WWE Has Sacrificed a Great Deal to Legitimize John Cena

He's their guy, so why should we complain?

If you hadn't already noticed, John Cena is currently receiving some of the biggest pops in recent memory at live events.

Mostly positive, by the way.

A far cry from getting booed at every arena and public appearance before and immediately following his clash with The Rock at WrestleMania.

It was a match billed as the "Fight of the Century," but one that quickly became a battle between a WWE legend and a man whose gimmicks the crowd had finally grown tired of—only going to be one winner.

But the true nadir for the PG-rated Superstar came the following night with an F-5, a swift kick of the cap and the reaction of tens of thousands of fans squealing in delight.

The King is dead, long live Brock: the PG era is over!

Since that night—an undisputed high point in WWE Raw history—the creative team have quite skillfully masterminded a near-complete reversal of popular reaction and attitude towards Cena.

The week after the cap-kick came Brock's cringing heel turn and his embarrassing brown-nosing towards John Laurinaitis—not to mention the bloody brawl that ensued.

The Extreme Rules match itself played like a good old-fashioned David and Goliath showdown, with Cena pulling out an improbable win against the odds.

His post-match promo may have been unscripted, but it was a genius play on his part against Lesnar, who reportedly flew into a rage backstage after witnessing it on the monitors.

Lesnar expected his opponent to have been stretchered out of the arena to close the show à la Undertaker vs Triple-H.

This after Lesnar expected to sleepwalk his way to WrestleMania, notching easy victory after victory on his way and leaving bloodied opponents in his wake.

Like him or not, WWE needs Brock on its side.

Forgetting the fact he was away for eight years and probably only returned for the money, the off-the-cuff promo was a deceptive and cowardly way to treat a fellow pro, and it is almost comparable to the Montreal Screwjob in terms of its open deceit.

Even if the contract he signed (the real one) is binding, WWE does not want an unmotivated and indifferent Brock Lesnar headlining the show.

We all remember his "classic" match with Goldberg at WrestleMania XX.

(And if you don't, you're one of the lucky ones.)

The potential for a Brock vs Rock, or Brock vs Streak match next March is too great to ignore.

Another facet of WWE Raw that has suffered as a result of countless Cena promos closing out show after show is the legitimacy of the WWE Championship.

After all, the main events of the last two PPVs have had nothing but pride at stake.

No gold, no Punk, and no Bryan or Jericho.

Is anyone looking forward to the hastily arranged John Cena vs John Laurinaitis Over The Limit main event yet?

But then, if Cena's their No. 1 guy, he should be ours too right?