Reader here, and today, I want to talk about happy endings, and how, especially with the rise of social media, the trend has become to whine and moan when we don’t get the ending we want to our favourite movies, TV shows, and now, even wrestling careers!
That last one, in particular, came into play over the weekend, when one of the biggest WWE superstars of all-time, John Cena, wrapped up his surefire Hall of Fame career.
Cena has been on a yearlong retirement tour, that included his 17th WWE Championship, his first-ever Intercontinental title, and an ill-fated heel turn, and finally, his last match, held Saturday night in Washington, D.C., that had been hyped up for months, as Cena’s last match.
Cena’s final opponent? “The Ring General” – an Austrian wrestling machine by the name of Gunther, who was the winner of a tournament, to determine who’d face Cena in his final bout.
The drama heading into the match… Would Cena, whose mantras include “Hustle, Loyalty and Respect,” and “Never Give Up,” be able to avoid taking the “L” in his final appearance in the squared circle, or would Gunther be able to do what he promised, and make Cena tap out?
(Now, here’s the point where you remind me – “Hey Reader, you know that stuff isn’t real, right? It’s all predetermined, y’know!” And believe me, I know. I’ve known that since I was a kid, and you know what? I still enjoy it for what it is – entertainment, no different than any other TV show or movie, just with more people hammering each other with steel chairs!)
The big match arrived, and it was a pretty great back-and-forth, until the ending…
That’s right. Mr. “Never Give Up” gave up. He tapped out, and in the process, made Gunther into WWE’s newest uberheel.
I actually liked the ending. Gunther was relentless, and kept locking Cena into a sleeperhold, and even though there were a few spots where it looked like Cena would rally and pull out one more victory, once he was locked in the sleeper for the final time, a smile crept onto his face, as if he knew that there was no way out. And he tapped.
Cena’s theme song includes the lyrics “Your time is up, my time is now.” Well, this time, “Cena’s time was up, Gunther’s time was now.”
Wrestling tradition dictates that when your on your way out, you go out on your back, and do the honours for someone from the next generation, sort of a passing of the torch. And that’s what happened here.
And now Gunther can brag in storyline that he’s now the guy that not only retired Goldberg, but John Cena as well! Who’ll be next on his list? That’s the fun – figuring that out!
But boy, the tantrums online, ripping the creative team to shreds… saying that Cena shouldn’t have given up. After all, that goes against his whole “Never Give Up” ethos!
Look, it’s a work of fiction. The WWE creative team came up with the ending they wanted to write, and I’m sure Cena had a hand in that as well.
I haven’t seen people this worked up since everyone the ending of “How I Met Your Mother” saw (spoiler alert) the Mother die, and Ted ended up with Robin,. Remember?
Or do you recall the ambiguous ending to “The Sopranos”
So many people thought their TVs were broken, and everyone was upset because they didn’t know Tony’s ultimate fate!
In the end, as the Rolling Stones famously sang, “you can’t always get what you want.”
That’s the chance you take when you get invested in a piece of fiction – there’s no guarantee that it’ll end the way you want it to. Real life has no guarantees, so why should your favourite show?
If the story always the expected script, that’d be pretty boring, right?
All I’m saying is to sit back, enjoy the ride, and remember not to get too worked up over something so minor.
I’m just taking the advice of my Dad, when I’d get too worked up over the Flyers losing a game, he’d remind me that “it doesn’t put any money in your pocket.”
And he’s right! It’s cool to be a fan, but don’t lose perspective!
The sun will still rise tomorrow, and there’ll be new shows and movies to watch (and a new generation of wrestlers for us to boo and cheer!)
In the meantime, here’s another of my Christmas favourites. Enjoy! (I was on a Bowie kick last night!)
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