It may be time for Cena to lose the belt

Cena, who is on his third title reign since first winning the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania 21 on April 2005 by beating John Bradshaw Layfield, is going the way of many long-term champions, hearing the boos from the crowd which is turning against him in larger numbers. This is something which promoters don?t want to hear when their leading good guy is introduced seeing they want to make merchandising dollars off their main event babyface.

You combine this continued turning of the audience against Cena with a four-way dance between he, the Heart Break Kid Shawn Michaels, the Legend Killer Randy Orton and the Rated-R Superstar Edge for the title at Backlash and you?ve got the makings of a title change, either that or a heel turn by Cena which I don?t anticipate.

History has shown us that three-way and four-way title matches most often play against the champion. Most recently, Edge won a three-way between he, Cena and then-champion Rob Van Dam this past July only to drop the strap back to Cena two months later in September, a title Cena has continually worn since then. (The WWE title was forced out of RVD?s hands due to his run-in with the law on marijuana charges which also brought a suspension).

By taking the title off Cena and putting it on one of his opponents, the WWE accomplishes two things. First, Cena has proven to be a popular contender. The crowd tends to get behind him when he is pursuing a heel like Edge for the title. This pursuit has happened twice since Cena first won the title, but for only short times. Edge first beat Cena when he cashed in his money-in-the-bank shot on Jan. 8 of last year. However, he lost the title back to Cena less than a month later on Jan. 29.

Cena cruised with the title until losing it to RVD June 11, prior to the aforementioned triple threat match. On each occasion, the fans were getting back behind Cena before he won back the title. Then, it took little time for the fans to turn on him again, perhaps one reason why the WWE went ahead and put him in a match against HBK, also a good guy, to avoid a heel like Orton being cheered over a face.

In addition to getting the fans back in Cena?s corner, taking the title from around his waist also sets us up with a couple of feuds, something which has been lacking lately. A win by HBK and you?ve got a continued title feud with Cena (not really that appealing given their flop at WM23) while I?m pretty sure the Edge and Orton fight everybody has been wanting to see for months will finally come to pass.

However, my prediction for new champion is Orton who has only had one title reign, a short one at that ran from August 15 until his loss on Sept. 12, 2004 to Triple H when he separated himself from Evolution. At that point Orton, who won the strap off of Chris Benoit, was actually a face for a short period (he makes a much better heel). Orton?s last real title shot came at WM22 when he lost a three way to Kurt Angle and the winner, Rey Mysterio.

An Orton win at Backlash makes a lot of sense seeing it sets up a ton of scenarios. First you have he and Edge in a heel betraying heel match. Then you have HBK in a legend versus legend killer match. And, as I said earlier, you have Cena getting back over with the fans as a good guy while pursuing a bad guy in a Cena versus Orton match between two young stars in the industry.

Seeing I don?t write for the WWE, there?s no way of knowing for sure what their plans will be for Backlash. However, I think it?s important to make the outcome of the four-way their focus leading up to the summer, seeing the Lashley, McMahon and Umaga feud stinks to high heaven. Give us a decent feud: Mr. Wrestling II versus Magnum T.A., Bruno Sammartino versus Ivan Koloff, Flair versus Steamboat. Give us a feud we care about.