Wrestling Discussion Thread (WWE, TNA, ECW, WCW, etc.) - Page 211

 

The best thing for Shelley would be to sign a WWE contact and make some proper money. He certainly deserves to.

You're not a real wrestler unless your paycheck bounces 6 times.

Alex Shelley going to the E is intriguing news. When I started watching Impact in 2005, he and Samoa Joe were the two that stood out to me as having the most potential to be the biggest stars in the company and the future of the business in general.

 

I gave up on being a regular TNA viewer in late 2006 when it went downhill under Russo's influence, but I would check out Shelley matches once in awhile and he always delivered. I love that he got to have one on one matches with Sting and Christian.

 

He sold really well for them and did some solid work in what were basically glorified squashes and his tag team matches were of course always smooth. I even saw him wrestle live and he was a consummate performer. He was also the only 'X Division' guy (again, along with Joe) who seemed to have some solid speaking skills...very natural on the mic.

 

Back in '06 I remember other wrestling fans agreeing with me that Shelley could be the next Jericho, and I could see his career going the same way that Jericho's did now. I mean being great but underused in one company, then finally getting the success he deserves when he jumps to the other.

 

But hopefully he could do that without starting off as shakily as Jericho did. Poor guy seemed to run into a brick wall after his strong WWF debut with a whole bunch of bad booking (i.e. Chyna feud) and sloppy matches as he struggled to adjust to his new surroundings.

From the WO:

 

Wait wait wait....the WWE suspended Jericho for doing his job as an asshole heel? Heels have been stomping/disrespecting flags for as long as I can remember. This totally reminds me of when the WWE fired Daniel Bryan for choking someone out with a tie, again something an evil heel would do.

 

Poor Jericho.
 

Edit: It gets even better! Check out this update from WWE.com:

 

 

 

Jericho responds:

 

 

 

Wow. I literally have no words.

He shouldn't have been suspended for it, but if you are going into another country, you need to be mindful that the shit you get away with in one place won't fly in another.  

 

ETA: and considering how image conscious WWE is in light of BENOIT, he's lucky that this is all he got.

I'm in no way equating this to JBL and doing the Heil Hitler salute in Germany but there are some things you don't do in other countries. Perhaps Brazil is very strict with their flags and the like. Here in America you can do it but some places might have strict laws about their flags.

Hard to beleive this is the same company that once had HHH at a funeral home. 

 

Brazilian fans who are writing in to dirt sheets regarding this incident are saying that it's a serious felony to desecrate the flag in any way.  I might find it laughable and an overreaction, but that's their culture, and when you go into another country, you're a guest in their home.  You don't go into a guest's home and smear shit on the walls.

And yet back in the '90s Vader and Shawn Michaels could repeatedly desecrate the Canadian flag to piss off Bret Hart (in storyline) with no repercussions . Vader broke it over his knee several times and Michaels stuck it up his nose.

You would think Jericho would know better, didn't he almost lose a finger in Mexico for doing something offensive?

If this flag incident is legit and they really suspended him for it, I am DONE following the WWE right now. I'm sure I'll find my way back eventually but fuck this bullshit politically correct PG era. 

 

But something tells me this was a work. This was a new way for Jericho to go out while he tours with Fozzy. It has to be a work. Jericho and the WWE work fans all the time when it comes to him leaving. 

I too think its a work. Jericho might come on tv and bitch about it and get fired again

They clearly set up on RAW that Orton and Jericho were meant to start a feud.  Why do that and then send him away for a month?  If I'm wrong, I'll readily admit it, but I'm not sold on this being a work.

The flag incident doesn't sound like a work to me. You don't go to another country and provoke an incident that could send your talent to a foreign prison as a work.

Jim Ross broke kayfabe when he talked about the incident to an Oklahoma sport radio station:

"He was playing the part of a wrestling villain in an entertainment based entity. It's not like he was at a sporting event like soccer and disrespected the flag, but rules are rules and they have strict rules regarding the flag in their company... He's playing a character, did an ad lib, and unfortunately he stepped over the line for the local culture, so he's been suspended indefinitely and hopefully it will work out."

Jericho's suspension will keep him off the rest of the South America tour. He's not suspended for getting a crowd to boo him the cheap and easy way, he's suspended because his bosses had to go talk to the government of a host country on his behalf. The fact that the boss's wife is running for a Senate seat while this occurred probably didn't help Jericho in the slightest.

 

Breaking Triple H's arm is a work.  Going to a country and committing a crime in the middle of the ring isn't.

 

Sorry, PG WWE would in no way, send Jericho out in the middle of the ring, with even the remote possibility of him committing an act that could land him in jail.  Not to mention, hurt the companies internationl image.  It's not like they are doing gangbusters here in the states like they did ten years ago, international money matters more now then ever

I don't even see 1999 WWE doing that.  Controversy is one thing, but a criminal act is another. 

I just have a feeling this is a work. Look at some of the angles the WWE has done recently. The entire build up to Cena vs. The Rock and all their promos being "worked shoots". They're working the wrestlers in the back when it comes to Lesnar. 

 

Jericho always trolls the internet now. So he started a feud with Orton? That doesn't really mean anything. I just find it too weird that he was "suspended" right around the time he was going to be leaving again to tour with Fozzy. Wrestling sites have been talking a lot recently about when Jericho would take a break and he has shows coming up I think in June. This was just a new creative way to write him off of TV. 

I'm also sure that the WWE made the right phone calls and talked to the right people and told them in advance they were going to be running an angle like this. What did Jericho even really do? He didn't piss on the flag or burn it. He just folded it up and threw it. I really doubt at this stage in his career that Jericho would be stupid enough to really go out there without getting permission beforehand and do something like that. 

 

You're comparing promos to potentially being sent to jail in a foreign country. Seriously, read what you are saying.

 

"Hey, NYPD, we are going to have a performer shoot a gun into the air at the next event.  We know it's illegal, but we figured you would let the law slide because it's part of a planned "work shoot"".

 

I have to ask, are you like 15? 

I just honestly don't think Jericho and the WWE would be dumb enough to do it without getting permission. It gets him a huge amount of heat and now Jericho is off TV which was going to be the plan for some time now with his tour with Fozzy coming up. 

 

It's not believable that the WWE might have made some phone calls and talked to people and got the ok? It's not like he did what HBK did with the Canadian flag years ago. He blew his nose with it and humped it if I remember correctly. All Jericho did was fold it up and throw it. Maybe they said doing just that was ok. I just honestly don't think Jericho at this stage of his career was that big of an idiot to do it unplanned. 

 

This is the same company that had Brock Lesnar freak out backstage and destroy a locker room at Extreme Rules to work the wrestlers. 

 

McMahon and Triple H and some of the higher ups seem to be in a mood right now to make things feel real even going as far as working the rest of the company. 

Because shooting a gun into the air is the same as throwing a flag? 

 

Also, someone pointed out, if this was real this would look really bad for Linda McMahon. If this was real and Jericho did go off script and do it I think Vince would probably fire him and not just suspend him. 

 

Why would he need permission?  He didn't know about this law.  Guarantee you 99% of people don't know that balling up and kicking the Brazilian flag will get you jail time.  It was not a planned moment.  A fan spontaneously threw a flag at CM Punk for him to wave around, and Jericho snatched it away and kicked it to get cheap heel heat.  I genuinely do not understand what you don't get about this.   And again, you are comparing a guy working some people backstage to GETTING ARRESTED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY.

Hence the 30-day suspension in order to show that WWE understands that they fucked up, so that Linda's opponents can't say that this incident went unchecked. 

 

I believe it's not a work.  Clearly you don't.  Not gonna bother arguing this any further after this point.

I don't know for sure. Maybe it was all legit. Maybe it was all legit and the suspension came into it because now they could write him off of TV and look good in the process because they're "suspending" him. He didn't need to be suspended. That was the WWE's decision. I'm sure Jericho was more than fine with it. 

So... Brock Lesnar was in attendance at the UFC fight tonight and Dana White hinted that he could be coming back. His deal with the WWE is not exclusive so he could fight for UFC or do some non-fighting things for UFC but he's definitely able to sign with the UFC right now. I wonder if his deal with the WWE meant he could walk away at any time and still collect all of his $5 million. If so and Lesnar is already done with the WWE, McMahon is a moron. Pay the guy $5 million to job to Cena and then he can leave when ever he wants and still collect that money. 

 

You clearly haven't been to Mexico, lol.

 

As far as Lesnar goes, first off, Dana didn't "hint" that he was coming back.  He was in attendance and someone asked Dana about if he would be open to him coming back, to which Dana replied that he wouldn't be opposed. 

 

Lesnar has 25 - 30 dates left with the WWE, and while he is not exclusive to the company, I'm sure there is a non-compete clause in his contract that specifies companies such as UFC and TNA (not that he would ever think about that dump).  Also, as most contracts go with athletics, it probably also contains rules about Lesnar doing activities that may cause injuries. 

 

Do you really think Vince McMahon gave Lesnar a check for 5 million and said, do what you want?   It would have been stupid NOT to show Lesnar at the PPV by UFC, that's all it was.  The only way Lesnar goes back to UFC is when he is done with WWE, and if only UFC offers him a payday for 1 or 2 fights that is around what WWE gave him.  He's all about the money at this point.  Lesnar being gone is all apart of a storyline.  It allows WWE to stretch out his dates and just use him for the big PPVs and build ups.   You will see him again shortly, before Summerslam. 

 

well Lesnar is UFC's biggest ever draw, so I suspect Dana would be interested in having him around on TV at some point.

 

Lesnar wasn''t paid $5M to job to Cena. Rather Lesnar's deal I suspect allows him to be at ringside for what ever shows he likes. Plus unlike most workers he's probably doesn;t care too much what Vince thinks about such things

I would just like to note that WWE has had Big Show explain his heel turn for two weeks on three different shows, consuming nearly a solid hour of live screen time, while AJ and CM Punk have generated a storyline with a fraction of that time. 

That's because the Big Show is in the main event programme that will struggle at the BO and Punk/AJ is upper mid card.

Are you saying that WWE should "show, don't tell?" I'm here until next Wednesday, try the veal.

Thank god Ziggler is finally about to break loose. Hopefully WWE doesn't squander this one. Go get em, Ziggs.

Really, WWE?  REALLY?!

"Best in the world!"

 

Even though I get my classic ECW fix from other sources not controlled by the 'E this trailer shows exactly how watered down the Attitude Era and Monday Night Wars really were compared to the amazing wrestling and hardcore spectacle that was going on in a dingy bingo hall iin South Philly, PA.  That classic theme never gets old.

ECW was amazing and Paul Heyman is a wrestling genius for sure but Nitro and RAW during the Monday Night Wars were also incredible. 

This does sound interesting but TNA will probably fuck it up some how. 

 

 

 

Wow, that sounds awful.  Hey, how about instead of reinventing the wheel, or overthinking a simple premise, they go back to the roots of what made wrestling popular, and DO THAT!  

It depends on how much they expose. But I think this sounds kind of interesting. From what little I watched of Impact Wrestling last week the backstage promos are still way better than WWE's. They apparently let the wrestlers just talk instead of giving them scripts. They just told them to take the promo in a certain direction but actually let them talk themselves and it made a difference. 

 

We've seen regular basic wrestling and it's not working. I think they have to do more of these things. But like I said it's TNA so they'll probably fuck things up. But I'll definitely watch tomorrow night and the next few weeks to see if it's any good. 

 

At least they're not going backwards like the WWE has done since Extreme Rules. Laurinitis, People Power, boring Cena. It's been crap. They even managed to ruin Daniel Bryan/CM Punk by throwing Kane into the mix. 

What the fuck? So why would I want to pay $50 for a PPV that is basically going to just promote their free weekly shows? 

After watching the hi-res replay of ROH's excellent BORDER WARS iPPV, I'm going to give them another chance they really are the only promotion in North America on TV that still presents professional wrestling as a competitive sport and not a sideshow like the WWE or a *shudder* reality show like TNA.

Some news items: 

 

Randy Orton is suspended for 60 days for violating the wellness policy (surprised?)  http://www.wwe.com/inside/randy-orton-suspended-for-60-days

 

Oh and the WWE is planning on Undertaker vs. Lesnar for WrestleMania. I really don't give a crap about that match now. It would have made way more sense if you built up Lesnar as undefeated and destroying everyone from now until WrestleMania. That way, you know, people buy into Lesnar being an actual threat to Taker's streak. Now? A regular arrogant heel Lesnar vs. The Rock makes more sense. The whole "I'm legit" thing with Lesnar was over with once they had him lose his first match back. 

 

Fett, where did you watch that at? I'm going to try to give other promotions a chance. The WWE and TNA just piss me off. 

Oh, so we WON'T be seeing Orton RKO everyone he encounters for the next two months. I'm shattered, I tell you. Absolutely shattered.

 

Let's get Miz back in the mix with these open spots left by Orton and Jericho. It's so damned frustrating to see how far his status has been scaled back in the company. Build him up as a solid, cocky heel and you have a great foil for CM Punk.

I can't stand The Miz. His whole gimmick got old fast. I'd rather see more TV time go to Ziggler, Cody Rhodes, Del Rio and more Daniel Bryan and CM Punk now. 

Thoughts on Orton's suspension: 

 

1. THIS is why they're scheduling Punk and Cena to appear on Smackdown for the foreseeable future.  With Orton gone, who is there on SD that fans would pay to watch?  SD ticket sales would plummet.  I just hope that this doesn't backfire on them and result in those two being run ragged to the point of injury. 

 

2. What an idiot. 

 

3. Glad to know that whenever I hear about someone getting suspended for substance abuse, it'll never be my Punk.

http://www.rohwrestling.com/ippv

 

You have to create an account with the site before you can purchase the show. 

I'm all for Ziggler getting a nudge to the upper tier of the company, the man is talented in the ring and on the mic. He reminds me of Kurt Hennig with a more overt sense of humor.  I never really latched on to Cody, though he's definitely improved TONS since his days as Orton's waterboy.  Del Rio NEVER clicked with me. Ever. He just bores me to tears.  

 

I'm all for more Punk and Bryan, but we need to mix it up a bit in the main event scene. Guys like Ziggler and Miz can add a fresh edge to the upper card if given the proper build. I suppose I ought to be glad that Punk and Bryan are so high on the card though.. so maybe I'm asking too much.  Still irks me that Cena is still billed above Punk (the friggin CHAMPION!) more often than not. 

 

That belt needs to be the SUN of the company.. everything revolves around it. If it's just a shitty prop, of course the "old formula" won't work... because the belts are devalued. Make the titles mean EVERYTHING to these guys, then the story lines can fall into place in that context and it adds drama to every championship match or top contenders match. Hell, devise some sort of "ranking" system for the rest of the card to squabble over. So much an old school formula COULD do to save the company if implemented well... but alas, this is WWE, where shitty Hollywood hacks are welcomed with open arms to "creative". Ugh.

 

 

Skip to 2:30 to hear CM Punk speak the truth.  

I don't know how some wrestlers can be this stupid at this stage of their careers. Jericho should have known better than to do that with the flag and Orton is just beyond stupid for taking anything that he could get suspended for. 

Who says he "took" anything?  I'm saying he "smoked" something.