Wrestling Discussion Thread (WWE, TNA, ECW, WCW, etc.) - Page 198

Eve, from one playa to another, you DO NOT announce your dastardly plan within earshot of your target.  Especially to the fuckin' BELLA TWINS, the most gossipin' bitches in the back.   Come on, girl.  I was rooting for you. 

Ambulance Match Featuring The Elimination Chamber was an almost horrid PPV saved by some decent spots.

Tonight's Raw though: I actually LIKED a Cena promo?!

Yeah, the two big promos tonight were excellent, and HIAC means we probably get more great interview stuff from both HBK and Mick Foley. Wade Barrett dislocating his elbow was less good. At least he was the only guy seriously injured there.

I have a confession to make.  I LOVE The Rock, but I had to agree with every word Cena said.   The Rock has turned into that pesky ex who you parted with years ago, but who keeps on showing back up trying to fuck you again.  It's fun and exciting and you feel like they care, but then one morning you wake up and they're gone.  And then five months later, they show back up and expect another roll in the hay.  How many times do you put up with that before you slam the front door in their face?  And it truly pains me to speak ill of a man who was my childhood hero, but I have to take the rose-colored glasses off and look at this truthfully.  He shows up when he's got a movie to shill on us, and then poof, he's gone.  I've had enough.  When he shows up at my front door again, I have to be strong and say no thanks.

Huh? I love having The Rock back even if it is part time. He's not just back to promote one of his movies like his other appearances. He's been on and off TV for a year now and actually getting involved physically. I don't see what's wrong with it at all. We knew it would be part time from the start. I look at it as The Rock really has nothing to prove in the business anymore and it's not like his movie career has been a disaster and he has to come back to wrestling. He doesn't have to wrestle at all. He's doing it because he does truly love the business. But any smart person would choose making tons of money in movies over wrestling and being banged up and having knee surgeries or knee replacements and hip replacements in wrestling.

I'm 100% behind "Team Bring It" and I really fucking hope that he doesn't do the job to Cena at WrestleMania.

I'd rather see CM Punk in the main event at Mania at this point, not The Rock.  And I say that as a massive Rock fan.  I'm just tired of the back and forth, I'm tired of this Rock/Cena bullshit, I'm sick of it all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Yeah, the two big promos tonight were excellent, and HIAC means we probably get more great interview stuff from both HBK and Mick Foley. Wade Barrett dislocating his elbow was less good. At least he was the only guy seriously injured there.

What two promos? Cena and Taker/HHH? I'll have to watch the Cena one since I missed most of it. But the 'Taker/HHH one was absolute crap. Taker looked lost out there, it didn't help that the crowd went silent while he started talking and you could hear a few people shouting things. But he just looked lost. It was pretty bad and I LOVE Undertaker. I just don't know what he was trying to say when he kept mentioning the "apocalypse". HHH saved it a little bit.

It was funny, right when he HHH started saying "we go all the way" I started saying "hell in a cell" and then he announced it. That HIAC saves this feud now. I was happy HHH said HIAC and not streak vs. career.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

I'd rather see CM Punk in the main event at Mania at this point, not The Rock.  And I say that as a massive Rock fan.  I'm just tired of the back and forth, I'm tired of this Rock/Cena bullshit, I'm sick of it all.

Booking the match a year in advance was their first mistake. They should've pulled the trigger on the match about three months ago so it wouldn't have burned out like it has.  Taker/HHH in a cage is going to be long (and most likely blood-free) so don't be surprised if it semi-mains, which is unfair to Punk/Jericho who should get at least 25+ minutes to tear the house down.

Punk/Jericho is the only match I'm interested in because it's a dream match for a lot of wrestling fans and most likely will be Jericho's last big match for the WWE.

Also, look for the Unified Tag Titles to be defended in a 10 minute filler match or a dark match or not at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarleyQuinn22 

I'd rather see CM Punk in the main event at Mania at this point, not The Rock.  And I say that as a massive Rock fan.  I'm just tired of the back and forth, I'm tired of this Rock/Cena bullshit, I'm sick of it all.

I love Punk but he's not that big of a draw. When you have the chance to have The Rock headline your biggest show of the year you do it. The Rock vs. Cena will be a huge draw and everyone will get interested in it again now that The Rock is going to appear live starting next week all the way until WrestleMania. This is going to be fun.

Cena's promo actually made me root for him. I'll never begrudge success to someone, especially in wrestling, but from the gist of everything i've read, plus the near shoot-style stuff Cena has been lobbing at the rock, it just sounds like Rocky turned into a Movie star who sometimes wrestles. If i was one of the guys in the back, I'd probably be kinda choked to see a valuable, money loaded spot given on a platter to a guy who hasn't really been around in...what 7...8 years? I love the Rock and everything he did for the business, but Cena really altered my black and white pro-rock/anti-cena thoughts to a more gray-area thing.

Taker...oh my taker.. perhaps a couple of practice runs or something cause man, those What chants really threw him off. I was glad when HHH showed up, cause that really turned it around. By the time he said Hell in a Cell (I called it or a Buried Alive match at home as well), the whole crowd was back into it.

One thing it really showed me though, is that Characters (with a capital C) just aren't what people really want in wrestling these days. Its funny how Kane can still do his thing and people respond, but the whole 'Lord of Darkness, Apocalypse shall reign' kinda stuff really seemed to fall flat.

Also, Santino rules. I'm loving this Rocky-gimmick they have for him, cause when he finally wins, its gonna blow shit up.

I am SO FUCKING PROUD of CM Punk.  That seriously just increased his standing in my book sky fucking high.  Any man who beats a woman is a coward, not a man, and Chris Brown fans can get bent.

I missed Tuesday Night Stephanie. Good, bad?

The Bryan/Punk match was great.  Mark Henry did some great shit-talking to Big Show during a match.  Michael Cole was much too giddy to announce the CM Punk/Chris Brown Twitter war considering the serious subject involved.  Lilian botched John Laurinaitis' job title.  Everything else was forgettable.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave Jarvie 

Cena's promo actually made me root for him. I'll never begrudge success to someone, especially in wrestling, but from the gist of everything i've read, plus the near shoot-style stuff Cena has been lobbing at the rock, it just sounds like Rocky turned into a Movie star who sometimes wrestles. If i was one of the guys in the back, I'd probably be kinda choked to see a valuable, money loaded spot given on a platter to a guy who hasn't really been around in...what 7...8 years? I love the Rock and everything he did for the business, but Cena really altered my black and white pro-rock/anti-cena thoughts to a more gray-area thing.

 

I approciate what you're saying, Dave, but Vince always elevates the entire Fed with Wrestlemania. In order to do that, he's brought back one of the signature stars of the greatest era in pro wrestling from the last twenty five years. As for Rock not being able to earn his money in the ring. as opposed to Hogan and his broken down body for example, don't worry. As for the guys in the back being jealous of Rock, all you need to do is step up and prove yourself. That's what he did, suffering through years of "Rocky Sucks" chants until he make his break happen in the Nation of Domination. The Fed is starved for people with actual charisma and ability. You don't have to be a jobber if you actually show something in the ring. No one wants to be George South, but that's what happens to everyone below the top tier.

Rock suffered through four months of Rocky Sucks chants before being pulled off TV and repackaged and put in a plum heel spot. The fed were behind him from day one - otherwise he'd have just been canned after that awful first run. He's an absolute icon and one of the best ever, but let's not pretend he did it all by himself in the face of overwhelming odds.

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Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

Rock suffered through four months of Rocky Sucks chants before being pulled off TV and repackaged and put in a plum heel spot. The fed were behind him from day one - otherwise he'd have just been canned after that awful first run. He's an absolute icon and one of the best ever, but let's not pretend he did it all by himself in the face of overwhelming odds.

Of course not, Andrew. Being a legacy, not to mention having grown up around the people calling the shots, was a great boost to him. But when he was given the ball, he ran touchdowns all day long. I don't see anyone in the lower echelons doing that when given a glimpse of daylight. I also remember him just being another guy in the Nation of Domination, and certainly under 2012 HOF inductee Ron Simmons. You didn't see Crush and Savio Vega take that chance at the top and run with it....

Rock was born  to be in this business, and it showed. But don't think that having a wrestler as a father is a guarantee of success. Ask Ric Flair's boys about that.

If you go back and watch, he was NEVER "just another guy" in the Nation.  From the moment he joined, he was viewed as almost as important as Ron Simmons was.

Yeah, Rock, was groomed for success just as much as Cena was. Moreso, even - Cena was on the verge of being canned before rapping for Stephanie and saving his career.

I have to give Cena some credit for that promo. I can't believe McMahon let him go out there and expose The Rock that way especially saying that The Rock needs a writer named Brian (Gewirtz or whatever) to write down all of his lines and jokes. How much of that is true? I've heard The Rock credit Brian Gewirtz for helping him with his promos but I seriously doubt everything The Rock says is scripted by him. I really love this Cena though. Why can't he be like this all the time?

But with all that said I still want The Rock to destroy him on the mic next week and win at WrestleMania. Austin and The Rock and the Attitude Era were my favorites.

For those of you who said that this feud has become stale I disagree after hearing Cena's promo on RAW. If The Rock can come back next week and deliver an epic promo similar to his one last February, this feud is going to be great. The match itself is going to be really good as well. As much as I dislike Cena, he's a very underrated wrestler and so was The Rock when he was wrestling full time and The Rock came back at Survivor Series and proved he can still get in there and wrestle.

I'm already more pumped for this WrestleMania than I was for last year. Last year was a combination of going to RAW the week before WM and The Rock hosting and Taker/HHH and Punk/Orton being really good. But this year just with The Rock/Cena, Jericho/Punk, Taker/HHH HIAC and Sheamus/Bryan it already blows away last years card.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

 

For those of you who said that this feud has become stale I disagree after hearing Cena's promo on RAW. If The Rock can come back next week and deliver an epic promo similar to his one last February, this feud is going to be great. The match itself is going to be really good as well. As much as I dislike Cena, he's a very underrated wrestler and so was The Rock when he was wrestling full time and The Rock came back at Survivor Series and proved he can still get in there and wrestle.

They've been saying the same shit about each other for a year.

"I'm the people's champ and you're corny!"

"I'm the Cenation leader and you're a movie star who's not reeeeeeeeeeal!"

  It's stale to me.

the problem is, is that they both have valid points, but they keep harping on them. Yes Cena is gettin stale, yes the Rock says he won't leave and then does. But if the heat between these two is real, I can't wait to see them in the ring stiff shotting the shit out of each other.

I really enjoyed Smackdown. Some ups and downs for sure, but Punk/Bryan saved the show. Those two need to headline WM30 with an Iron Man match.

I just watched Punk being interviewed on CNN Headline News about the Chris Brown thing.  I've seen him interviewed by CNN and TMZ today about this and he has come across as intelligent, insightful, classy, passionate, and a champion for women's rights.  Vince just might kiss Punk the next time he sees him if he keeps this up.

It's so weird seeing CM Punk as WWE champion and now in a twitter war that's gaining mainstream attention. I still remember him when he was a local backyard wrestler and then indy wrestler here in Chicago. One of my best friends used to work for some of the local indy feds around 2001-2003. He used to have a ton of the wrestlers AIM screen names and cell numbers I remember him talking to CM Punk right here in my living room and I was like "who the fuck is CM Punk?". A few years later I would find out.

I still have a tape my friend gave me from an indy show years ago that was headlined by CM Punk vs. Colt Cobana. It even has the flyer/promo poster.

He really is one of those guys that "wasn't supposed to make it". I'm so happy he did though.

Edit: There was also this wrestler who was on SmackDown back in 2006/2007 that used to do backyard wrestling literally right across the street from one of my other friends in the late '90s/early '00s. That backyard wrestling promotion was crazy. They saved up their money and bought a wrestling ring and started holding shows in elementary school gyms around here... which I still have no idea how. They were a backyard fed. Don't you need some sort of license to run a show? I don't know. They used to draw like 700 people. It was nuts. This was back when wrestling was red hot in the late '90s/2000/2001.

So, apparently the Funkasaurus has been deemed "unsafe" to work with, hence his absence from TV these past few weeks. 

Yet Mark Henry is already wrestling again despite his injuries. 

Haven't been on this thread for awhile but there's been a lot of really exciting stuff for me to comment on in the wrestling I've watched since my last reply and a few conversations I'd like to throw my two cents in on.

- TNA still remains the same to me. Seeing them perform in front of the UK crowd was cool but the booking, presentation, and overall writing still hasn't hit the right mark at all. The Garrett Bischoff storyline is so embarassingly "off". Have Hogan and others proclaim that "this kid has wrestling in his blood" would be like NBA commisioner David Stern's son suddenly being on the all-star team and some NBA star saying "this kid has basketball in his genes". Knock it off. Eric Bischoff, for good or for bad, is a TV executive who found his niche in pro wrestling. His son becoming a wrestler is not following in the family business.

- The Cena promo was solid. I truthfully wasn't much of a fan of either guy as a whole but I dug what Cena had to say.

- Regarding The Rock, he's always come off as "scripted" to me. It wouldn't surprise me at all to know his promos were all written for him. I can appreciate him as an entertainer but he's basically a catchprase guy. He has a handful of sayings and tends to just do variations on them. Pretty standard schtick but he's made enough money off it to buy and sell my ass three times over so who am I to badmouth it?

- I don't how I feel about the whole set-up of Triple-H and Taker being the last of "their" era. This would have worked far better with Michaels who actually was main-eventing with Taker during those early 90's years. Admittingly, wrestling companies have taken far greater liberties to sell PPV's in the past but still. Alll things considered though, they've actually SOLD me on this match.

- I was a little concerned about them putting Jericho in the Chamber when they're building up to him and Punk but so far, they've handled the angle quite well.

That is all for now.

I agree that the Eric/Garett Bischoff storyline is awful. I think Garett does have some potential but to be given this much TV time and thrown in a major storyline this fast kind of stinks. The only way that they can save this is get this storyline over with at LockDown by having Garett kick Eric's ass and then Garett needs to start at the bottom of the roster. He's nowhere near ready yet to be thrown in to any title picture or midcard feud after this. Other than that, like I've said, I've truly been enjoying pretty much everything else TNA has to offer right now.

Triple H and Undertaker are talking about the Attitude Era more than early/mid '90s era so it does make sense even though there are still active wrestlers like Kane, Big Show and Jerich on the roster who were wrestlers during the Attitude Era.

When did everyone start bashing The Rock? There are so many jealous WWE stars that are now complaining about The Rock being in the main event of WrestleMania. It's stupid. The Rock responded to some of the critics today saying those people will never get over anyways. He's right. Besides Cena and Punk who does the WWE have that's really good? I'm not counting Undertaker and Triple H because they're pretty much retired and Jericho is in the same position as The Rock pretty much. He takes long breaks and he's only a part time wrestler. There are some guys on the roster that have potential but they're just not ready to be headlining WrestleMania. I like Sheamus, Cody Rhodes, Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler but none of those guys are big enough names to headline WrestleMania. They put The Miz in the main event last year and it was a huge failure. That was, without a doubt, the worst WrestleMania main event ever.

The bitching just doesn't make sense. It's not like they're bringing back Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair who can't wrestle anymore. It's The Rock. He still cuts better promos than anyone in the business, he looks to be in fantastic shape and he can still get out there and move and bump around and look like he hasn't lost a step.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

Triple H and Undertaker are talking about the Attitude Era more than early/mid '90s era so it does make sense even though there are still active wrestlers like Kane, Big Show and Jerich on the roster who were wrestlers during the Attitude Era.

Well, that's why it doesn't much make sense to me. You've got Kane, Show, Jericho, Mark Henry, to name a few.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Jim 

 

Well, that's why it doesn't much make sense to me. You've got Kane, Show, Jericho, Mark Henry, to name a few.
 

 

The whole promo didn't make much sense. I still have no idea what Undertaker was talking about when he brought up the "apocalypse". The only thing saving this feud is HIAC.

Maybe I'm the minority but I'm liking it so far. I really don't like the idea of Trips being the one to end the streak though.

The more I think about this whole CM Punk/Chris Brown twitter war the more I hate it. I agree with what CM Punk is saying but at the same time why not start with calling out fellow wrestlers who have done the same thing? This is just a cheap publicity stunt. It better not lead to some shitty match between Punk and Chris Brown.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

The more I think about this whole CM Punk/Chris Brown twitter war the more I hate it. I agree with what CM Punk is saying but at the same time why not start with calling out fellow wrestlers who have done the same thing? This is just a cheap publicity stunt. It better not lead to some shitty match between Punk and Chris Brown.

I don't see it as publicity for some kind of cross-promotional deal. In my opinion, that would really rub me the wrong way. I just see it as Punk speaking his mind about something current in pop culture. Chris Brown is back in the public eye so Punk decided to give his two cents.
 

Based on his recent CNN interview, the topic of Brown came up on Twitter when Punk was joking around with his followers about who he should face at 'Mania (this was prior to the kayfabe Jericho announcement) ... and one of his followers suggested Brown, to which Punk agreed and went on his tirade.

I dont think this was pre-planned, but that doesn't stop WWE from milking publicity out of it. This story got a ton of ink this week.

So I watched TNA for the first time in like a year because of Brandon Jacobs, big mistake worse than ever before. But the thing that really disturbed me was how Kurt Angle looked it scared me he looked so sickly pale and skinnier than I've ever seen him and seemed like he could do barely anything  maybe did one suplex and it made me really worry about him and if he had any sense he would take a break at least and someone in TNA should get him help because he looks awful. Shows you WWE was totally right to take him off for awhile too bad he didn't do anything to help himself and now he lost his family to Jeff Jarrett and his career looks on the verge of being over either that or his life, potentially.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anjin 

Based on his recent CNN interview, the topic of Brown came up on Twitter when Punk was joking around with his followers about who he should face at 'Mania (this was prior to the kayfabe Jericho announcement) ... and one of his followers suggested Brown, to which Punk agreed and went on his tirade.

 

I dont think this was pre-planned, but that doesn't stop WWE from milking publicity out of it. This story got a ton of ink this week.

A ton of POSITIVE ink.  Punk might look like a serial killer, but he's incredibly smart and an eloquent speaker.  He made WWE look damn good, and Chris Brown and his idiotic female sycophants looks damn stupid.  People I know who don't watch WWE but know that I do were asking me about Punk and talking about how much they liked and admired what he said in that video.

Punk is on his way to becoming the next big thing in wrestling and that's a positive in my book. He's not just a great in-ring perfomer but he's also compelling on the mic. WWE is really starting to figure out the "winning formula" again. Believe it or not, I wanted to be done with WWE but fact is entertaining TV is entertaining TV. And that's not to say they aren't having their share of blunders... having not watched their show in years, having the color man (Lawler) be a babyface and the play-by-play guy (Cole) be a heel is such a poor way to do it. The audience needs to trust the guy telling them the story, having him pull for the bad guys just comes off as extremely confusing. Maybe it's their choices though. Cole is too earnest in his efforts to work as a convincing heel.

What I don't get is if he really has a problem with the issue of spousal abuse then he should really speak about it and do something about it instead of just calling out a celebrity so you get some mainstream attention. Also, it just doesn't make sense if he really wanted to stop it why he wouldn't call out people in his own profession who have done the same thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arturo RJ 

So I watched TNA for the first time in like a year because of Brandon Jacobs, big mistake worse than ever before. But the thing that really disturbed me was how Kurt Angle looked it scared me he looked so sickly pale and skinnier than I've ever seen him and seemed like he could do barely anything  maybe did one suplex and it made me really worry about him and if he had any sense he would take a break at least and someone in TNA should get him help because he looks awful. Shows you WWE was totally right to take him off for awhile too bad he didn't do anything to help himself and now he lost his family to Jeff Jarrett and his career looks on the verge of being over either that or his life, potentially.

Actually, Angle claims he's healthier than ever. He lost the weight so he could try out for the 2012 Olympic wrestling team. He's probably down to a legit 200 pounds. I don't think he looks sick though.

What didn't you like about the show?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

What I don't get is if he really has a problem with the issue of spousal abuse then he should really speak about it and do something about it instead of just calling out a celebrity so you get some mainstream attention. Also, it just doesn't make sense if he really wanted to stop it why he wouldn't call out people in his own profession who have done the same thing.

Well, technically speaking, Brown wasn''t involved in "spousal abuse" and the fact is if you're taking a stance against an issue, you're going to go after the biggest and most relevant figure. Chris Brown is in the spotlight which is likely why Punk made the comment. I'm not familiar with how the situation started but it sounds more like somone name-checked Brown and CM Punk sounded off on him as opposed to him just deciding to go after him on a whim.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crazy Jim 

Well, technically speaking, Brown wasn''t involved in "spousal abuse" and the fact is if you're taking a stance against an issue, you're going to go after the biggest and most relevant figure. 

Well, how about the term "domestic violence" , as that covers any type of violence within relationships. Sure, you could have Punk speak out against Steve Austin, for example. But calling out this singer reaches a bigger audience for his message. There's a lot of sick people out there adulating Brown because of his attack on his girlfriend, not in spite of it. There were women posting that Brown could hit them any time. That's the kind of stupidity that Punk is calling out. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicholas Reed 

What is going to get more attention drawn to the issue in a more mainstream setting, where there will be more eyes and ears for it to reach: CM Punk calling out Super Mega RoidRage from XPW, or CM Punk calling out a Grammy winning musician with a huge following who has been recently in the news for being a smacked-ass? That's your answer.

The whole thing just seems like a publicity stunt. Even if that wasn't Punk's intention and he really does care about this issue, now McMahon and the WWE are taking it and trying to get in the news. It better not turn into a wrestling angle. I have no interest in seeing CM Punk vs. Chris Brown.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

The whole thing just seems like a publicity stunt. Even if that wasn't Punk's intention and he really does care about this issue, now McMahon and the WWE are taking it and trying to get in the news. It better not turn into a wrestling angle. I have no interest in seeing CM Punk vs. Chris Brown.

I don't think WWE had any choice but to at least acknowledge it once it hit the mainstream.  TMZ was covering it, for Pete's sake.  They never ignore when one of their guys or gals crosses over like that, so why start now?  I doubt it's going to be an angle, but Michael Cole's giddiness as he broke the story on Smackdown was appalling and crass considering the root of the argument.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Upgrayedd 

The whole thing just seems like a publicity stunt. Even if that wasn't Punk's intention and he really does care about this issue, now McMahon and the WWE are taking it and trying to get in the news. It better not turn into a wrestling angle. I have no interest in seeing CM Punk vs. Chris Brown.

I think turning it into that would be hypocricsy, at least as far as Punk is concerned. I can't act bothered by WWE milking the publicity. That is what they do. Vince has shown time and time again that there is no line he won't cross or situation he won't exploit if he thinks his audience will stand by him.
 

I'm late in the conversation, but geez everyone hates the Rock. Orton, Punk, Cena yada yada. You can't win. People bitch that he's not there, and than when he comes back to do the match everyone wants to see (except for me, I wanted HBK vs The Rock), people bitch that he's taking up the spotlight. 

Don't you know? The IWC hates....

I leave that open ended because there really is no end to the pit of despair that is the IWC.

oh and ROCK tonight!! Can't wait to see what happens. Also, Rumour has it that the main event is gonna be Punk/Bryan again. I am loving these sets of matches that don't end cleanly for either side. Its really starting to bring the titles back up to a decent level

It's just too bad that Punk/Bryan hasn't gotten a build-up as to have a proper champ vs champ match at 'Mania.  THAT I would like to see while both are still on Vince's good side and holding the main straps. It's about time for them to unite the World & WWE titles anyway... a Punk/Bryan feud for that honor would be fucking phenomenal. We really have two of the best workhorses as champs since the days of Eddie and Benoit as champions.

Honestly though, I'm loving these Punk/Bryan matches and I hope it leads to something special down the line.  And I mean no disrespect to Jericho, who I sincerely beleive will give Punk his most memorable WWE match yet, thus pushing him further into legend category.  I'm more excited for that match than I am Cena/Rock.

Hey, I'm a IWC asshole who hates EVERYTHING!  You know, except for awesome wrestling and good angles!