411 Fact or Fiction 07.19.12: Punk vs. Cena, Bryan & AJ’s Wedding, Sheamus, More

1. John Cena will defeat CM Punk for the WWE title on the 1000th episode of Raw.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. Most people assume that Cena will lose to Punk and I have to agree. Partly because this is the best scenario for someone to lose when cashing in Money in the Bank: it fits Cena’s character to challenge Punk ahead of time and he’s so over that losing here won’t damage him. Just getting a MitB cash-in loss out of the way seems like reason enough to have Punk win. But, it’s also more interesting. It’s more interesting for Cena to lose and for there to be some fallout as a result. Maybe the Big Show will get involved and we’ll have a triple threat for the title at SummerSlam. That seems likely. I could definitely see the WWE wanting the 1000th Raw to end with Cena as champion again, but there are more upsides to his losing.

John Downey: FICTION. And kill CM Punk’s momentum completely? Not a chance—WWE may be high on Cena’s character, but even they know enough to not have one of their biggest breakout stars of the past five years lose the title he has held since last November on free TV. I don’t know that Cena will necessarily lose, as there are plenty of ways for the match to end without either man winning or losing, but having Cena win the title in this way would be mad.

Score: 1 for 1

2. Daniel Bryan & AJ will actually get married.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. If only because everything that seems like one thing with AJ turns out to be another. I guess, in that way, the marriage actually happening would be more surprising. No, I can’t see it happening. Eve seems like a likely candidate to ruin it. Maybe Kane will get involved since he was briefly in the middle of AJ’s insanity. It isn’t a WWE wedding if it isn’t ruined by Kane or Triple H, and Triple H is too busy on Monday with his DX reunion and Brock Lesnar stuff to ruin this one. This is the WWE: weddings never go as planned.

John Downey: FICTION. The percentage of successful weddings in WWE is almost comically slim, and with two deceitful/unbalanced characters heading to the altar, it is almost guaranteed that something is going to bring the wedding to a screeching halt. Will AJ become a runaway bride? Will Daniel Bryan choose the worst possible time to make a “The Reason You Suck” speech? Will Kane ruin the occasion by being himself? I’m not sure how they’re going to get there, but I don’t think AJ’s last name is going to be Bryan by the end of the night (or would she be “Mrs. Danielson”?).

Score: 2 for 2

3. The Sheamus experiment is not working.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I’ve been loving Sheamus as the dominant face champion. He gets good reactions from everyone except people online. He may have won the belt in a weak fashion, but he’s done nothing but destroy people since. His stories may not be involved, but the basic simplicity of him taking on all challengers and just wanting to kick some ass arse is a nice contrast from the soap opera that the WWE Championship has been mired in. He delivers decent to great matches, wins in most non-title matches, and has somehow escaped the haphazard WWE booking. I don’t see what the problem is.

John Downey: FICTION. This depends on how one defines “the Sheamus experiment”. Has he become one of the most popular characters on WWE television? No, but while CM Punk’s reign has been distinguished for its soap opera elements, Sheamus has provided a necessary counterbalance by being a champion who just goes out and kicks some ass, and folks seem to enjoy his shtick. Admittedly, it feels as though his reign is setting him up to either be knocked over by a bigger badass (Orton) or get screwed over by a conniving opportunist (Ziggler), but if Sheamus is a transitional champion (which, c’mon, he won the belt at Wrestlemania and was on a tear before that show), he’s been one of the best transitional champions in recent memory

Score: 3 for 3

4. The Prime Time Players need to actually win some matches to get over as a threat to the Tag Team Titles.

Chad Nevett: FACT. As I said in my Raw Instant Analysis on Monday, the booking of these two has done everything but make them look credible. Since becoming #1 contenders, all they managed to do was run away from matches and lose. And, then, the night before finally getting their title match, they lost on PPV. The only thing that could have been worse than their failed attempt to win the belts on Monday would have been for them to win. They’ve got a name, a gimmick, and are decent in the ring, so I don’t see why it’s so hard to actually have them win a match once in a while, especially if they’re to be perceived as challengers for the titles.

John Downey: FACT. I can understand the rational for them losing most of the time—they are already the #1 contenders, they are trying to build a feud with another tag team, and “wins and losses don’t matter”—but I don’t agree with it. The Prime Time Players are supposed to be too big for their britches, but you can pull that off while still having them get victories via BS shenanigans. If they win the tag belts tomorrow, their victory will be met with complete apathy and their feud with Primo and Epico will become the most insufferable feud of the second half of 2012.

Score: 4 for 4

SWITCH!

5. Rey Mysterio will win another major title in WWE.

John Downey: FICTION. He’s a high-flyer who is pushing forty and has spent significant time off due to surgery, to say nothing of his two Wellness violations. I’ve loved the guy’s work, but I think he will be used to build up other guys for the rest of his active career, especially since there are plenty of young, hungry guys ready and hoping to become the next major high-flyer.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I’ll state right away that I’m only considering the two world titles as ‘major’ titles, because… well, they are. I think it’s likely that Mysterio could get one of the secondary belts or even a tag title run with someone like Sin Cara because it would be fun to have them as tag partners. But, a world title? Look at his last two world title runs: they were transitional reigns to serve other stories. I guess it’s possible that he’ll fill that role again depending on what the WWE needs, but I wouldn’t count on it. He’s there to make the crowd happy and he doesn’t need a title to do that.

Score: 5 for 5

6. Austin Aries will still be TNA Champion after Hardcore Justice.

John Downey: FACT. Let’s get this straight: TNA completely boned Bobby Roo at last year’s Bound For Glory when he didn’t go on a frightening rampage immediately after losing to Kurt Angle, which could have set him up as a Two-Face kind of villain, claiming to be in control of any situation but proving himself to be an unstable individual when even slightly prodded. Instead, though, he lost and put on a sad face until his buddy won the belt. Aries, on the other hand, won the belt to great fanfare, to the point that the planned championship match between Storm and Roo at the 2012 BFG looks to be scrapped due to lack of heat, and the only people who think this is a bad thing are the ones who think that Storm and Roo’s worth is not overrated, an opinion that I do not share. If I were booking this company, I would book Aries in much the same way that Vince booked Hogan in the mid-80’s—I mean, it’s not as though there is any other wrestler in TNA who deserves the belt over Aries, right?

Chad Nevett: FACT. Aries is getting a great reaction from fans and critics, he was just signed to a long term deal, and taking the title off him so soon could derail some of the good will that both he and TNA have been getting because of his title win at Destination X. Maybe the plan was to have him drop it back to Roode quickly, but the positive reaction to his win would suggest that letting him keep the belt a while longer to further establish himself as a main event player would be the smart move. As much as everyone wanted Roode/Storm for the title, stories need to change to fit events when they happen and Aries as world champion should continue.

Score: 6 for 6

7. You are interested in the Bully Ray vs. Joseph Park feud.

John Downey: FICTION. I’ll grant that neither man can be accused of not committing to this storyline, especially Park, who I wouldn’t have thought could be so convincing in his current role. That said, I just can’t get into this angle. So Park is slowly reverting to his previous character? If so (and that seems to be the only direction this angle can go), what was the point of changing things up in the first place? All of this just comes across as keeping both guys occupied while they focus on bigger angles.

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I’m intrigued by it from what I’ve heard, but not really interested. Bully Ray is a great heel and can really carry things on his dickish charm. The Joseph Park story is a creative way to reinvent the Abyss character. From a story perspective, there’s potential there. But, I’ve seen Ray and Abyss in the ring together and that’s not something that I’m eager to see again, especially with Joseph Park having to act like a novice at wrestling. Maybe if I skipped the matches?

Score: 7 for 7

8. You would like to see Dixie Carter on a reality TV show.

John Downey: FICTION. I can barely stand seeing her as a character in TNA—why would I want to see more of her?

Chad Nevett: FICTION. I guess there are two parts to this: I don’t want to watch Dixie Carter on TV; and, I don’t want to watch any of those “Real Housewives” shows. Put those two together and I can’t see a reason why I would want to watch Dixie Carter on a “Real Housewives” show. Not my thing.

Final Score: 8 for 8

And for the second time in the Cook Era of Fact or Fiction, we have 100% agreeance! I thought I had a couple of topics there that could go either way, but Chad & John go the full monty. We thank them for their contributions this week, and invite you to speak your mind down in the comment section. Do you agree with them on everything? Do you agree with them on nothing? Let us know! Thanks for reading, and we’ll be back next week with more Fact or Fiction!