By Bruce Mitchell, PWTorch columnist

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Devoted fans of John Cena were shocked Monday night when their hero was chokeslammed to the mat and beaten decisively by the Big Show just six days before he main-events WrestleMania, the biggest show in the sport's history.

Their shock is easy to understand. Why would WWE beat the biggest star in the company clean on national television less than a week before he went for the World Title at WrestleMania? Why would John Cena lose to Big Show, who is clearly two steps down from him on the money-drawing ladder? Wouldn't common sense dictate WWE's most popular star go into this crucial match with as much momentum as possible, so that his fans would have confidence that their fifty-five dollar investment Sunday night would be paid off with their hero winning the world title?

Well, if that crossed your mind, you clearly don't know wrestling history. Beating the number one draw in the company clean on television just before the big show is one of the moneymaking traditions this business was built on.

I mean, who could forget that...

-- Just eight days before WrestleMania III's legendary match between Hulk Hogan and Andre The Giant, Hulkamaniacs were shocked when, on the prime time NBC Saturday Night's Main Event, the two were matched up in a free match and not only did the Hulkster completely fail in his attempts to bodyslam the Giant, he was completely dominated by Andre and pinned right in the middle of the ring.

Looking back, Hogan credited his shocking loss with providing Wrestlemania III with the push it needed to take ticket sales right over that legendary 93,000 top. "The shocked look on all those disappointed Hulkamaniac's faces, the tears they shed were worth it, because even though the Hulkster let them down, it added intrigue to the match. Suddenly my fans didn't have quite as much faith in me, so they couldn't wait to buy tickets to see if I was going to lose or not. Before, they all thought I was going to beat that stinky Giant. It would have been hard to get Hulkamaniacs to spend money on something that predictable."

Or what about the fact that ...

-- Just six days before Steve Austin beat Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV with the help of Mike Tyson to begin his reign as the biggest star in the history of the business, Double J Jeff Jarrett made Austin tap out to his figure four on Monday Night Raw.

Austin recalled that momentous night. "Sure Tyson and his people were pissed. They thought the Stone Cold character had been ruined. After all, Tyson was the biggest bad-ass in the world back then, and they all thought his loss to Buster Douglas had done him a lot of damage. They didn't buy it when Vince McMahon explained to them that it wasn't all those savage knockouts that made Tyson a pay-per-view phenomenon, it was the intrigue Douglas beating him brought to the table."

Vince was right. That embarrassing loss was the key to making me the biggest thing ever in our business. The only thing that never made sense to me, though, was it didn't seem to help Jarrett much.

And then there's ...

-- The embarrassing beating and loss Jimmy "The Boogie Woogie Man" Valiant laid on the Nature Boy Ric Flair on Worldwide Wrestling the weekend before the first Starrcade, the granddaddy of them all that was the biggest show in Jim Crockett Promotion's history. Flair's heroic challenge in the steel cage to Harley Race's NWA World Hvt. Title was to cap his many-year quest for the richest prize in the sport. It seemed obvious that Starrcade's climax would be the popular Flair's final triumph over Race.

Fans from all over the Mid Atlantic area couldn't believe their eyes when, on the syndicated TV show, Valiant poked Flair in the eyes, then pinned him clean with one flying elbow.

Flair once recalled, "Fans thought maybe Valiant would take my place as number one contender after all I had been built up for months as the man who would dethrone Race for the NWA Title, and most of them were disappointed in me. Still, it added a level of intrigue to my match that compelled fans from five states to make the trek to Greensboro and the surrounding closed-circuit locations.

"Clearly, it was my clean loss to Valiant that did the trick."

We suggest these recent related articles...

25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL - DAY 10 (2000): Titled “Death of Hardcore” as Bruce discusses the apparent end of the Hardcore Wrestling era and also suggests what ECW must do to regain relevance

25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL - DAY 9 (1999): Titled “Children” as Bruce discusses Vince McMahon's marketing approach toward children and how he deals with controversy like a child would (with a great opening line)

25 YEARS OF BRUCE MITCHELL - DAY 8 (1998): “Stolen Moments” - Bruce lays out case for Flair as Greatest of All-Time as he dealt with locker room politics in WCW Nitro era