John Cena

Fan criticism has apparently become the kryptonite to WWE's "Super Cena. " For the past several years, fans have been critical of the creative team's treatment of John Cena. Some fans have misdirected their gripes toward Cena himself, but he wasn't the one making booking decisions. No matter who the decision makers were, the facts were clear: Cena was not losing often, and when he did, it was rarely in clean fashion. But since WrestleMania, something has changed. WWE now seems to be taking Cena's character the opposite direction, pushing him into the corner and not giving him any breaks.

What a difference in the crowd from Raw in Miami on April 2 to Raw in D.C. on April 9. It was essentially the difference between a rock star show and an indy act. Yes, Miami's crowd had many WWE diehards who made an entire WrestleMania weekend of it with Raw as their final event (unless they traveled to Orlando for Smackdown). Those crowds are typically the loudest. But the crowd in Washington seemed to buy tickets and be content to sit on their hands. I don't often make comparisons to Corpus Christi, Texas (which I deem the quietest WWE audience in the world)

  WWE wasted no time in allowing John Cena and Brock Lesnar to get physical -- and the result was magic. For the past year, Cena and The Rock were kept apart, competing on the microphone rather than in the ring. WWE appears set to go a completely different direction with Cena's newest foe. After General Manager John Laurinaitis introduced Lesnar with a glowing welcome, the former UFC champion took to the mic. But before long, Cena would emerge. And in uncharacteristic fashion, Cena let his actions speak louder than his words, slapping Lesnar.

This past weekend I had a chance to soak in the WrestleMania 28 festivities from Miami - the Hall of Fame, Fan Axxess, the event itself at Sun Life Stadium and Raw the next night. Truly, for any WWEfan that came to participate in the crowd chants and invest themselves fully into the emotion of the stories being told, it would have been an absolutely draining 72 hours. Yet despite the Hell in a Cell curtain call, Sheamus pounding Daniel Bryan in 18 seconds (spawning a “YES!” chant that lasted through WrestleMania and in every segment of Raw, that will now transcend the superstar himself; also heard at the Miami Heat/Philadelphia 76ers game Tuesday)

WEATHER Today's forecast calls for sunny skies and a high temperature near 61 degrees. It is expected to be mostly clear tonight, with a low temperature around 42 degrees. TRAFFIC Check our traffic map for this morning's issues as you plan your commute. FROM THE WEEKEND... Players await word of Mega Millions winners : Maryland Lottery officials said that as of Sunday evening no one had come forth to claim the prize. Three winning tickets were sold for the multistate lottery -- in Maryland, Kansas and Illinois -- and the ticket holders will split the pot. Baltimore Farmers' Market starts 35th season : Thousands of people dropped by on opening day to peruse the early spring offerings from Maryland farmers and to re-acquaint themselves with their favorite vendors of savory and sweet prepared foods.

A new era began on tonight's Raw. With Team John Lauriniatis' victory at WrestleMania , Laurinaitis officially launched his reign of control in WWE. His first orders of business? Rewarding the men who helped land him his position of power. Jack Swagger and Dolph Ziggler were granted shots at Santino Marella's United States Championship; Mark Henry was awarded a chance to dethrone CM Punk as WWE Champion; and The Miz was placed in the main event against Zack Ryder. The members of Team Johnny found a mixed degree of success.

On paper, Sunday night's WrestleMania looked as if it could be one of the strongest installments in the event's 28-year history. In execution, it was anything but. I personally avoided Twitter and Facebook, so that the thoughts I would be sharing here would be as purely mine as much as possible. The show lacked the feel of WrestleMania; the first hour felt rushed and most of the matches seemed to be missing something. The show wasn't bad by any means, so I don't want people to misread what I am saying, but I expected more.

Gone are the days of Mr. McMahon “guaran-damn-teeing” an outcome of a match or a certain superstar meeting his demise in WWE. But in my opinion, there are some “certainties” heading into WrestleMania 28. If I were a betting man, I would put money down on these 10 things* happening this Sunday in Miami: 1. THE UNDERTAKER WILL GO 20-0 I feel so confident about this one that I even created an infographic celebrating Undertaker's 20-0...

This Sunday's WrestleMania promises to be a memorable one. The card is stacked from top to bottom with a variety of matches featuring superstars of the past, present and future battling it out on the grandest stage of all. Amidst the promotion and hype of the two top matches - John Cena vs. The Rock and Triple H vs. The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee - WWE has been building the next generation of...

Dear Dwayne, Two weeks ago I wrote about your return to WWE and quantified your statement: "I am never, ever going away. " I'm not one to repeat subjects too often, but in this case I simply couldn't avoid it. On Tuesday's episode of #AftermathTV on theScore , I ranted about you and your recent speeches in WWE, most notably your "Rock Concert. " Unfortunately we have a hard end on #AftermathTV and aren't able to go over time like RAW typically is able to do on the USA Network, so I had to keep my rant to 45 seconds.