WWE Elimination Chamber: The John Cena-Kane Feud Must End

If nothing else, the feud between John Cena and Kane has been a great way to pass the time until WrestleMania 28. It began in December, and it's been ongoing ever since.

Now is the perfect time to end it. Cena and Kane are slated to square off in an Ambulance Match at the Elimination Chamber this Sunday. By the end of their match, some sort of conclusion needs to be reached.

Alas, it's not hard to predict how this one is going to end. This feud has consisted primarily of Kane beating the stuffing out of Cena and further testing his spirit by tormenting his allies. The whole thing has been set up in such a way that it's virtually impossible to imagine Cena, cast as the underdog in all this, not coming out on top in the end.

Thankfully, the feud has provided some much-needed changes to Cena's character. He hasn't come too close to the full-on heel turn that quite a few wrestling fans would love to see, but Kane has forced Cena to be more malicious than we're used to.

Never more was this true than on the Jan. 30 episode of Raw, in which Cena appeared to defend Eve from Kane. Cena went completely bonkers, ruthlessly attacking Kane with everything at his disposal, including steel ring steps. That was good stuff.

I was anticipating Cena embracing the hate much earlier, but better late than never in this case. It's good enough that he's shown he's capable of being more than the faux-heroic cartoon character, an act that has long since grown tired.

But Cena is not a completely new character yet. He's as close as he's ever been to taking on a new persona, but his transformation—assuming it's going to happen, knock wood—needs something definitive.

A victory over Kane will do the trick quite nicely. After all, the creative team has made it pretty clear that the only way Cena is going to beat Kane is by embracing the hate. To put it in Star Wars terms (why the heck not?), Cena will have to cross over to the dark side to defeat Kane. There's your much-needed character change.

And come on, we know Cena is going to defeat Kane. WWE isn't about to cast Cena as a defeated and utterly hopeless creature with less than two months to go until his bout with The Rock at WrestleMania. To sell that match, WWE needs Cena to be strong, fierce and dangerous. They need him to be a worthy opponent, one who may actually be able to defeat The Rock in front of his hometown crowd.

I'm not saying that's going to happen, mind you. I'm merely saying that's the way the stage needs to be set. If Kane defeats Cena, and entirely different stage is going to be set, and I simply cannot fathom how it would be for the better.

Merely allowing the Cena-Kane feud to continue would be even worse. It's as entertaining as it's going to get, and WWE has made its point with the blasted thing. It's time to bring it to an end and put it aside.

By the time the Elimination Chamber is over, the Cena-Kane feud needs to have served its purpose.