Wrestling Discussion Thread (WWE, TNA, ECW, WCW, etc.) - Page 229

Punk is credible enough to take on larger opponents. Shit, if it was simply a matter of size.. one would expect Kali to be able to beat 90% of the roster.. which no one does. Sure Brock is a beast, but Punk has been built up to be a capable wrestler with solid MMA/Martial Arts strikes in his arsenal. And as Fett points out.. one need not look further than the Punk/Joe trilogy to see how great Punk can be when paired with a GOOD "big man" wrestler.

 

Punk would need a LOT of work to be accepted as a major babyface again, though. I hated that they turned him at a critical point where he could have legitimately become the true face of the company, but at this point he's best left as the leading heel... and it's VERY unlikely that Brock would go face, so chances of that match anytime soon is slim. 

 

Now if they could get Austin back for one last big payday at Wrestlemania... THAT would be an ideal spot to put Punk in. That feud practically writes itself. It'd certainly blow away anything Rock/Cena could come up with.

Have Cole play up Brocks biggest weakness his stomach. Talk about he spent so much time in surgery.How he nearly died

 

I'm with you man, I miss those days, always been a Jazz and Molly Holly mark. All the best talent WWE has Diva wise (barring the awesome Natalya who never is utilized) is in NXT. Paige is great, especially to be only 20 and have such great ring awareness, and I don't mind Aubrey Marie or Sasha Banks. That match that took place last night was just dreadful though, it seemed like it was booked on the fly and no one knew what the hell was going on. This is why people don't care about the divas, because you don't take them seriously. It's so disappointing.

 

Any who, that RAW was awful. Seriously. Cesaro and Orton was good, but Cesaro is pretty awesome as is so I wasn't surprised. I don't mind Bo getting the win, it gives him a nice push, even though he won't win the belt. Punk was golden on the mic with his punk bitch comments, but when is he not. Now as for the rest, wtf? Tensai is a legitimate good wrestler, why the hell is he in lingerie ... again? Turn him back into Albert and call it a day, seriously. Great Khali singing ... enough said. Three members of tag teams (primetime players, cody rhodes) getting beaten down by the last two participants of the royal rumble which makes NO ONE look good. On that note, think about it, the most overprotected people on the roster were the last 4 participants in the rumble, now if that doesn't show who Vince likes I don't know what to tell you. Cena commenting that he will either face The Rock or CM Punk at Wrestlemania ... despite the fact that CM Punk had yet to ask for his rematch which happened later in the night. And finally Mr. Brock Lesnar, as happy as I am to see you I couldn't get the thought out of my head that the segment where he returned looked awfully familiar.

 

Oh yeah, I remember now, creative did the exact same thing last year when Taker came back. Performance evaluation, the drawn out "You're fired!" followed by the arrival of another part time star. Now there's nothing wrong with recycling a segment, the problem is not only is the entire segment the same, but it will inevitably lead to another match we just saw 6 months ago. I know, I know, we see the same matches all the time, but they hyped the hell out of Brock vs HHH and Rock vs Cena only to give us the exact same matches months later, and the outcome of both matches couldn't be more clearer. Guess what? Whoever won the first match is probably going to lose the second match. It frustrates me to no end because I really am a die hard fan. Just stop treating me like a fucking idiot and I don't remember anything! No, I won't pout and claim to stop watching wrestling because I know that's a lie, I love wrestling, I want to watch, I enjoy watching but damn if this is the best the WWE has to offer towards The Road to Wrestlemania, I'm not happy. Will I watch? Yes but I just know that they're better than this. Much, much better.

So RAW got it's best rating in months last night. I think the IWC needs to realize that while Punk was great he really isn't on the level of The Rock. Big stars still draw and Punk isn't on the same level.

And how do they GET to be "big stars"?  Maybe by being showcased and pushed rather than buried by a part timer?  Is Rock going to bail them out of ratings slumps in 10 years? 20?  You've got to build (and maintain) superstars.

Punk had plenty of time and a huge push and still drew crappy ratings. The Rock comes back, wins the title and people tune in. If any of these guys were huge stars they wouldn't need to bring back The Rock and Brock Lesnar and Triple H and Undertaker.

Yeah, just keep bringing back aging stars from the past. That's a GREAT way to work towards the future. 

 

Rock JUST won the title. Of course he popped a rating. Wait and see if the ratings bump is significantly maintained over the next month or two before drawing conclusions.

I agree they need to build new stars. But right now it's not working. Punk, Cena, Sheamus, Orton, etc. have had their time and if they drew great ratings then the other guys wouldn't need to be brought back.

i think wwe's ratings problems are solely the fault of the creative team of WWE and not of the wrestlers. Look how long it took them to realize CM Punks full potential, what like 6-7 years? That's pathetic it was almost too late at that point. Imagine all the wasted money not invested in Punk? Oh and the stale booking of Cena and how badly and unimportant Sheamus reign was? And how they have kept Orton a face for years when he is a natural heel? No. I don't blame,e the current crop of wrestlers. I blame the writers for not coming up with anything interesting to do thus the crappy ratings. Sure its easy to book The Rock and Taker but not doing anything to write home about \with anyone else is what has them screwed. God if they cant book Ziggler right (which so far they haven't) than they are utterly hopeless all of creative should be fired.

Agreed. Ziggler should be main eventing by now. If ANYONE can fill HBKs shoes in 2013, it's the Zigg. Is there anyone in the biz better at selling than him at this point? If so, I'd love to see it....

Yeah. Vince got stuck on Cena as the face of the WWE. Everything revolved around him for so long that everyone else kinda got the shaft, now they are playing catch up with new stars who haven't really had a chance to truly get over. I'll wait and see on the ratings, but I think Punk got the shaft in terms of booking. He was the champ, and still played second fiddle to Cena. Then they turned that into an angle.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8894558/vince-mcmahon-once-again-remaking-wwe-just-way-likes-it Alot of great points made in this artical.

Yeah, you bring back The Rock and give him Cena again, instead of giving him a different opponent and building up that guy. There is no passing the torch to Cena, Cena's had that torch for wayyy too long. Anyway, this happened and I love it:

Man gets shot in THE EYE during robbery, says Punk losing belt was much worse!

 

That's hysterical!  Uh.. not the guy getting shot in the eye, but his attitude about it all.  This man has his priorities straight! 

So I just read that TNA is taking Impact on the road starting in March and the first stop will be about 5 miles away from here. If this was 5 years ago I would have gone for sure. Now I just don't give a crap about them. The product is awful. I don't care if Angle and Hogan and Sting will be there. This Aces & 8's storyline is terrible, the other storylines suck, the wrestling isn't that great. Screw TNA.

I just read they're putting Brodus Clay and Tensai together as a team. Great idea WWE, now everyone can not give a shit about them at the same time. Hopefully they'll release Albert soon and he'll return to New Japan to reform BAD INTENTIONS with Karl Anderson.  They were such a badass tag team.  Would love to see them reunite and take on the KILLER ELITE SQUAD of Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr. for the tag titles.  Here's a fun match from the G1 Climax Tag League 2009:

 

 

Featuring not only BAD INTENTIONS but the high flying duo of Prince Devitt & Ryuusuke Taguchi a/k/a APOLLO 55.  Enjoy!

LOL wait, so is Tensai turning face or is Brodus Clay dropping the Funkasaurus gimmick and going heel on this team? Not that I don't think the tag team division is the right place for Clay, whose cardio is so poor that his matches run shorter than his entrance and he's still out of breath by the end, but the last time Albert was on a WWE tag team he had Trish Stratus to keep the crowd from getting up and getting a fresh beer. This pair's going to suffer from a charisma deficit if Tensai isn't dancing to songs about calling mamas.

And here's the guy's response to Punk tweeting him well wishes.http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Story-of-coach-who-was-shot-in-liquor-store/H96VuKn6B0KeddhkZf0Rtg.cspx

I've talked to some old friends lately who used to wrestle on the indy scene here in Chicago in the late '90s/early '00s. Both of them have said that Punk is a huge asshole in person.

Oh I believe that he kind of exudes that attitude I would probably not want to friends with him but at the same time he is the best the WWE has right now and having drop the best pre-Wrestlemania is a joke. I hope he has a great match that overshadows the egomaniacs of Cena and Rock since neither deserve the belt or to main event Wrestlemania!

Asshole, or blunt? There's a difference.  I'm sure idiots in the business would find him to be an asshole when he calls them idiots to their face.

No asshole a friend of mine tried to get get his autograph and he ran over her foot with his luggage and when she said something he flicked her off and kept walking. He hated everything to do with OVW.The people the city everything

I think it depends on how and when you approach him.  Met him two years ago and he could not have been nicer to me, and I made a point of being as polite as humanly possible.  I got him to crack a smile even, which I consider a huge accomplishment.

I recently started listening to Colt Caban's Art of Wrestling podcast, and one of the first interviews was with Punk. Definitely doesn't seem like the warmest guy, but I think Harley has it right in that a lot of it seems to be a time and place thing. Apparently he's not a big fan of the random hassle in public, and listening to some of the stories of shit people would pull (like pulling out his earbuds) can't say I totally blame him.

 

Probably an asshole. I've heard other autograph stories where he'll just completely ignore someone if they ask for an autograph. Yet he'd probably be the first one to call someone else an asshole for doing that. It's why I'll admit that he's a talented guy I'm not the biggest fan of his. He's really overrated by the IWC.

I beg to differ. The entire "Summer of Punk" storyline in ROH showed he was just as good on the mic as he was in the ring. 

 

Punk isn't credible against The Rock, let alone Brock Lesnar. It's not a big deal or anything, this is wrestling, not reality. But there were moments in the Rumble match (Punk struggling to lift Dwayne onto the barricade) that were sort of embarrassing.

Yeah, I agree. Punk in there with Triple H and The Rock and going up against them just isn't really believable. Lesnar is built way different than Punk. Lesnar would destroy Punk. Punk needs to be in there with guys his own size. The one feud I wish would have happened is Punk vs. HBK. That match and storyline and both of them on the mic would have been incredible.
 

 

Indeed. Punk is world class on the mic. Not quite as good once the bell rings, thou he is a very good worker.

So the word is that New Orleans is going to be the host of Mania 30.  Wonder if the blackout last night during the Super Bowl is giving WWE second thoughts.

Wow, so the rumor is Undertaker is still undecided. That would be weird not having him at WrestleMania. Maybe he's hoping he can come back around summer time and do a farewell tour and retire at WrestleMania 30?

 

 

If thats the case than a triple threat match for the title seems very likely. Truthfully I'm pulling for this to happen. I wouldn't even mind Cena winning the match if it's good and punk drags both of them to a good match. I feel after Wrestlemania Punk will be off for a bit come back win the title and maybe become the top face as he should be.

So, it's confirmed that Bruno has finally agreed to being inducted into the HOF. 

Excellent for Bruno! Glad to see him and WWE don't despise each other anymore.

Btw in regards to the Undertaker, he came to my workplace this past Thursday. Came with his 2 daughters, and got his autograph on my hat ^_^

I guess hell really has frozen over then. Wow.
 

MARK HENRY! That is all.

Anyone feel like Brad Maddox was doing a Bane impression when he said justice?

MarK Henry!  Somebody gon' get they ass kicked!

Urchine, no you are not the only one who totally thought Brad was pulling a Bane. Better than last week, hell the Mysterio v Bryan and Punk v Jericho made the entire show. I'm just really confused as to why at this point neither Orton or Ryback don't have a championship belt? I mean, they face the two midcard champions 82 times a week and beat them every single time, shouldn't they be going for these belts at this point?

They don't want Orton to get a belt and then fail wellness again.

True, thou the IC and US titles are beneath Orton and Ryback in the eyes of Creative.

I'd like to see Christian make his return and take the IC belt off of Barret. Let Christian hold it for a year and restore at least SOME prestige to it. The US title is a lost hope at this point.

 

Better yet just unify the two and create a new mid-card title.

I legit forgot that Christian exists.

Christian should be in the World title picture imo

And I think Cesaro and Barrett are doing a good job of bringing cred back to those belts. They're awesome workers. They just need to make Barrett destroy that nxt guy

 

Because fans will buy tickets in droves to see Christian.

I love Christian... but he just doesn't have that main event vibe right now. His character needs to evolve more. RIght now, he's suited fine for the US/IC level, or even better put him in a good (read: not makeshift) tag team.

I can't help but shake my head at how poorly-booked the last year or so of WWE programming has been. They completely spent their load and did it in some of the dumbest ways possible.

 

Punk was starting to get over huge and they got cold feet and switched him heel. The booking for the Jericho bout at Mania started solid and then deteriated into lame soap opera territory where it ended up getting overshadowed by the much stronger built matches with Taker-HHH and Rock-Cena. Rock and Cena had a great push for their match but as much as no Rock fan/Cena hater wants to admit it, Rock going over in the first match between the two was not how it should have went and him ending Punk's run in the most anti-climatic title chase ever just buries this whole thing further.

 

From a storyline standpoint, Rock losing to Cena gives him purpose and makes Cena credible. Those casual WWE fans who are willing to pay to see Rock wrestle now have an emotional investment in the rematch. Keeping the world title out of it would have made him beating Cena in the rematch into an interesting springboard into an eventual big money title match against Punk. No matter who won that match, they both would have got over and the title would have come off as credible, instead of just a prop that some big name movie star got after beating the two biggest active names on the roster. I'd be willing to bet the majority of people who are actually interested in seeing Cena beat Rock for the belt are people who would have bought the PPV anyway without Rock being on it so the long-term payoff feels minimal at this point.  

WWE don't do long term. And Rock-Cena II is going to be a huge draw, despite being fairly meh to many die hard viewers.