WWE Debate: Which Match Should Close out WWE Pay-Per-Views?

If you want to know why so many wrestling fans hate John Cena, all you have to do is look at the WWE’s last four pay-per-views. 

Cena wrestled in the final match of each of those four PPVs, despite the fact that not one of those matches involved a World title. 

He closed Elimination Chamber in an Ambulance Match against Kane, WrestleMania 29 against The Rock, Extreme Rules in an Extreme Rules Match against Brock Lesnar and Over the Limit against John Laurinaitis. 

One thing that this proves is that Cena takes priority over the rest of the WWE roster, including whoever is holding the World Heavyweight and the WWE Championships at the time. 

This is an unfortunate situation because Cena did not have the best match on the card at any of these four pay-per-views, and you could certainly make a case that he had the worst match on the card at both Elimination Chamber and Over the Limit. 

What has resulted is backlash toward Cena, the creative team and the WWE in general for putting Cena in the main event even when the situation doesn’t really call for that to happen. 

Naturally, this has backfired on the WWE, as a number of Cena’s main events have fallen short of expectations and ended PPVs on a sour note for the older and/or anti-Cena WWE fans. 

This me got me thinking: Is it the right booking decision to have your top star close every PPV? Better yet, what should the show-closing match be? 

Let’s look at the options for which match should close WWE pay-per-views.

Option No. 4: The World Heavyweight or WWE Championship Match 

At least theoretically, the most important match on the card should involve one of the WWE’s two World titles. 

Obviously, that isn’t always the case, and a World title match doesn’t always have to close a PPV. The problem is that consistently holding the World title matches on the undercard makes them look unimportant and diminishes their value. 

For four straight PPVs now, the World and WWE title matches took place before the main event, and at WrestleManias 27 and 28, the World Heavyweight Championship match was even relegated to the show-opener (and of course, got just 18 seconds this year). 

Meanwhile, the WWE Championship matches have also been overlooked recently because they have not been highlighted in the PPV main event, either. 

Given that the World Heavyweight and WWE Championships are supposed to be the two most prestigious titles in the company, one would think that they would be on the line in the PPV main event more often than not. 

Option No. 3: The Best Rivalry 

Oftentimes, one WWE rivalry sticks out as the best ongoing feud in the company at the time. 

It may not involve a World title or end up being the best match on the card, but the emotion and energy that comes along with the rivalry makes it a great pick for the main event time slot. 

If a feud is the best storyline in the WWE at a given time, chances are that—whether the two workers involved are great or not—their match will be pretty good because of all the animosity between the two competitors and the great buildup to it. 

When a match has a fantastic buildup and a fantastic story, it shouldn’t be out of the question to put that match on last, even if other matches may seem to trump it in terms of importance. 

Option No. 2: Cena’s Match 

It’s crazy to think that the WWE would give John Cena the main event of almost every PPV for the simple fact that he’s John Cena, but that’s often proven to be the case, especially lately. 

I guess the WWE’s logic say is that its biggest baby face and biggest star in the company should be treated like such, and in order to do that, he has to get the main event time slot. 

That logic has plenty of flaws, but on some level, I could see why the WWE would want to do this. 

Cena is the top star, and just because we Internet fans aren’t in love with him, that doesn’t mean that the majority of the audience doesn’t love him. 

They do, and Cena—like him or not—generates the biggest audience reaction on the most consistent basis. 

Option No. 1: The Best Match on the Card 

A big problem that WWE pay-per-views often have is that the best actual match takes place in the middle of the card. 

What’s the problem there? It makes it damn near impossible for any match to follow it. 

I always look back to WrestleMania 25 when the two World title matches were forced to follow The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, which was one of the greatest matches ever. 

How can you realistically expect two wrestlers to follow that and live up to their expectations? You can’t, honestly. 

WWE officials often know when heading into a PPV what the best match on the card will be, and if that match is going to be leaps and bounds better than any other match on the card, they might want to seriously consider giving that match the main event. 

Even if the best match doesn’t involve a title or is for a mid-card belt, that shouldn’t prevent the WWE from always relegating it to the mid-card. 

My Take 

Realistically speaking, there are pros and cons for every option here. 

I could see why Cena would work in the main event of most pay-per-views, but I’d also have no problem with WWE officials predicting what the best match on the card will be and giving that match the main event. 

I also could see why a fan would argue that the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship should always be defended in the main event because those are the company’s two most prestigious titles. 

But I think the fact that there are so many pluses and minuses of each option leads me to one logical conclusion: Which match goes on last at a WWE PPV should always depend on the situation. 

Take Over the Limit, for example. The WWE knew that Cena vs. John Laurinaitis was going to suck while Punk vs. Bryan was going to be phenomenal, so why not put the WWE Championship Match on last? 

Then, you can take a look at WrestleMania 28, and just think about this for a second: Was any other match ever going to capture the raw energy and emotion of The Rock vs. John Cena, have so much importance in terms of pro wrestling history and actually be a phenomenal match? 

No, that match had to go on last. 

The bottom line is that there is no set formula for what match should close a WWE PPV. The only conclusion I can make is that Cena shouldn’t be in the main event of every PPV just because he’s Cena. 

When the creative team constructs a pay-per-view card, they have to consider all factors involved and look at what works best in the show’s main event. 

If it’s Cena’s match, then so be it. If it’s the WWE Championship Match, so be it. If it’s a match involving two big names but no title, then so be it. 

The most important thing is that the WWE gets out of this ridiculous mindset that Cena must main event every PPV. 

It’s not an overly complicated process—see what the situation calls for, and then book accordingly.

Drake Oz is the WWE Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions (to be answered in the B/R Mailbag) on Formspring.