Twilling's Blog: Can WWE go from placing more importance on John Cena than the WWE Championship to not having him on TV at all? Will they make another stipulation worthless?

By Rich Twilling

Monday, NOVEMBER 22 - 11:55 A.M.

-The beginning of 2010 for WWE was highlighted by a very compelling Shawn Michaels retirement storyline that ended with him actually doing so following a loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania 26.

They are ending the year with the culmination of a program involving John Cena and The Nexus leader Wade Barrett. At the last pay-per-view, Cena was not even scheduled to wrestle (although he did win the WWE Tag Team Championships that night with partner David Otunga), but he was the most hyped wrestler on the show.

At last night's Survivor Series, again, Cena was the centerpiece of the show. Will he screw over Randy Orton? Will he screw over Barrett? Will he be fired? Will he turn heel? Will he call the match right down the middle, count the three for Orton, and do a Cal Ripken lap around the arena to say goodbye to everybody?

Unfortunately, that last scenario is exactly what happened. What comes next is the big question. Sure, it does suck for those people that purchased the Survivor Series in that they could have waited for Raw tonight to get the big payoff. Nonetheless, is WWE prepared for television without John Cena, if they choose to go that route?

Orton cut a telling promo last night saying he was sick of hearing about Cena and that it was about him and the WWE Championship. While that should be true, it isn't. Orton, and his championship, have not only taken a back seat to Cena, they have taken a back seat to Barrett as well.

Cena "did the right thing" last night, cementing the fact that WWE is a very PG product and Cena is the overwhelming face of this era. He lost his job in the process. Or did he? Say WWE decides to have Cena off of television for a couple of months. Who fills the void? Nobody does, because nobody has been given the attention Cena has received.

Sure, it could be Barrett, but without Cena to share the spotlight with, who will he have to work with. It could be Orton, but WWE has conditioned us that the WWE Champion and the WWE Championship are not the most important things on Raw.

If Cena is "gone," will a new, masked wrestler appear on Raw? Will this be the Midnight Rider all over again? Let's just hope it is obvious to Cena's fan base that it is Cena under the mask. Of course, they could use Darren Young, who is the black John Cena, and who looks more like another human being he isn't related to than anyone I have ever seen.

Of course, I think Jason Powell nailed this during our audio show last night, in saying Cena will be rehired by Vince McMahon. The announcers reminded us last night that Nexus put McMahon in a coma, and he is still in that state. Did WWE really go through all of that trouble to give us that finish?

So, they show Cena videos from his new DVD set all night, hyping Barrett firing him at the end of the show. It is about to happen and freaking Vince McMahon is the payoff? Shoot, maybe he does "the right thing" and books Cena vs. Barrett for the TLC PPV. If Cena wins, he is back in WWE. If Barrett wins, he gets another title shot. Ugh.

Stipulations have always been an important part of selling wrestling matches, programs, and shows. However, if they are overturned, if they have loopholes, and/or if they are simply ignored, they are going to mean less and less every time. I will revisit this tomorrow after what goes down on Raw tonight.

By the way, anyone wonder when the anonymous Raw GM will no longer be anonymous? Stay tuned...