WWE Capitol Punishment: 10 Things You Need to Know About John Cena vs. R-Truth

This Sunday, R-Truth and his new attitude get an opportunity to become WWE Champion for the very first time. To do that, he will have to defeat John Cena in our nation's capital at Capitol Punishment. We have been exposed to the idea of R-Truth in a world title match on a few instances before, but this would be the first one-on-one world title match for R-Truth in WWE.

Some view this as WWE just trying to bide some time and lengthen the world title reign for Cena, but there may end up being more to this than meets the eye. Before watching this match on Sunday in Washington D.C., here are 10 things to think about first.

They Used to Be Friends (Sort Of)

On screen, R-Truth and John Cena were friends. They weren't friendly enough to tag together or talk much backstage, but they were both faces and seemed to be slated there forever. If there was one face that I had more of a problem with than Cena, it was R-Truth. At least one of them had to turn heel, which R-Truth did.

Since then, there has been more heat on R-Truth than there was ever cheers for him. Even if little kids liked rapping to his song, the reaction he gets now is stronger than he has ever gotten, regardless of his gimmick or promotion.

They Actually Hate Each Other

While I am sure that they aren't close to fights backstage, when R-Truth says that he doesn't like John Cena, he is probably telling the truth (no pun intended). Prior to rejoining WWE, R-Truth, then with TNA, posted a few shoot videos making fun of WWE and calling John Cena out by name. This apparently led to an altercation at an airport between the two, which never ended up in anything physical.

It has since been denied by both men that anything like that has happened, but they both work for WWE still, so you know a story like that would never be allowed to come out.

John Cena Needs to Stay Healthy

WWE is constantly running a risk with having John Cena as the WWE Champion. While Cena is always on RAW every week, putting him as champion runs the risk of him getting injured that much higher. With his match against The Rock slated for next WrestleMania, WWE will have to be careful with Cena the closer that it gets to that night. Rumors are running rampant about Randy Orton's health going into his match this Sunday at Capitol Punishment, but Orton doesn't have an icon to face at WrestleMania in nine and a half months.

Would WWE dare take the belt off of Cena to ensure that he makes it to that major selling point for WWE's programming? With financial woes, could they afford to miss out on millions of potential dollars if their star gets hurt at a meaningless pay-per-view?

They Have Faced Each Other Before

In most of the cases of world title matches on pay-per-view, opponents will be kept separate and not be allowed to fight one another. They often end up in tag team matches against one another and don't always fight each other in the match. For the most part, WWE doesn't want to show the matchup that they want to sell the event on.

This has not been the case. R-Truth and John Cena fought each other just a few weeks ago. More importantly, R-Truth won, even if it was by countout. It wasn't a win that would have given him the title, but it is still a victory over John Cena nonetheless. This must have been done in order to bring in a possibility of R-Truth winning the championship on Sunday, but that likely won't happen.

Don't Expect a Five-Star Match

Not only does a prior match from the two give away the intrigue of the match, but it also peeks into how the match will likely look. This match doesn't look too good, honestly. R-Truth's moves are some of the hardest in all of wrestling to match well with another guy. Not even the dominating chants of alternating Cena supporters and Cena haters will save this match. Despite all of the years in the ring, R-Truth may end up being carried in this match by Cena, who wrestles in this type of atmosphere as if it is second nature.

I'm not trying to say that R-Truth is inexperienced in these types of situations, but with his new gimmick and development of new signature and finishing moves, it is easy to imagine that Truth may not be too sure of himself, which is where Cena does what he does best: keeps the match moving along.

This won't be an all-time great, which hopefully means that there won't be so much time spent on it, especially with such a predictable outcome. And before the comments get flooded with the idea, Dave Batista is not coming back on Sunday.

R-Truth Is Being Built Very Goofy

For as great as R-Truth has been since his turn in attitude, WWE has decided to make him plain goofy and idiotic. This was probably done to avoid him being entirely a bad guy that was anti-John Cena and let the children feel better about it. Throwing a drink into the face of a Cena fan or taking a Cena hat from a little kid doesn't seem as bad if the moron is strutting around in a Civil War uniform and making doofy faces straight out of movies where African Americans were still referred to as "colored".

Whether they intended to do it or not, they have made it so that absolutely nobody can take R-Truth seriously. If he can't be taken seriously, he isn't a serious threat as a heel.

R-Truth Is Old

It's hard to take R-Truth as a possible WWE Champion seriously, but his age doesn't help the matter much, either. Ron Killings turned 39 this past January, which would make him one of the older champions in the company's history. Moreover, the WWE Championship is regarded as the top prize in the company no matter who holds the World Heavyweight Championship. R-Truth never has been and never will be a face of the company.

R-Truth is doing a great job as a transitional top heel, but that's as high as he will get. A champion that old in WWE is not very common. In other companies, on the other hand...

"Little Jimmy" Will Be on Cena's Side

As if we weren't sure about it, the little kiddies will all be sporting their John Cena shirts, hats, wristbands, necklaces, socks, glasses, etc. (seriously, what don't they make that has Cena on it?) in support of their hero. With the mentality of R-Truth, it is simple to imagine that there will be a little kid planted that will have something to do in the match.

Additionally, if we remember anything from their one-on-one contest on RAW, R-Truth spent a lot of time outside of the ring. Being outside of the ring means more chances to interact with fans and give the little kids a chance to be on camera when cheering for Cena.

John Cena = America

They announce a pay-per-view in Washington, D.C. and name it Capitol Punishment. They put it just weeks before the Fourth of July and give the championship to a man that salutes and is wearing a red, white and blue shirt.

Do you honestly think that John Cena would walk away from this fight without his championship without destroying all of democracy?

By the way, for those wondering, the WWE Championship has only changed hands once in Washington D.C., when The Rock defeated HHH for the title at Backlash 2000.

Money in the Bank Is Around the Corner

It's never too early to look ahead, especially when what is in front of you looks like it sucks so much. Four weeks after Capitol Punishment will be the Money in the Bank pay-per-view from Rosemont, Illinois. I can already tell you that R-Truth will not be in the world title match at that event, but will probably be relegated to the RAW ladder match, only to lose.

As for a new contender for Cena, I can expect to see CM Punk. They may give Punk the victory at Capitol Punishment over Rey Mysterio, and he can weasel into number one contendership. With his contract up in the air, it may be his final world title match or a huge bargaining chip to have him stay with the company.