WrestleMania 35: Why a John Cena vs Samoa Joe matchup is a good idea
John Cena may not be as relevant as he used to be three years back, but his star power and the charisma he bears is incomparable. The 41-year-old was the MVP of the Ruthless Aggression Era, but he has now decided to pass the baton to the younger wrestlers.
His last appearance on WWE was in January where he was in matches with random superstars. He continued that until he declared that he suffered an ankle injury, and his Royal Rumble appearance was under jeopardy.
There was a lot of suspense around his appearance in the Rumble match because he was one of the top speculated stars to win the match. There were a lot of speculations because people thought he was going to win the WWE Championship for the seventeenth time at WrestleMania after booking his ticket at the Rumble. But that didn't happen.
On the other hand, Samoa Joe's run in WWE has been plagued with injuries and bad booking. His last relevant feud was with AJ Styles where he was inches close to the WWE World Championship.
WWE has to understand a few things about Samoa Joe.
Firstly, he is a veteran. He has several accolades like being the ROH Champion for 21 months straight, and TNA X Division Champion on five different occasions, to name a few.
Secondly, he is a fine wrestler, and he has got talent on the mic too. He is a trained Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Judo, and Muay Thai player. Third and most importantly, he is not becoming younger by the day. The nasty heel is 39-years-old, and he just won his first championship on the main roster. WWE needs to give him more importance, as he is a gem if utilized properly.
The two veterans going up against each other is best for business!
It is a dream match as both superstars haven't faced each other before. John Cena's opponent this year was quite uncertain. There were several rumors that the future Hall of Famer was going to face Lars Sullivan. But the idea was scrapped as the latter's main-event debut was delayed.
It's a better late than never scenario, as the two legends were going to face each other at No Mercy in 2017, but the idea didn't work out as Cena faced Reigns instead. WWE tried to fix a feud between them before WM 34, but the idea went to the drains because Joe got an injury that forced him to miss the PPV altogether.
Reportedly, Cena had requested a feud with Joe, but his dreams were squashed when he faced 'Taker instead in a squash match, and Joe watched from the sidelines.
The Champ and The Destroyer have faced each other on non-televised events, but never on a legit PPV or a televised match. The two of them have a lot of similarities, as they broke into the wrestling scene at the same time, but their path diverged as Cena entered WWE and Joe went ahead with Ring of Honor.
However, two decades down the line, the two legends are going to meet. Joe is a technical wrestler who has proven his mettle several times, and then we have Cena, who has been grilled with slogans stating that he can't wrestle, but he has a good reputation of delivering in big matches. Undoubtedly, 'Big Match John' will deliver again.
Another reason why this match is going to be a blockbuster is that Joe was always seen as the star of the opposition. He spent a huge chunk of his wrestling career wrestling for ROH and TNA who are rival wrestling companies, but they are not as big as WWE.
At that time, Cena was the star of WWE, the corporate star-boy that had every possible advantage one would want, and he got a massive amount of marketing. Despite how dissimilar they were, they were both alike in one key area - people wanted to see them wrestle.
Thus, there could and should be an incredible big fight feel to the first-ever televised Joe vs Cena match, which hasn't been made official just yet, but by virtually all indications, it's locked for WrestleMania 35.