John Cena is very adamant that WWE Superstars have to earn respect. Nobody “deserves” anything. Of course, the irony lies in the fact that many times in his career he has been given opportunities without actually earning them.
Remember when CM Punk stole the WWE Championship and left the company?
WWE ran a one-night tournament that was won by Rey Mysterio. John Cena simply challenged him for the title and promptly won it from him that same night. Now that's not a case of the rematch clause coming into effect, but it illustrates the point that he was granted that title match because Rey Mysterio thought that he “deserved” it.
He didn't win a match to become number one contender… in fact, he lost the match that got WWE into that mess in the first place!
Earning it
Bray Wyatt is the new WWE Champion. He won the title, earned it, in fact, by defeating six other men inside the Elimination Chamber. Not only that, but he's the guy who eliminated John Cena, who came into the match as the champ!
Using basic logic, one would be able to rightfully state that Bray Wyatt earned the WWE Championship at Elimination Chamber and thus, by way of earning it, “deserves” to be the champion. In the mind of John Cena, nobody else works hard enough to earn the title, it seems.
I'm not sure what else a guy has to do to earn it because that's certainly what Bray did.
You know who didn't earn a rematch for the title? John Cena. He can't even argue that he lost it in a multi-man match to someone else because the winner of the match and the new WWE Champion is the guy who pinned him. But, since match contracts stipulate that a champion gets a rematch if he loses, Cena gets another shot at the belt.
The one that he lost fair and clean. He didn't win the title back this week on Smackdown Live, but if he did, would he have really earned it?
Ask and you shall receive
At WWE Fastlane, current WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens has to defend his title against Goldberg. In a place like WWE, the mantra is “what have you done for me lately?” With that in mind, what did Bill Goldberg do to earn a shot at Owens and the title? Beat up Brock Lensar, a man who hasn't been Champion in a couple of years?
No, he got the title shot because he's a legend. Different rules apply, apparently.
If Goldberg wins the title, what are the chances that Owens gets a contractually obligated rematch? Slim, I would say, because he's not a big enough star and Goldberg has Brock Lesnar to worry about.
Is that fair? Well, realistically, if Goldberg beats Owens clean in the middle of the ring, then, in my opinion, it is. Owens can work toward and earn another shot at the title. In WWE’s world, presently, it’s lopsided and unfair because others would be getting title rematches.
I understand that the idea is to try to get more eyes on the product by bringing in legends and hoping that people still want to see them (instead of making new stars that people want to see), but they should still have to earn their chances to wrestle for titles.
Dropping the clause
If WWE stopped enforcing the automatic rematch clause, it would make so many more matches more important. In fact, all matches would be more important, because each victory means one step closer to earning a shot at a title.
If you’re a lower level guy, you would work your way up to a lower level title, and so on and so forth. If you lose your title, you may not have to start completely over, but you would have to beat somebody (or multiple somebodies) in order to earn a chance to regain your Championship.
It also just makes things more fun and less predictable. You might find a guy on a long mission to get back to his title, only to find himself in a completely different rivalry, maybe even for a completely different title.
There would be more matches with title opportunities on the line, which would give WWE a chance to put different wrestlers in the spotlight, so even though they might not be getting title shots, they will be mingling and brushing shoulders with those who are higher on the card.
This method raises the stock of everybody involved, makes the weekly shows mean more and become less forgettable events, and it gives people who are floundering and doing nothing, something to do. The New Day are doing nothing. Rusev is doing nothing. They don’t have to win title shots, but they can be in matches that determine the contenders for different title shots.
And all because former champions don’t automatically get another opportunity after losing their belts. It’s lazy storytelling. That needs to stop.
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