During the summer of 2004 I wrote my very first column for Obsessed With Wrestling, the column was entitled 'Randy Orton: Has His Time Come'. The column put forth my views on why Randy Orton was not ready to be the World Heavyweight Champion. Now, months later, Randy Orton is seemingly lost on RAW, Benoit and Eddie Guerrero are being misused and we have two average wrestlers being rammed down our throat as legitimate contenders for their respective World Championships. Similar to the Randy Orton column, this column shall look at the two individuals, Batista and John Cena, looking at why they should be World Heavyweight/WWE Champion, why they should not be World/WWE Champion and what a possible title reign for both men could mean for the WWE in the future; example matches, storylines etc...

Batista

Batista was not always a member of the all powerful group Evolution, in fact early in Batista's career he was affiliated with Reverend D-von, although he made the jump to RAW. It was not long before he was under the wing of the 16 time World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair and arguably the greatest World Heavyweight Champion (Yeah right) of all time Triple H. While in Evolution, Batista had great success winning two Tag Team Championships with Ric Flair and for a little while was the arguably the top contender for the Intercontinental Championship, although never did actually win it. Somewhere along the line Batista caught the attention of many wrestling fans. It was along this line Batista upped his game and won the Royal Rumble. Now Batista is on the road to Wrestlemania, but more importantly on the road to the World Heavyweight Championship.

Why does Batista deserve to be World Heavyweight Champion" This is a question which has plagued and riddled me, since Batista won the Royal Rumble, and to be honest I can not think of many reasons as to why Batista deserves the opportunity to be World Champ, except for he is popular amongst the fans and that he is a wrestler who carries himself like a champion. Another good reason for Batista winning the World Championship is that he would have officially separated himself from Evolution. On the other hand, I think he officially separated himself from Evolution when he delivered the Batista bomb to Triple H through the table. Nonetheless with Batista out of Evolution this will give Triple H the opportunity to recruit new wrestlers and give them the chance to prove themselves worthy. Examples include Maven, Chris Masters and possibly Christian.

Why Batista does not yet deserve to be World Heavyweight Champion" If - and I reiterate if - Batista defeats Triple H at Wrestlemania, what more is there for the big man to do" I mean it seems the only reason Batista's popularity sky-rocketed is because of the intrigue of a Triple H vs. Batista match and once that is in the record books, Batista will return to being nothing more than a jacked up freak as so many in the past have referred to him as. If the WWE chooses to keep him on as their World Champion, I could see his championship reign being the mirror image of Diesel's. Sure it may have lasted about a year, but it did not draw the numbers and proved to be a big mistake on the part of the WWE. In my opinion the World Heavyweight Champion has quite a burden on his shoulders. You see once you are World Heavyweight Champion you are the representative of your company, this being the WWE. Once you are the World Heavyweight Champion you have gained the respect of the guys in the office and your fellow workers. However more importantly you gain their trust. They trust that the World Heavyweight Champion can go out there and draw the numbers, they trust the World Heavyweight Champion can grab the ratings and they trust the World Heavyweight Champion can take any wrestler walking the face of the earth and put on a half decent match with them. I just do not think Batista has earned this trust; believe me when I say Batista can put on good matches especially when he squares off with guys such as Jericho, Benoit, Edge and Orton. However he can only go out there with particular wrestlers and work good matches with them, any other wrestlers the match would usually be nothing more than a squash match. I would also like to make the point that Batista's matches are not the longest matches in the world, as well as his moves are very restricted.

What may the future hold for Batista as World Heavyweight Champion" Well I feel if the WWE go about it the right way they can not only bring needed prestige back to the World Heavyweight Title, they could also make Batista a passable champion, bordering on the line of a great champion. What I would do is have Batista's reign of terror as World Heavyweight Champion last anywhere between 4-8 months, however have Batista only defend the championship at pay-per-views and every now and again on RAW, similar to champions of the past. This way you could create longer feuds and in the process keep Batista's intrigue and popularity alive. Although what the WWE may do is have Batista drop the title back to Triple H a month later, so Triple H will be six championship reigns away from living out his wildest dreams, winning more championships than Ric Flair, although there is some debate on how many World Championships Ric Flair acquired.

John Cena John Cena made his debut on SmackDown! taking Kurt Angle to the limit in a good solid match. It was evident from this match that John Cena had good wrestling ability, definitely displaying better wrestling ability than what he shows now. On the 2002 Halloween episode of SmackDown! John Cena arrived at the party dressed as Vanilla Ice, this was the beginning of the Dr. of Thuganomics gimmick. During these early stages of his career John Cena played a heel and may I say, one hell of a heel. He played the part so well he soon became a favourite amongst many wrestling fans. Since his face turn Cena has been on a roll, winning various United States Championships and more recently the victor of a tournament to crown the number one contender for the WWE Championship.

Why does John Cena deserve to be WWE Champion"
John Cena does deserve the WWE Championship because of his pure wrestling ability; because lets face it ever since his return from a supposed stabbing he, in my opinion, has only had two good matches - one against Booker T and the other against Kurt Angle. The reason John Cena deserves the WWE Championship is because he has a great gimmick which appeals to many of the wrestling fans. Also, I feel he has the power to get a whole new audience into wrestling. There is a saying that 'you never know where you are going until you know where you've been.' I feel the WWE has looked back at their past, namely Wrestlemania 6 where Ultimate Warrior beat Hogan to add the WWF Championship to his list of accomplishments, when he was already Intercontinental Champion. The WWF knew that this created a stir of emotions and was a wrestling moment that will stand the test of time and they probably feel Cena as a double champion will make for a great wrestling moment. Although after Warrior lost the WWF Championship he took a great fall from grace, some may say Warrior was never the same, so who's to say the same may not happen to John Cena"

Why John Cena does not deserve the WWE Championship"
The reason John Cena does not deserve the WWE Championship is because I feel ever since Cena's push he is not the same humble young man he once was. I remember a time when I looked forward to watching Cena's matches, seeing as I personally sensed the hard work and desire Cena put into his matches. He had great matches with Angle, Undertaker, Benoit, RVD, Rene Dupree, Booker T... On the other hand ever since his big push his in ring skills have deteriorated and his ego has inflated. I assume that if Cena wins the WWE Championship his skills will become even worse and have squash matches left and right. Another reason I feel John Cena does not deserve to be WWE Champion is because I feel there are other wrestlers who deserve the opportunity to have a shot and a possible run with the championship; examples include Booker T and RVD.

What may the future hold with John Cena as WWE Champion"
I feel there are many possibilities to create great matches and angles. You could have Cena continue wrestling JBL in a series of rematches; you could have Cena defend the WWE Championship against Kurt Angle. However I personally would like to see Cena win the championship, and on SmackDown! following Wrestlemania, have Cena turn heel, saying how he used the fans, how once he had their support he had the opportunity to be booked in higher profile matches which led to him winning the WWE Championship. Then this could bring Eddie Guerrero into the mix - Eddie could remind Cena that it was the fans who made him, as well reminding him it was he who gave Cena the advice on defeating Kurt Angle which led to Cena winning the title. This hopefully will freshen John Cena's character. Though I have a feeling WWE are going to keep Cena face and ram him down our throats.

As always I am interested in your opinions on whether Batista or Cena do or do not deserve the championship so please send in your responses.

by Ashley Daniels ..