[JasonLives]

Im suprised the viewership was that low. I didnt expect any big number but not like that.

The Rock is not the same draw he once was, people just has to understand that. I said it last week aswell, its the same when Hogan went to TNA. It did big at first but it fell after that. The Rock is nostalgia, and you can only go so far on that. None of the Attitude Era guys draw big these days, not in the long run.

And at this point I think people just want the actual match to take place.
But the main problem with The Rock/Cena is that there is nothing major on the line. I still dont feel why the match is so important for both men.

If they wanna pop a rating the coming week, they need to make the next show feel like "must see". When Raw has ended for the last couple of weeks, there hasent been that feeling. So far the main feuds have been very respectfull, its a lot of talking. No sneakattacks, no brawls, no nothing.

[InkL]

Originally Posted by DesolationRow

It is almost truly indescribable how much WWE, John Cena and to a lesser extent The Rock have all seemingly conspired to ruin what should have been the biggest, most important feud the WWE had seen since Batista/Triple H. I'm blaming The Rock some because of the Portland Promo. I'm blaming Cena for his typical bullshit. And I say typical bullshit because this isn't exactly the first time he's shrugged off an opponent going into what should have been a mega-match. The final Raw before Wrestlemania XXVI, he actually undid all of the build-up (which at that time was very, very good) between he and Batista, saying he no longer saw the Animal but just Dave Batista and he knew he could beat Batista. Turned out, he more or less obliterated Batista in their feud, which wasn't by itself a bad booking decision since Batista was leaving but the feud was never quite the same. It became much worse after the duct tape incident at Extreme Rules. Then there was his shtick the week before TLC 2010, which demonstrated just how far the Nexus angle had sunk. Cena was sure he was going to win, he was going to crush Wade Barrett... and he did. Then there was last year's Wrestlemania build. For the first several weeks after Elimination Chamber, he made juvenile jokes about The Miz and Alex Riley. He and Rock continued their promo wars while Miz had to carry the actual present feud. Then there was the entire Survivor Series 2011 build-up fiasco, in which he singlehandedly crushed Awesome Truth like a couple of ants, belittled them and never took them remotely seriously. Now he's doing it with The Rock. I guess we can't overstate whatever CM Punk had to impress John Cena because he's essentially been the only individual as of late to escape this sort of treatment from Cena. (I'm not even counting Kane since it was filler but I'll be damned if that feud didn't have more depth to it at certain points than Rock/Cena does at this time.) But WWE deserves the most amount of blame.

I dont understand Why people blame John cena for such things. He is the top babyface of the company, this is what top babyfaces do. What about hulk hogan in the 80s? HE ALWAYS WON. What about Steve austin? Most of austin's feuds were one sided infavour of austin and in the actual match, he pins them clean.

All this hate on cena is unfair.

[The Hardcore Show]

Originally Posted by InkL

I dont understand Why people blame John cena for such things. He is the top babyface of the company, this is what top babyfaces do. What about hulk hogan in the 80s? HE ALWAYS WON. What about Steve austin? Most of austin's feuds were one sided infavour of austin and in the actual match, he pins them clean.

All this hate on cena is unfair.

It has nothing to do with winning Cena makes a joke out of everyone he faces. Hogan & Austin never did that. They actually understood the business.

[DesolationRow]

Originally Posted by InkL

I dont understand Why people blame John cena for such things. He is the top babyface of the company, this is what top babyfaces do. What about hulk hogan in the 80s? HE ALWAYS WON. What about Steve austin? Most of austin's feuds were one sided infavour of austin and in the actual match, he pins them clean.

All this hate on cena is unfair.

Reading comprehension will help you in life.

Cena coming out on top and winning on a highly frequent basis has never annoyed me. (I think.) I've actually given him a lot of credit for putting guys over (much more liberally than either Hogan or Austin, for that matter). Recently treating 80-90% of his opponents like a joke, however, is simply harmful for everyone. For Cena, it means winning accrues him less, because, after all, the guy he went over didn't really pose much of a threat anyway, and for the other guy, it generally tends to make him look like crap with next to no credibility at the main event level.

[Punter]

Red rep me all you want for it not being related to the thread. I don't really care. But if you haven't already, you need to watch this.

[PunkDrunk]

rock is more popular than hes ever been, thats why hes in hollywood and not a full time wrestler. wrestling sucks right now, rock returns and we have no sellers and haters galore. This will only get worse, wrestling and its fans have lost the performance art aspect of wrestling to the point that 40 raws out of the year have a mundane, predictable tag match with zero intensity..,yet were arguing why nobody watches. if hhh v taker wasnt happening and rock stayed away (2 years ago youd have argued takers age, hollywood star etc) i wouldnt even watch mania. i never thought id say it but this roster holds no interest for me, too much ring work and not enough charisma is killing it. throwing the rock in when the horse has bolted aint solving anything. ho hum... cena v miz v adr v punk at over the limit sure sounds like fun.. again. as it will next year... again. maybe raw will draft orton so hell face cena... again. well at least rock was put in his place, well done haters in the back

[wb1899]

Originally Posted by KiNgoFKiNgS23

so what's the difference between how ratings are gathered between now and then?

The number of household they need to get 1 point changes every Nielsen-Season (in August).
But these household ratings are irrelevant today. Only the viewership numbers (total, demos and C3) are important.

[The Cynical Miracle]

So Cena V Rock to be regulated to opening dark match at WM which midway turns into a battle royal with The Great Khali winning due to dissapionting numbers for the feud. All the while Punk V Jericho to get 30 mins in the 2 hour piont on the show, and then the epic HIAC match to mainevent because clearly thats what people are invested in.

[lisa12000]

I think one of my huge problems with Rock and Cena is that their seemingly real life differences are being played out on camera; There are 2 many reports out there now suggesting real life beef so to me no smoke without fire; Now assumng this is the case (and if its not then Cena should go to hollywood as well)then i feel like this has got in the way of business; There is far too many personal feelings in these promos, too many times where the purpose is to embarrass on a personal level rather than just to advance the feud and the fact it is due to real life beef sometimes makes it really uncomfortable to watch; Its like they are working to purposely destroy and momentum they had, rather than working together to give us a great storyline; Its like watching 2 kids in a playground trading personal insults just to get at each other and ive got to the point where i dont want to hear them talk anymore, i just want them to punch each other and get it out their system

The reverse of this, is Taker/HHH/HBK; the intensity of the promos, the storyline, but mostly the fact theyre working together within the storyline to give us something we can invest in; This has had the reverse effect to Rock/Cena; Its taken something that no one was interested in seeing again, and made it for me the most anticipated match on the card!!!

All this to say, i am not surprised at all the ratings have remained static!! Rock/Cena has managed to lose all momentum, have destoryed this feud between them and i, for one, cant wait for it to be over and hopefully they move on to other things

OR it could all be a work, even if its a shit one, and i may look very very foolish thinking its got a base in personal feelings

[D.M.N.]

Originally Posted by DesolationRow

Mister Hands is right. Harrison Ford was a huge movie star but The Fugitive became a big hit in large part because it was well-directed, well-acted and well-written. Tommy Lee Jones became a draw himself, in his own right, because he was so impeccably cast and he gave such a terrific performance.

Like Triple H in late 2004/early 2005. He was a huge wrestling star but the Evolution Disintegration/Batista Rebellion Angle became a big hit in large part because it was well-presented, well-acted and well-written. Batista became a draw himself, because he was so impeccably cast and gave such a terrific performance.

WWE needs more Fugitives.

And the good thing about that was you could have predicted it as far back as the previous August, once Orton left Evolution, you knew Batista was next as did the crowd, you then plant the seeds and bam, they got the big pay-off with big rating numbers. That was probably, what, road-mapped starting in late 2003. Okay, I doubt someone said back then "it's Batista/HHH main event in 2005" but you get my drift.

On the SmackDown side of things you had Cena vs JBL. JBL had been your champion for nearly a year, he had the presence on the brand. And obviously at the event Cena had his push culminate. That, again, were road-mapped back to early 2004 with Cena's US title win at the previous 'Mania.

Now fast-forward 7 years. We have Punk/Jericho and Sheamus/Bryan. Do those have the build of the above two? No. Punk should have been the face of RAW since Money in the Bank holding the WWE title (obviously not on the show due to the 'firing' storyline) but he should have been holding the title, got through everyone - and then there's Jericho. Jericho wins the 'Rumble make intentions clear - and as you've built up Punk you have a great feud in the making. Yes, Punk is big now bit he is not as big as he should be.

Sheamus/Bryan. WrestleMania main event? Really? This should be Henry/Bryan, it really really should. They did not need to make Henry drop the title when they did as his injury didn't keep him out for too long, that can easily be worked around with two promos. You have Bryan have a great 'Mania moment winning the title with Big Show's help and then you start the slow progression heel turn (as what happened in real life if they wanted to) as he would have been over as they wanted to see someone take down the big giant in Henry (David v Golliath) and it happened. Someone firmly over now. Sheamus should not be in the main event? Where was he 12 months ago? Ah, that's right going through a table. If anything it should be Cody more than Sheamus (who should have passed the IC title down to someone else to get a push in the same way Cena did all those years ago).

They can build stars, but then when they've been built, it's like "now what?"...