This Sunday Dec. 15, the
WWE will combine the World Heavyweight (held by John Cena) and WWE
Championships (held by Randy Orton) to determine the "Champion of
Champions."
A match that should've
been built up for months and ultimately led to a huge encounter at WrestleMania
30 was instead thrown together with little thought and even worse execution.
The combining of the
company's two major titles should've been treated like a once in a lifetime
event -- even though WWE did something similar 12 years ago -- that fans simply
could not miss. In theory the match would be between the two biggest stars in
the company and would help elevate them to heights they'd not yet reached.
But how can the WWE
expect fans to show an interest in this match when neither champion has done
anything to legitimize their own title reigns?
Orton was essentially
handed the WWE Championship during his feud with Daniel Bryan. Not once during
the series of matches with Bryan did Orton win without interference or help
from another party. In his Survivor Series match with Big Show, Orton again was
aided by Triple H before scoring the win.
Without a string of
clean wins over legitimate competition, Orton will not be taken seriously as a
champion. Even though he is no fan favorite, Orton needed to prove to fans he
was worthy of holding the belt. Ric Flair and Triple H weren't always the most
popular guys, but they still defended their titles without help and gave
credibility to their reigns.
That brings us to Cena.
A few months ago, when Cena returned from injury, he said he wanted to bring
credibility to the World Heavyweight Championship. He wanted to make people
perceive it as an equal championship to Orton's.View gall
After easily disposing
of Alberto Del Rio, Cena won that belt and began his quest to legitimize his
title. The problem is that was only two months ago. It hasn't even been 45 days
and yet we're supposed to believe that he's legitimized the title?
It doesn't help that
we've seen Cena and Orton feud before, multiple times in fact, over the last
few years. While both are no doubt superstars in the wrestling business, fans
eventually get sick of seeing the same two guys feud over and over again.
The WWE has presented
this match as "epic" and has tried to say that never have the top two
wrestlers of their generations faced off with so much on the line. I guess
Steve Austin and The Rock were washed up when they feuded.
But even if the WWE
wanted to go with Cena vs. Orton, building it up over a few months would have
done more to make fans want to pay to see it. Triple H could've come out on
"Raw" a couple weeks ago and announced that the main event at
WrestleMania 30 would be Cena and Orton in a unification match. Then, much like
how Cena and The Rock was handled a couple years ago, the two could've had
different matches against other opponents or with each other to "prepare"
for the big match.
The winner of the Royal
Rumble could've been awarded a title match at SummerSlam as a way to keep
interest, and fans would have the proper amount of time to get invested in a
unification match.
Sadly, the WWE elected
to just throw together the match -- in a tables, ladders and chairs setting no
less -- at a pay-per-view that only the most diehard fans will order. The WWE
could throw us a curveball and not have a winner Sunday, but they've advertised
the match as "there must be a winner," and I highly doubt they're
planning on screwing the fans again.
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