I CAN see you, but I don't want to.

Last night on RAW, John Cena showed me every reason that us "older" wrestling fans don't like him. (When I say "older" I use quotations because I'm in fact 25, but I'm already way out of the John Cena demographic.) It's not because he's being forced down our throats every week, even though he is. It's not because he used to come out and rap about "Deez Nutz." It's because he doesn't really know what or who he is, or what he's really doing.

When Cena first came out last night, I could have sworn it would be to defend Mickie James and her protests to William Regal. That would have made perfect sense. It would have helped Mickie James out, as fans would see that even Cena respects her, and it would have helped Cena out as he would come to the aid of someone who wasn't getting respect from Regal. Instead, though, we get John Cena escorting Mickie from the ring while he talks with Regal. Which is the wrestling equivalent of saying "get back to the kitchen, woman!" Even after that, we start to think "Oh man, Cena's going to give it to Regal" when what happens? Cena starts to lecture Regal on respect.

Now I know "respect" is just as important to John Cena's gimmick as pretending that starring in the Marine makes him a Marine, but lecturing Regal isn't the way to do it. This isn't World Lecturing Entertainment, it's World WRESTLING Entertainment. What does that mean, children? That means we solve our differences in the ring. This is John Cena's first mistake of the night. Instead of being a wrestler and doing something about Regal making the wrong decisions, Cena wants to talk about it. Can you imagine if Stone Cold just wanted to talk to Mr. McMahon about the bad decisions he made? How about instead of Laying the Smacketh Down, The Rock wanted to Cheweth the Fat with his opponents? To the older fans used to someone who knows that actions speak louder than words, John Cena is a waste of time.

Move on to Main Event, and we'll see another aspect to John Cena that irks the older wrestling fans: his in-ring style. Now, I'm not the kind of guy that believes "work rate" brings the ratings, but Cena is one of the few times where I think that what he does in the ring really hurts him, especially against someone like Randy Orton.

Now, I've watched this match three times just to make sure I wasn't making this up, but Cena's repertoire is, for lack of a better word, sloppy. Randy Orton starts the match looking as if he's mentally prepared. J.R. used that wonderful term "methodical" when describing Orton in ring. That used to mean slow, but with Orton's in ring style it's very accurate. He lays on every headlock, every punch, every back breaker with precision and intent. He wants to work on your head so that concussion kick really takes effect, or for that RKO to deliver a KO. Cena, not so much. If Orton is, as J.R. called him, a viper, then John Cena is a blind gorilla. Cena's every move in that ring looked as if he didn't really have a hold on what he was doing. His ring work looked sloppier than the Goodwin's overalls. Lots of flying through the ring while "holding on" to Orton when it was clear he didn't have a hold at all. Bulldogs, clotheslines, even a cross body that looked horrible in comparison with Orton's precise movements.

Now, I'm not saying Orton is the best in the business, but he looked like a million dollars compared to the Vanilla Gorilla Monday night. If you add that, as well as his confused gimmick, John Cena isn't at all connecting with the older fans. There's an old saying that Jim Cornette is fond of: "You can't polish a turd." Luckily from Cena, he's far from being a turd. But if he is to continue on the course he's on, he will be. The Great Khali has excuses for his lack of in ring prowess, John Cena has none.

To tell JJ that he can't be polished, click here.

To talk about John Cena's performance on RAW, click here.

(John Cena Picture courtesy of www.onlineworldofwrestling.com)

Too much of a Soap Opera..

Last night as I was watching RAW, I realized just how much change has occurred in WWE since the late 90's and early in this decade. Not just in the presentation of the product, but in the product itself. Long gone are the days when watching WWE felt like watching a bunch of characters enjoying making a name for themselves. There's no unscripted humor, no unscripted interviews, and no unscripted anything, really.

Take the Cryme Tyme vignette last night. JTG and Shad are backstage showing us what they stole from people at Wrestlemania, in a mock shopping channel set up. They've got some soul in a shaker courtesy of "Soul Man" Rocky Johnson, an autographed Playboy from Maria, and panties that belonged to Mae Young. Funny stuff, but it's in no way shape or form connected to ANYTHING else in the show, as it would have been several years ago. Someone would have figured that if they bought that shaker full of Rocky Johnson soul, the might be able to "shake" (pun intended) off a losing streak or somehow improve their game. Maybe Al Snow would have coughed up some cash in order to improve Steve Blackman's hard headed personality. You could have even had someone incredibly gullible pay for it, only to find out later that the shaker had nothing but pepper in it, giving them sneezing fits and costing them a match which would lead to a feud with Cryme Tyme for selling fake products.

Later on in the show, someone like Funaki would have approached Cryme Tyme for the Playboy to see Maria, and then snuck away with Mae Young's panties. If not that, then Maybe someone like Val Venis would have picked up the Playboy, and he and Santino would start a feud as Santino would chastise Venis for looking at Maria naked (great idea for a feud, as Santino and Maria are no longer together, so it makes him even more of a jerk. Venis, being a former porn star, has seen many women naked and probably doesn't think that much of looking in Playboy. The misunderstanding is more than enough to start a decent mid-card feud).

Another thing that really made me consider that WWE has changed was Kane's obviously scripted promo on ECW following Wrestlemania. The man beats 23 other men to earn a title shot, and then beats Chavo in 8 seconds for the ECW title, and comes out cutting a promo that not only sounds like something Randy Orton might say, but is delivered in the way Randy Orton would say it. This is Kane we're talking about. The same Kane who was once a monster that believed he was hideously scarred by a fire that killed his parents. The same Kane that once he started speaking, did so with the sound of violence deep in his heart. The same Kane who now sounds nearly identical to a snotty twenty something who goes around beating up old men and calling himself a "Legend Killer."

What's wrong with this picture?

Now, I realize I may just be looking for things to complain about, but these things may just explain why WWE is getting lower ratings than they were eight to ten years ago. It may explain why there are a lot of guys like me getting their wrestling fix from independent companies like ROH, FIP, Chikara, and NWA's Showcase show on Colours (Which SamoaRowe LOVES to review, by the way). It's not like these things are hard to fix, but they might be a little too hard for some people in high places to admit.

To tell JJ how right or wrong he is, click here.

To talk about WWE's shows, and how they're overly scripted, click here.