WWE's Problem Booking John Cena, Heel Randy Orton Coming Soon, More Quick Takes

Night of Champions won't go down as one of WWE's stronger showings on pay-per-view in 2025, but it did feature its fair share of bright spots and memorable moments that will shape the product for the rest of the summer.

John Cena successfully retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship was hardly in doubt, but the fashion in which he did so mirrored the ending of his previous title matches this year.

The overbooked nature of his heel run is doing more to hinder the main events of WWE's premium live events than help them, with the excessive amount of interference speaking to a bigger issue with Triple H's current creative direction.

The hype for the second Evolution has also been alarmingly minimal and only reinforces the fear among fans that WWE isn't paying enough attention to its women's division, or at the very least prioritizing its storylines and matches as much as it should.

Evolution is guaranteed to deliver regardless of the build because of the exceptional talent involved, but the expansion of WWE's event calendar combined with the lack of focus on the women's division and the overreliance on interference in matches are all concerns that must be addressed imminently.

This installment of Quick Takes will discuss WWE's Evolution dilemma, Jade Cargill being put in a position to sink or swim going forward, MJF not feeling as important as he once was in All Elite Wrestling, and more.

Cena's Heel Run Has Exposed Biggest Flaw in Triple H's Style of Booking

Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns from WrestleMania 40 is widely regarded to be among WWE's greatest matches of all time, despite focusing far more on the shenanigans and interference than the actual in-ring action.

The circumstances were such that all of the overbooking worked wonderfully, yet Triple H has seemingly attempted to replicate that formula on multiple occasions since then to no avail.

Overbooking and interference in high-profile main events was commonplace in the Attitude Era and made for some of the most memorable endings in company history, but the primary objective of it nowadays is to protect talent from taking clean losses and furthering multiple stories at once instead of giving fans a straightforward finish to a wrestling match.

There are times when the outside shenanigans can add to an outing, but it's become the norm for a majority of matches on WWE TV, even more egregiously at PLEs. The closing stretch of John Cena vs. CM Punk at Night of Champions, for example, would have been better received by fans if the focus didn't shift to who was about to come out and cost Cena or Punk the win.

WWE can greatly benefit from going back to basics with the booking and delivering more clean finishes that don't leave fans too dissatisfied once the event is over.

WWE's Neglect of Evolution Build Is Disappointing Yet Unsurprising

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The sheer amount of shows WWE has packed into its schedule since WrestleMania 41 has done more to water down the product by taking the quantity-over-quality approach than offering fans more compelling content.

Night of Champions was a prime example of an event where most of the card could have easily transpired on any average episode of Raw or SmackDown, but worse yet, a ton of attention has been taken off Evolution on July 13 with no matches officially announced ahead of Monday's Raw.

The women's divisions on Raw and SmackDown are deeper than they've ever been, but WWE has done little to create exciting storylines to culminate at Evolution. Instead, most of the roster is either stuck in the same feuds or treading water altogether.

Thus, the company's complete neglect of the event shouldn't be surprising in the slightest. A six-seven match lineup will be confirmed in relatively short order and it will have potential on paper, but the bigger concern is WWE missing out on making Evolution as much of a historic happening as the inaugural version was.

In that case, management should have held off on having it until the time was right, not so it can simply stack the deck against AEW over All In weekend.

It's Sink or Swim Time for Jade Cargill

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Nearly two years removed from joining WWE, Jade Cargill is about to be truly tested as a singles star for the first time. Every misstep will be overanalyzed, but what matters most is her staying the course and proving she can hang at an elite level.

The 33-year-old showed signs of progress during the three years she spent in AEW but was largely relegated to shorter matches on purpose to hide her inexperience.

WWE booked her in similar fashion upon her arrival and immediately positioned her in the tag team ranks with Bianca Belair where she could further hone her skills and gradually work her way toward wrestling on her own more often.

That time is now after she became Queen of the Ring with her win over Asuka this past weekend. Neither that match nor her outing against Roxanne Perez on last week's Raw were her finest moments, leaving fans to wonder whether she's ready for the aggressive push she'll be receiving this summer.

Capturing the crown means The Storm is confirmed to challenge the WWE women's champion at SummerSlam, which will be Tiffany Stratton unless she loses the title to Ms. Money in the Bank Naomi before then.

All eyes will be on Cargill's matches to see whether she's able to hold her own. If she's at least competent in the ring and her promos are passable, she'll excel because of her awe-inspiring presentation alone.

Ultimately, the key with Cargill will be to turn her heel, but with that not being the quick fix, it's important she continues to improve and work on her craft or risk fizzling out and having her weaknesses exposed.

MJF Is Not the Pivotal Player He Once Was in AEW

MJF's on-going saga with The Hurt Syndicate has been a recurring highlight since it started in the spring. It's also seen him become a much less pivotal player in AEW than at almost any other point in his six-year run with the promotion.

If the idea is for the 29-year-old to gain the trust of every member before eventually betraying them, nothing will have been gained aside from a few fun segments. In the meantime, he's been made to look desperate and inferior, not like the longest-reigning AEW world champion that he is.

His match with Mistico at Grand Slam: Mexico was enjoyable enough but failed to accomplish anything of value. Additionally, he'll likely be competing in the men's Casino Gauntlet match at All In instead of a marquee contest like in the last two years with Adam Cole and Will Ospreay.

The Hurt Syndicate is an excellent act with or without MJF, so it's a waste of everyone involved in the angle if it's no closer to reaching a logical conclusion.

In fact, MJF has yet to chase back after the top title he was beaten for in December 2023 with the only explanation being the character is lazy.

MJF can, of course, bounce back at any time and will make the most of working alongside the equally entertaining The Hurt Syndicate, but the storyline has done his once-hot stock no favors and seen him sidelined from PPVs he previously headlined.

Randy Orton Must Turn Heel Before Cody Rhodes

Georgiana Dallas/WWE

The long-awaited encounter between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes at Night of Champions not only stole the show but also planted the seeds for a future feud between the two. And by then, one of them is destined to be a heel again.

Rhodes told Kay Adams last week that he believes his babyface run is nearing its end, specifically in the next two to three years. Despite a certain section of fans souring on his babyface run this year, he has a lot of juice left in the role and for him to turn anytime soon would be premature.

Orton would make much more sense to go heel first.

Although he's as organically over as ever before, there isn't a clear direction for The Viper toward the top of the card, especially having lost every singles match he's had on PLEs since returning from injury in late 2023.

His best bet at becoming a world championship challenger again is by betraying Rhodes, but not until after his former Legacy pupil regains the Undisputed WWE Championship from John Cena at SummerSlam.

It would be the perfect feud for the fall and would afford The American Nightmare the opportunity to really revitalize his character opposite an icon.

If their clash in the King of the Ring finals was any indication, the magic they'll make as rivals when the time comes will be nothing short of exceptional.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.