ProWrestlingViews.com

The feud between John Cena and Bobby Lashley is just getting started. The two men put in an impressive effort at the Great American Bash main event, which made the PPV memorable, even though the match was kept to an all-too-brief 15 minutes.

Choosing this route is definitely a wise choice by WWE. Cena could not have kept staving off the Great Khali indefinitely between now and next spring’s WrestleMania if they had stayed on Raw together. Khali is too over as a monster big man to waste him as a jobber the way WWE did with The Big Show.

Using the WWE Draft to move Khali over to Smackdown gives Khali time to win a lot and build his fearsome rep before an ultimate showdown with Cena … who I believe MUST be his ultimate showdown partner.

Meanwhile, Cena could use a legitimate threat to his dominance who’s not an indefatigable monster, and Lashley is just the guy to pull it off, no matter how many commercials for diet pills drive away viewers in the wake of the Benoit tragedy.

Here’s how I would play things out between now and WrestleMania.

The rubber match between Lashley and Cena is almost assured for SummerSlam, but it’s time to freshen up a Cena feud by allowing a legit contender to win and hold the title for a while. Aside from WrestleMania, there’s no better place and time than at SummerSlam for the title to change hands. Give Lashley his first WWE Title run with an upset victory over Cena at SummerSlam.

Of course, that would trigger another rematch for September, and I see that one as a No-DQ Last Man Standing match, something long and harsh that would take a toll off both men. Have Cena come close to recapturing the title, but then introduce an interference angle by having World Title champion (from SmackDown) the Great Khali interfere in the match (without penalty, since it’s a No-DQ match) by putting Cena down and Lashley on top of him.

If not the Great Khali, then perhaps Triple H could fill this roll; he’s returning and the man’s always been at his best as a full-on heel. Sorry, but the De-Generation X revival was a pure dud.

This could lead to a “Lashley retains, and Cena’s out for a while” result that would accomplish three important things:

1) It would provide Cena some much-needed time off to shed the “we’re getting tired of him winning all the time” boos he’s been receiving for at least the last six months at Live Event matches. Cena could use the time to perhaps do another movie, relax and spend time with family. It would give fans something fresh so that when Cena returns, he feels fresh to the audience and welcomed back by Cena-weary fans.

2) It would give Lashley a chance to build his rep, perhaps by feuding with Triple H through Survivor Series.

3) Bring Cena back in time to win the title shot of his choice at the Royal Rumble. Shut out of a title shot under storyline, Cena could win the Rumble to get a shot at either Khali or Lashley. Have him choose Khali. Then have Cena somehow stumble into a Fatal Four-Way at the final PPV prior to WrestleMania, winning back the title from Lashley, perhaps by beating one of the other men involved in the match… let’s say, Triple-H or Mr. Kennedy. That would make Cena the WWE champ again, with a WrestleMania match against Khali that, through storyline, could be made into a WWE Title/World Title reunification match. One could even toss the ECW title into the mix, just for kicks, and whoever wins would become the first WWE World Champion, the first undisputed title holder since Chris Jericho.

That undisputed champion, for my money, would have to be John Cena.

In the wake of the Benoit double murder-suicide, one of the people who’s been making the most sense is Wade Keller of PWTorch.com. A wrestling newsletter writer and industry journalist for something like 20 years, he was not taken in by the big media push to blame steroids and only steroids for what happened. His business cards verify his expertise, as does the 20-year existence of his newsletter.

Instead, Keller has put forward five main talking points relevant to the incident. Steroids is one item, but Keller makes the point that their use is nearly taken as a given in sports entertainment. How else can these men maintain superhero-stature bodies?

He goes beyond that to suggest that WWE’s policy of allowing wrestlers to endure repeated concussions that are often left untreated as another contributing factor. His argument for reform in this area of WWE’s employee policy is long overdue to be adopted.

Benoit’s son suffered from a rare case of what is known as Fragile X syndrome. It makes caring for the child a much larger task, as would any unusual health complication. This undoubtedly added stress to Benoit’s marriage.

The most insightful cause that Keller cites, however, is the lack of planned time off for WWE performers. With a workforce of traveling entertainers who only get to spend significant time with their spouses and children for perhaps one week around the Christmas-New Year time frame, most WWE superstars only get significant time off the road when they are injured - which is hardly what qualifies as “quality time with your spouse and kids.” His argument for two six-week breaks a year would employ 25 percent more wrestlers and give WWE performers much-needed physical, mental and emotional health breaks.

He also mentions the role of WWE using “individual choice” as a shield against criticism of the working environment they provide. Of course, considering they are the only major fed employing today’s sports entertainers, that excuse doesn’t hold water. There is no “choice” with the only alternative is flipping burgers at Wendy’s.

Hop over to PWTorch.com and read Keller’s write up. He’s top-drawer.

The current storyline on WWE Monday Night Raw, involving the “Legend Killer,” Randy Orton versus “the American Dream,” Dusty Rhodes and his son, Cody, has some interest value in terms of generational wrestling.

Dusty is an original, a first generation wrestler who was part of the pre-Hulk Hogan / post-Verne Gagne generation of pro wrestlers. He’s survived longer than most, and is right up there with Ric Flair as a veteran superstar. It’s amazing the man is even in a ring anymore, especially when he could be enjoying time in an Orlando vacation home instead of taking a pounding at the Great American Bash in a WWE ring.

Cody Rhodes is a second-generation superstar, Dusty’s son, and just getting started in his career. But Cody’s younger than Randy Orton, his dad’s Great American Bash opponent; and Orton is a third-generation superstar.

With so many generations involved in this storyline, there’s a little something for nearly every generation of wrestling fan. The only question I really have is this.

WWE pretty much ruined the wrestling career of Dusty’s older son, Dustin Rhodes, when they linked him to that horrible Golddust gimmick. His career never really recovered.

So, why on earth would Big Daddy Dusty entrust Cody’s career to Vinnie Mac and crew?