But I don't really understand what's driving this new direction. I'd like to think that part of it is Vince ceding more control to HHH/Steph, and that they're doing all this out of their own good sense.

Part of it might be that a lot of the main event/upper midcard guys of the past decade are pretty close to the end of the road. Cena seems like he could go a while longer, but Big Show is always hurt now, and so is Christian, and Y2J is strictly part-time, Mark Henry probably will retire for real in the next couple of years, and I wouldn't be surprised if Punk left in a couple of years either. Kane seems to be in great shape, but he's 46 years old. I don't think they buy Del Rio as more than a stopgap top heel, and it isn't clear that any of the youngish midcard guys (e.g. Rhodes, Swagger, Kofi, Barrett) are ever gonna draw real money.

So it's conceivable that they desperately want to avoid, 4-5 years from now, a main event roster consisting of Del Rio, Orton, Ryback, a 40-year-old Cena, Ziggler, and Sheamus. Not a lot of PPV buys in that combination.

Which is why I'm a little scared about this Bryan/Cena match, because I get the sense that this is a test of Bryan's ability to draw money. If the PPV doesn't do that well, it's easy to imagine Vince saying, "I told you so," and burying him.

And maybe the accumulation of ex-RoH stars is having an effect too. I don't know how much influence Punk and Bryan have with booking, if any, but I'd like to think Bryan had a say in booking that Cesaro match.

But who knows. It could all go to hell Monday night.