WWE Over the Limit: The Main Event Makes Sense to WWE

After watching the episode of torture porn that was the Miz vs. Cena match at Over the Limit, I felt compelled to write an article about the match itself and how it made perfect WWE sense.

Miz vs. John Cena was a foregone conclusion once the match was announced. Cena was undefeated in his previous “I Quit” three matches. There was no reason to believe that the same Cena who didn’t quit to JBL, Orton and Batista would quit to the Miz.

Cena’s previous opponents all had a number of legitimate victories over Cena, or at least a conceivable advantage. JBL was as much a brawler as Cena, Orton was far more ruthless and Batista could match Cena’s power and intensity. They presented a challenge. Miz did not. Ergo, Cena beats Miz at Over the Limit.

But what would that do for Cena? Going into the match with Miz, he already has the advantages necessary to make the match seem lopsided. Miz producing menial offense en route to the Cena victory means nothing. Cena overcame nothing; he simply did what he was going to do.

Cena victories must warrant some sort of overcoming the odds. Enter Alex Riley. Including A-Ri in the match creates a two-on-one situation that makes Cena look stronger. Otherwise, there was no victory for Cena that didn’t come out looking completely corny.

In a one-on-one with the Miz, the WWE runs the risk of making Miz the sympathetic figure. The WWE universe is not filled with the biggest kids at the school. Instead, they are filled with average-sized kids who likely have to deal with some bigger kid in some form of conflict.

The WWE would be playing with fire here. The creative staff is not talented enough to script that kind of drama with the proper build-up and cover all bases. You can’t ask the WWE universe to choose between their hero and their own experiences. The outcome is too unpredictable.

Furthermore, you can’t have Miz be the creative Lex Luthor to John Cena’s Superman because it won’t work without the Miz winning or going too far and having his career defined improperly by one moment.

Picture this: Cena is getting a beating. He refuses to quit. Miz stands nearly unscathed, smiling and taunting Cena and the WWE Universe. The boos rain down as Miz continues to assault Cena. Cena refuses to give up. A frustrated Miz walks over to a kid in the audience and tells him to tell John Cena to quit. The kid refuses. Miz pummels Cena again.

Cena refuses to quit, so Miz invites the kid into the ring and sets him up for the skull-crushing finale, on his knees. Cena is forced to quit, Miz wins and the kid takes off his Cena shirt to reveal a Miz shirt. The Miz and his fan celebrate Miz’s title win.

Cena gets bested.

Smallville recently completed 10 seasons, and on through the show only one character consistently surpassed Tom Welling’s Clark Kent in popularity: Michael Rosenbaum’s Lex Luthor.

Lex Luthor, the ultimate Superman villain.

Lex Luthor has no superhuman abilities, although his intelligence rivals or surpasses nearly the whole universe.

That is what Miz should be known for. He is the Lex Luthor to Chris Jericho’s Brainiac and to Cena’s Superman.

Unfortunately, creating a complex villain is difficult. The hero can foil Plan A, but Plans B and C succeed in the meantime. Miz would still gain a measure of victory in defeat.

Using the situation above, if Cena didn’t quit, the Miz would have exposed Cena’s apathy for the fans and concern only for himself and the WWE title, not seen since Triple H chose to use the sledgehammer on Randy Orton at WrestleMania 24.

Losing the match, Miz still wins.

The WWE cannot risk any situation where John Cena turns heel, even accidentally.

Therefore, keeping things simple by making Miz and Riley double-team Cena makes perfect WWE sense.