John Cena's 2012 rivals
After the WWE pushed his rivalry with The Rock for a full calendar year, John Cena has a new rival almost weekly in 2012. Since Wrestlemania, "slow burn" and "John Cena" have not been used in the same sentence. I can't imagine what the WWE is thinking in deciding his angles and rivals over the last couple of months.
Although it's still May, John Cena has already had at least five serious rivals in 2012. Take a look back at John Cena's top five rivals so far in 2012.
5. John Laurinaitis
For a brief moment in time, the WWE stepped into its Attitude Era time machine and gave us a classic "face vs. authority heel" rivalry. It wasn't exactly Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon, but the main event at Over the Limit 2012 cemented John Cena's return to the good graces of most WWE fans.
4. Lord Tensai
I was among the scores of WWE fans who were unimpressed with the return of Lord "Prince Albert" Tensai. Apparently, the WWE was determined to push Tensai despite the negative reaction of the crowd. In the main event of the April 16, 2012 edition of Raw, Lord Tensai actually defeated John Cena in a huge upset.
3. Big Show
As soon as I heard that any wrestler interfering in the Laurinaitis vs. Cena main event would be fired, I wrote an article predicting the recently fired Big Show would interfere. However, I had the Big Show helping John Cena. Now the WWE is recycling this old rivalry one more time for No Way Out 2012.
2. The Rock
I guess the WWE got what it wanted out of John Cena's rival for Wrestlemania 28. The Rock returned to the WWE and the Wrestlemania main event was a buyrate bonanza. Unfortunately, the WWE creative team learned nothing from its success and John Cena now has a new rival every five minutes in 2012.
1. Brock Lesnar
When Brock Lesnar attacked John Cena on Raw the night after Wrestlemania, I thought a new major rivalry had begun. However, the WWE had other plans for Lesnar. In 2012, John Cena has somehow managed to defeat Brock Lesnar, while losing to The Rock, Lord Tensai and John Laurinaitis.
Welcome to the WWE!
Patrick Michael lives in New Orleans and has always been a big fan of pro wrestling. Patrick's favorite wrestling organization was Mid-South Wrestling back in the 1980s.Patrick's favorite wrestling angle of all-time was the NWO and his favorite wrestler was Roddy Piper. Follow Patrick Michael on Twitter at patmichael84.
Sources
"WWE," wwe.com
Personal knowledge of pro wrestling
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