RIPPA Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 JOHN CENA vs. Kevin Owens http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3qxity_john-cena-vs-rusev-wrestlemania-31_sport?ab=b vs. Rusev LA SOMBRA vs. Atlantis (Mask Match)* Dr. Wagner Jr., La Sombra, Rush vs Atlantis, LA Park, Volador Jr. * - denotes 1001 Match selection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 This amuses me, because if you did this last year, it should've been close. But Sombra is fucking awesome, and has always been. Cena loses a ton from doing the SuperIndy gimmick and pushing up a match style that's fucking awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hail Sabin Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Cena gets my vote for the US Open Challenge matches. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie M. Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I feel like the US Open Challenge was ultimately counterproductive and Sombra had an undeniable year. It's funny to see how quickly the NXT hardcores are figuring out how good he is and he hasn't even reached his potential yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 I love this new movement where everyone suddenly hates the US Open Challenge and Cena in them considering everyone loved them when they were going on. Well except Raziel - he always hates everything 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
w. josh Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Cena's continued use of the springboard stunner means I would have voted for literally anyone else. Luckily, Sombra/Manny is legit awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Z Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I actually thought John Cena had the best year of his career. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I love this new movement where everyone suddenly hates the US Open Challenge and Cena in them considering everyone loved them when they were going on. Well except Raziel - he always hates everything I think the change in perspective has a lot to due with the fact that Super Indy Cena was ultimately used to put over Rollins and fucking Alberto - and the latter in a shitty, short match. I think if it had led to someone fresh (and fucking Alberto does not qualify as fresh, even if he had been gone for a while) definitively besting him at that style, it would be looked back on a little kinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 But is that Cena's fault? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 But is that Cena's fault? Well, no, not necessarily. Depends on how he was using THE STROKE to influence the booking, but of course, we can't know that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Honestly, I enjoyed indie-movez Cena for about three months because it was novel, but then it broke into repetitive video game garbage territory for me, and La Sombra is solid, though I haven't seen any fancams of his Manny Andrade stuff yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCM Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 The US Open Challenge got the point where you would expect Heath Slater to kick out of an AA, and push Cena to the limit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raziel Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 But is that Cena's fault? Depends, Who was making the call for him and his opponents to almost always kick out of each other's finishers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Dave Meltzer? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 And.... AND... the AA should be kicked out of because it always looked shitty and not painful 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirSmUgly Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I definitely had a change of heart. I loved the first Owens match when I saw it as it happened and then found it mediocre on re-watch. I think what happened is that, in the moment, Cena was fresh in his new role and having matchups that I might have typically considered dream matches of a sort (v. Zayn, v. Owens, v. Cesaro), but when I watched most of it again as I put together my final updated WWE Best Matches list for 2015, I really didn't enjoy it out of that immediate context where it seemed so exciting and fresh. Also, the way that the challenge ended really hurt some of the previous work on re-watch, which I am aware isn't fair to Cena, but getting stomped out in eight minutes by a returning-and-still-heatless Alberto del Rio was quite the anticlimax for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 The US Open challenge started to bump into diminishing returns. The three match series with Owens poisoned the well and made it seem not just disappointing but ultimately damaging to the wrestling formula of John Cena, which had been entertaining, steady, and successful for years. A little bit was impressive, self-aware, refreshing, and admirable. He went far enough over the line to invalidate the entire experiment. Sombra on the other hand had a wonderful year as a dickish heel. I give Cena points for ambition but see that ambition as tainted by a self-consciousness that blinded him to what he was sacrificing to convince a younger crowd that he could hang and that he could wrestle by their small-minded standards. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyLaw Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 While I generally enjoyed Cena more than I have in maybe a decade, every time he did the springboard stunner, it was instant "Nah, fuck this." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOTNW Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 The US Open Challenge got the point where you would expect Heath Slater to kick out of an AA, and push Cena to the limit. I'm pretty sure he beat the likes of Ryder, Kane and Stardust with just one. Your point about excess still stands but it's clearly hyperbole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 The US Open challenge started to bump into diminishing returns. The three match series with Owens poisoned the well and made it seem not just disappointing but ultimately damaging to the wrestling formula of John Cena, which had been entertaining, steady, and successful for years. A little bit was impressive, self-aware, refreshing, and admirable. He went far enough over the line to invalidate the entire experiment. Sombra on the other hand had a wonderful year as a dickish heel. I give Cena points for ambition but see that ambition as tainted by a self-consciousness that blinded him to what he was sacrificing to convince a younger crowd that he could hang and that he could wrestle by their small-minded standards. I was liking your post until that. Come on, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 The US Open challenge started to bump into diminishing returns. The three match series with Owens poisoned the well and made it seem not just disappointing but ultimately damaging to the wrestling formula of John Cena, which had been entertaining, steady, and successful for years. A little bit was impressive, self-aware, refreshing, and admirable. He went far enough over the line to invalidate the entire experiment. Sombra on the other hand had a wonderful year as a dickish heel. I give Cena points for ambition but see that ambition as tainted by a self-consciousness that blinded him to what he was sacrificing to convince a younger crowd that he could hang and that he could wrestle by their small-minded standards. I was liking your post until that. Come on, man. I let the spirit move me. Sorry.He was pandering to the Movez audience when he should know better based on his years of success. It give him a level of acceptance he never needed in the first place but at the cost of distrusting some of the more primal elements of his act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIPPA Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 The best part in all this is that I am 99% certain I am voting for Sombra But I would have voted Cena over approximately 80% of this tournament Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jiji Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 I let the spirit move me. Sorry. He was pandering to the Movez audience when he should know better based on his years of success. It give him a level of acceptance he never needed in the first place but at the cost of distrusting some of the more primal elements of his act. I agree. The new routine was neat the first two or three times I saw it but it got old really quickly. Why do you think he felt he needed to bust his ass in these indy epix, though? He seems really secure in who and where he is (how could he not?), but his promos over the years when facing the younger indy darlings have always referred to him being the standard and the king of WWE. It's interesting that he's trying to beat these guys at their own game in theory, less so in praxis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrag Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Match quality aside, the Cena Open Challenge was probably the best thing WWE has done all year. Wins and losses actually mattered, a mid-card title was important for the first time in like 10 years and the suspense of who will come out next was really cool. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Sandwich Carl Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Meh, I enjoyed the US open challenge. Sombra forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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