theFRANCHISE

I will admit...I marked out to "Basic Thugonomics!!!"

I'm begging my dad to let me borrow his nice Nikon DSLR camera for when I head to RAW next Monday. 6 rows away from my idol and I need the PERFECT picture, dammit!

I still believe there's value in two main event tiers and two separate brands -- WWE just isn't executing properly, hence why the shows have become SuperShows. If they unify the heavyweight titles, then they need to place greater emphasis on the Intercontinental and United States Championships as top titles for their respective brands. Make them almost as important as the heavyweight strap. Put both belts on main eventers on occasion. Have those belts be defended in the main event of shows. Let the heavyweight championship be a storyline that runs across both shows (regardless of the particular challenger's brand affiliation), but keep the IC and US Titles separate and distinct.

That's what's killing me about this match. Sheamus has been the least-hyped Rumble winner of the past decade heading into Mania, and they've done nothing to put the focus on him. They've done more with Daniel Bryan's feud with Big Show than they have in his feud with Sheamus. It devalues the prestige of winning the Royal Rumble if you won't even get the spotlight heading into such a big event. Yes, Daniel Bryan and Sheamus are over with the crowd, but not nearly as over as they should be for a championship match. Mania should be focused on four matches: Rock-Cena, Undertaker-HHH, the WWE Title, and the World Heavyweight Championship. But, the WHC match has taken a major backseat to the three attractions, and they haven't even devoted 10 minutes to setting up a proper feud on RAW to establish why this match is important.

If true, that would actually lend credence to rumors that Rock and Cena have legitimate backstage tension. Nothing on the level of Bret Hart-HBK, but I could envision real animosity between the two. I can see where Cena would resent Rock for turning the fans even more against him, while I can see where Rock resents Cena for turning part of the locker room against him. And just like Hart-HBK, I can see Rock and Cena being cordial and working professionally, but then wanting nothing to do with one another if they don't have to speak. Looking back at the final segment again, I didn't like how Cena no-sold Rock's insults when they were in the ring together. Too much goofing around and smiling. It completely undermined Rock getting serious. I wanted Rock to just grab Cena by the shirt and go, "YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU, SON." I was dying for Cena to make serious eye contact, but he just kept smirking and joking with his family in the front row. Makes me pray a little more for WWE to buck the trend of passing the torch and book Rock to beat Cena anyway.

Assuming there's no rematch, business logic dictates that the old lion must pass the torch to the young lion, just as Hogan did to Rock at WrestleMania 18 in front of a pro-Hogan crowd in Toronto. Even though this is Rock's backyard, I have to believe that WWE wants to recreate that Hogan-Rock match by having Rock put Cena over and pass the torch to him. I would love to see Rock win, believe me. But in my heart of hearts, because Cena needs this win to validate his legacy, Cena will be booked as the winner of this match. Really, I'll accept a Cena victory on one of two conditions: 1) The build of this match is done properly (and it's certainly on the right track after this past RAW); or 2) Cena turns heel. They won't turn Cena heel, so I can only hope that WWE doesn't drop the ball after last night's great segments. I can't see them booking Rock to win, even if there's a rematch at SummerSlam.

My fear, though, is that they book Cena strong every single week, and then he pulls out the win at Mania in front of a hostile Miami crowd. Unless it results in a heel turn, there's no payoff and Rock is made to look weak. If Rock looks weak, then his name is devalued and WWE loses because then they don't get the extra financial boost his name recognition provides. Yes, Survivor Series buyrates were lower than expected -- but you have to bear in mind, if that was a card billed as The Rock's in-ring return, imagine how much lower those buyrates would've been without Rock's involvement. Rock still has value as a box office draw, but WWE has to be careful not to devalue his name too much, especially at the expense of a guy who's already a name in his own right like John Cena.

I'm gonna be 6 rows away from greatness on the 19th!!!!!!!! I sense I'm gonna cry at that show. I can almost feel it, especially if Rock closes the show with a special off-air promo. I'm not kidding.

Overall, the promo segments with Rock and Cena were VERY well-done tonight. Cena, especially, did a much better job than in previous weeks and sold me on the match. My only fear, however, is that they'll continue making Cena look stronger at the expense of Rock. Ideally, they should be made to look equal by trading promo victories weekly. Tonight was designed for Cena to win back his hometown crowd. This was especially evident by letting Cena come to the ring first and letting Cena talk longer than Rock. Smart move by the creative staff. However, by shifting the focus to music next week, it looks like Cena will win this next show by default since his rapper gimmick is the edgy Cena that many of us wanted him to revert to.

LOL @ Rock's second taped segment. Much better than last week's in-ring promo. Don't care if it's taped or live; a good promo is a good promo. Hopefully the in-ring confrontation between the two tonight doesn't fall short of the hype that these taped segments are building.

I MISSED MOST OF ROCK'S SEGMENT! This jerk at work kept talking and wouldn't leave me alone, so I missed everything after the opening lines... I'll have to go back and watch later. I love Cena's monologue in the empty arena right now. This is exactly what I wanted them to do, and Cena's giving the exact speech with the exact talking points that I wanted him to give WEEKS AGO. It's like they were listening to our criticisms...or maybe our boy Kevin Eck is cribbing off my Twitter feed. He is following me.

It's July 15th in Phoenix. It'll be the third MITB PPV event. Interesting tidbit: the two MITB PPVs thus far have been headlined by John Cena competing for the WWE Title in the main event -- and Cena lost both those matches. I'm inclined to think there'll be a trifecta this year since we won't escape 2012 without another Cena title reign. I certainly wouldn't mind seeing Cena win/retain the title if it means Wade Barrett cashes in the briefcase immediately thereafter.

It's unfortunate, too. Barrett was starting to show shades again of why he was the clear-cut star of the Nexus faction. The two even have a pretty rich backstory that the creative team never capitalized on. I also felt that Orton was doing a reasonably good job of being Super Orton while doing just enough to put Barrett over. I'd like to see them give this Orton-Barrett feud another shot in a build towards SummerSlam.

Actually, I was skeptical as to whether they would've even gone through with a Mania MITB match, regardless of whether Barrett had gotten hurt. WIth the sheer number of injuries to the roster, it's hard to come up with a good list of 6-8 guys who would work the match and be able to put on a good performance. That's assuming, of course, that only non-champions are inserted into the match. Kevin Eck refutes that Barrett was the reason the MITB match was scrapped, but I think they weren't even seriously considering a MITB match at Mania at all since the MITB gimmick PPV is still said to be on their calendar. It'd be awkward to have three briefcase holders at once if the Mania winner doesn't cash in by the time the PPV rolls around in July.

Out of everyone who doesn't already have a Mania match, Orton is the only one left who can carry a bigger opponent to a decent match. I'll give credit to Mark Henry for drastically improving all aspects of his game, but Orton deserves a little credit for making Henry look good and for having a couple of entertaining matches together. I wouldn't mind an Orton-Kane match. It wouldn't have much of a storyline and would feel cobbled-together like Orton-Punk was last year (those two's history notwithstanding), but at least it'll get both men on the card.

We all know Punk-Y2J will be the best match of the night and save/steal the show. That's obvious,. What bothers me is that Rock cut the same lame crowd-participation promo he cut at WrestleMania 27, and that Vince told him to go heavy on the social media stuff again because of his weird Twitter fetish. Just let Rock and Cena go out there with almost no script and have at it. If this match is supposed to be as epic as they bill it, then let the two men in the ring convince us of it on the mic. The Punk-Y2J segment was in stark contrast to the Rock-Cena segment in that Punk-Y2J felt natural and legitimate, whereas Rock-Cena felt manufactured and forced. "Faster" was a great revenge movie. It was a quick ride (no pun intended) but fun to watch. Rock's emotions filled in what little dialogue there was, and I was surprised that it worked as well as it did.

I would love to see Rock win, but with the way the business is supposed to work, the old lion always puts over the young lion. So, Rock is supposed to let Cena win and pass the torch. My problem is, WWE hasn't done a good enough job of making me and other fans OK with a Cena victory. Yes, I'm a Rock fan, but I don't care if he wins or loses matches. Hell, I wanted Rock to lose at Survivor Series, but R-Truth's suspension resulted in a last-minute change. I know it seems early to judge the build for Rock-Cena, but they've had a full year to hype this match. WrestleMania is 31 days away. For most of this past year, they've done nothing to change people's opinions of Cena, and they've certainly done nothing to convince us that these two have a reason to fight. It's just the same old lame material that was used to explain their animosity last year. I don't like making Rock look weak to make Cena look equal to him, but WWE has forced its own hand in this direction. WWE dropped the ball on this feud already, and it's sad that they have to resort to this rather than having Cena build himself up on his own merits. From the planted crib notes on Rock's wrist to Rock overselling Cena's insults...it's just sickening to me that they have to do this. I miss the days when Rock and Austin could have a feud and sell the match on their own merits, without barely any interference from the writers or needing a good storyline to make the feud compelling. I mean, the basis for a lot of their matches were stupid, but they made the material work by virtue of their strong mic work and great chemistry.

I can see that, and that's why I also believe that they'll almost certainly put Cena over and try to recreate that same moment when Hogan gave Rock his props and passed the torch. The problem is, I don't think fans will buy it -- at least not with the way this feud is shaping up. Hogan-Rock felt natural, save for the lame nWo attack on Rock in the ambulance. Rock-Cena feels 100% manufactured, right down to what both men are being told to say in their promos. More and more, I'm convinced that this build will let me down and the match will ultimately be a disappointment.

As far as I could tell, last night's segment was (rightfully) designed to make Cena look better than Rock. Rock has made Cena look bad the last few times they've gotten together, so if Rock continues to look dominant over Cena, fans won't accept a Cena victory at Mania -- a Cena victory that, from a business standpoint, is inevitable. However, I'm not buying that Cena has had good promos the past few weeks, save for last night's final exchange with Rock. Cena's promos have been lukewarm at best and lacking new content. There's no creativity in beating the dead horse by arguing, "Oh, I'm here and Rock isn't, so I must love you more than he does." The fact that veteran wrestlers are coming out in defense of Rock is an indictment of that creative approach and how it isn't breaking new ground. Cena cut the SAME PROMOS last year -- he's just saying them differently. I want new material. I want a new approach. I don't want the same crap of "Rock is a sellout" and "Cena is for kids." I want something new.

I looked at the writing on Rock's arm that Cena was talking about and it looks like an obvious plant. It was written in HUGE letters (for scribbled notes anyway) and there was no way that anyone would've expected people not to notice it, even with Rock's complexion already being dark.

I'm almost positive I'll hate the build up to this Rock-Cena match the rest of the way. WWE is doing it all wrong right now. They're taking the most tired approach ("Rock left, Cena's here") rather than the most obvious one (generational clash) and they're just belaboring the same points. Stop teasing the confrontation between the two. We've seen them get physical with one another before, so no sense in teasing it. Rather, increase their interaction with one another. I would have them get physical from the get-go. Quick brawl one week, exchange of finishers the next; backstage attack one week, random attack during an interview the next. You keep gradually upping the physicality until it builds to a head when someone takes a chairshot to the back or someone gets put through a table. Finally, you get the big one-on-one in-ring promo, and it ends calmly enough until it leads to a pull-apart brawl that involves the entire locker room. You cannot tease what we've already seen. They've fought before. Let them fight. It'll only build even more anticipation for the match because the violence is continually pushed, added to the hatred between the two men. Right now, this is just a pissing match -- and a very poor one, at that.

I was disappointed in the final segment, though it accomplished what it was supposed to by getting Cena some of his steam back after Rock had taken away in their last couple of encounters together. Cena needs to look equally strong as The Rock going into Mania or his eventual win over Rock will be rendered meaningless. The segment ran too long, and much of that was because of Vince's fetish with social media. The segment would've looked much better if Cena came out sooner. We've seen Rock and Cena cut individual promos, but we haven't seen enough of them in the ring together at the same time. The only good line Rock really had during his solo spot was about how past legends didn't need someone else to stand up for them. Cena had a great retort when he came out, though the notes-on-wrist line was stupid. Rock ended the segment strong, and I loved how he sold Cena's insults by looking visibly shaken. I have to believe some of that was genuine shock by Rock. I swear, though, the Rock hate I'm reading is ridiculous. Even more, the Cena praise is getting to be overwhelming, largely because I felt Cena's segment with Rock was much better than his solo promo earlier in the show. I get that Rock was hyped, and I was disappointed myself, but how does Rock suddenly become "one of the most overrated talkers of the past decade"? Do people forget his brilliant work as a heel in 2003? His tremendous promo during his return?

I'm not comfortable with the way they're handling Eve's heel turn, especially using misogyny as the basis for it. I just don't see what purpose it serves here and it seems like a cop-out for a lack of creativity.

WOW. It's not even finished yet and this is easily the best promo segment I've seen all year, even surpassing the mic work of HHH-Taker of the past few weeks! Tremendous work by Punk and Jericho!

What's this? Jericho NOT burying his opponent while also getting himself over in the same breath? The opposite of what we've seen some guys do??? Hmmmm...