Cena Vs. Rusev At Fast Lane: Final Preview

An element that had popped up in the storyline between John Cena and Rusev was that Cena was old. He's over the hill. In terms of years, he is not old yet. Even in the wrestling business, many guys wrestle after turning 40. Cena is not there yet. I think a lot of fans have overreacted to that part of this storyline.

You see this kind of thing with Cena a lot. They put his back to the wall, often making him look weak, and he overcomes. After losing to The Rock the first time at Wrestlemania, an angle eventually came about selling it as the worst year of Cena's career. He went on to beat The Rock at Wrestlemania to win the title. He got completely decimated by Brock Lesnar at Summerslam last year to lose the title. Some people loved seeing that. He bounced back and destroyed Bray Wyatt in one of the most awkward matches I have seen, not including botched matches. He also came close to regaining the title from Lesnar. Did anyone make a big deal about that treatment hurting Cena's popularity or star power? And yet, that is how a lot of people have reacted just because of this current storyline about calling Cena old. Do you ever think the WWE acknowledging Cena has a lot of haters might hurt his popularity? No one puts that much thought into it. Again, I think people are just overreacting.

Did you see what happened with Cena and Rusev this week? Cena turned the tables and destroyed Rusev. That was to be expected. It would seem like the WWE is already going that path of Cena proving himself in this feud. But I don't think this feud is over yet. Rusev will likely retain at Fast Lane.

What happens after that? Continue the feud to Wrestlemania? One of the reasons I did not like the idea of this being Cena's Wrestlemania feud is that it didn't seem good enough. But with this new storyline detail, they might lead it to something worthy of Wrestlemania. If they do not, saying Cena was old was just overkill. You already had enough in this feud. Rusev is undefeated. He has an anti-USA gimmick. He is holding the United States title. There is enough there for Cena to try to accomplish. Rusev can just continue his gimmick and put over his undefeated streak to keep this feud up. No need to make it seem like Cena doesn't have it anymore. You are just putting too much in there. And if what you are putting in is confusing some fans and possibly hurting the feud or one of the performers, you have to wonder even more if it is worth it. If this is all part of developing to an epic feud, it will be worth it.

One last thing. I just have to shake my head at some fans. For years, they have complained about Cena being pushed so hard and the WWE not pushing other talent. What is going on right now is exactly what these fans should want. Cena is not chasing after the main title and he is not involved in the main storyline. They have done this with him before. His feud with Bray Wyatt last year is an example of that. A lot of the same fans I have seen complain about Cena are confused by what is going on and some even seem to feel bad for him. It is just stupid. With fickle people like that always voicing their opinion, the WWE might be justified in ignoring them. John Cena will one day not be the centerpiece anymore. I do not think that is this year. He is just taking a backseat as they try to develop a new star. Last year, it was supposed to be Cena taking a backseat as they pushed Batista with Randy Orton and The Authority. That crumbled to Daniel Bryan getting the attention. I would not make too much of this feud currently going on. It is just a variation of what they have already done with Cena in the past.