time. This may not be the biggest match in John's career but its the biggest he may have for a long time.

AP