mnetioned this over AIM, but i seriously think this is an angle that continues to attack Cena's character. the bit earlier plays to that - and it works with Punk's promos too. Cena's a dynasty now. when you win once, you want a second. when you win a second, you want a third. soon you start to expect it - i'm on my fifth, my eighth, tenth - and it becomes something you must have. but Cena threw everything he had at Punk and couldn't do it. he's done it to everyone else for the past 8 years, but couldn't now.
...so where does he go? well, the show continues, a new belt gets made, a tourney's held - without him in it - and then... he fights on the same night a friend of his who already fought. the idea of a champ should rest, no. the idea of he should find who's the better man with a friend, no. he should get the belt is the only explanation you can get for the match. ....but in that case he overrode his friend and a well rested champ for the title itself, and did it by going straight through the boss. proper channels. but improperly done. and while he wants to say he's the champion... nobody, not even himself, will believe it. the man he couldn't beat is in front of him, with the right belt, yet he's holding one too. it's not a meaningless title; HHH reinstated THAT as the title. Punk is not wielding the belt currently used by WWE, therefore the legacy behind it is not harmed. the belt's constantly changed, physically it's not the same ever, what counts is the legacy held by the business. if Punk signs back up, he can fight for the new belt like anybody else, and maybe win that too, properly. but Punk's belt is not valid. the new one is. it's the official one, but it's not the right one. however it's also the only one Cena knows he can get his hands on.
writes itself from there. a slow character change, stemming off the realization that he isn't the best anymore. that he maybe never was. that he's addicted to holding the belt, obssessed on it more than those around him, and WWE will gladly bend over for him (Vince did, HHH *is* with that match of face/face). but he's getting older, peaked, and can no longer be at the top. if Rey beats him clean next week, it'd only cement that further. right now, without Punk, Cena is No. 1. with him, Cena's No. 2. but if a fresh Rey beats Cena he becomes No. 3.
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The future must protect the clone's past.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.