WWE Producer Recalls Criticism Over John Cena vs Shawn Michaels Pitch For Monday Night RAW
Typically, weekly RAW and SmackDown programming do not consist of lengthy matches, especially about nearly an hour long. However, back in 2007, on an episode of RAW on April 23, WWE booked a singles match that went on for 56 minutes. A singles match lasting that long is rare, even in pay-per-views.
The atypical match took place on RAW at a time when the runtime of WWE's flagship show was two hours, not the usual three hours we see now. Speaking on the Something to Wrestle podcast recently, WWE backstage personality Bruce Prichard opened up about the long match between Shawn Michaels and John Cena on WWE RAW.
What did Bruce Prichard say?
Prichard said that he gave an hour of stuff to then-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz, which was regarding the extended bout between Shawn Michaels and John Cena. However, Gewirtz had a usual response, calling Bruce Prichard lazy.
WWE was doing a European tour at that time, and the edition of RAW was held in London, England. Bruce added that Gewirtz accused Prichard and his team of not working hard, and a myriad of WWE employees back in America weren't pleased due to the push of a one-hour match on RAW. However, everybody in Prichard's team believed the match was a good idea instead of having six segments. In the end, the match between two seasoned wrestlers lived up to the hype.
It was a WrestleMania 23 rematch without John Cena's WWE Championship at the stake. The time duration of the match was double that of their first encounter at the Grandest Stage of Them All, where the WWE Champion Cena retained his gold successfully.
John Cena and Shawn Michaels have different career paths now
Seventeen years have passed since that iconic match, and the career trajectories of both men have altered significantly. The Heart Break Kid announced his retirement in 2010 and now bears the responsibility of handling the creative of WWE's developmental brand, NXT.
On the other hand, John Cena has left his full-time WWE career for a bright movie career in Hollywood. As a part-timer, the sixteen-time WWE Champion makes sporadic appearances, especially during big events.
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