WWE over the Limit 2012 Results: John Cena Should Have Faced Someone Else

Aside from establishing The Big Show as the company's newest top heel, the John Laurinaitis/John Cena main event match at the Over the Limit was a colossal waste of Cena's talent and star power.

The match itself, unsurprisingly, wasn't very good, with the promotion booking it largely for comedy and giving the fans the chance to see the annoying Laurinaitis get his comeuppance, as he was subjected to one humiliation after another at the hands of Cena.

The bout may have also backfired in attempting to establish Cena as a heroic babyface fighting against tyrannical authority. Honestly, Cena got so incredibly nasty towards the helpless and outmatched Laurinaitis as the match progressed, I even started to feel some sympathy for the GM. It was almost a relief to me when Big Show turned and took out Cena.  

That this muddled debacle got the main event slot over the brilliant Daniel Bryan/CM Punk scrap is also deeply troubling. Come on, shouldn't the WWE Championship bout have gone on last and this been relegated to the mid-card?

These issues aside, why did WWE even book the disastrous Cena/Laurinaitis match in the first place? And why did they choose to waste Cena's time with it?

Well, the main thing is, the promotion may have been at a loss for what to do with their top star.

After Cena emerged from his match with Brock Lesnar at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view a bloody, battered—but ultimately triumphant—mess, he was at a loose end in the storylines. Lesnar had moved on to a programme with Triple H; all the other top guys were locked up in angles. WWE needed something for him to do.

It's possible—maybe even likely—that the original plan for the PPV was Cena/Lord Tensai—a program that has been heavily rumoured for some time now. However, the disappointing and tepid fan reaction to the monster heel since he debuted may have put paid to that (the wrestler recently main-evented C show Superstars and didn't make an appearance at Over the Limit, something that probably doesn't bode too well for his future).

So, WWE, perhaps feeling they had no other option, made the call to put Cena in a match with Laurinaitis. While I can understand why the company went this route, it is something that I personally believe has been a big mistake.

First of all, at this stage in his life and career—Cena is wracked with injuries and, at age 35, hardly a "young guy" anymore—the star should be used to get over newer people on the roster like Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler.

Indeed, just think how rapidly their floundering profiles would have skyrocketed if Cena did a lengthy angle, filled with dramatic and serious interviews and great matches, with one of them.

At a time when WWE is greatly struggling to find fresh stars, their continued neglect of their up-and-coming mid-carders is extremely unwise. Especially when we consider that the promotion is using Cena to feud with Laurinaitis—who is already firmly established on WWE television as a corrupt corporate bad guy and loathed and detested by fans everywhere. Heck, if anyone on the WWE roster doesn't need Cena to help him get over, it's this guy.

Aside from being a waste of Cena's time, the whole feud was basically a rehash of a tired storyline that wrestling fans have seen play out innumerable times. After the Austin vs. McMahon program became such a massive hit in the late '90s, WWE foolishly insist on returning to this heel authority figure vs. rebellious wrestler storyline time and time again—and it is never as great or as exciting as the original.

Of course, many will point out that result of the main event now clears the path for a Big Show/Cena program, which means the storyline did have a point, but come on, you're telling me WWE couldn't have figured out some other way to create a feud between the two without dragging Laurinaitis into it? 

Not to mention that, following a refreshing period in which he got serious to take on Brock Lesnar, Cena annoyingly reverted back to joke-cracking funny guy in the feud. The closing segment of last week's Raw—which saw Cena confront Laurinaitis in the ring and tell one sophomoric, lame joke after another—was almost excruciating to watch.

Make no mistake about it, Cena's character has taken a huge step back with this storyline. Hopefully, feuding with The Big Show will help him rebound.