CM Punk; WWE Has Me Hooked Again (2011 Official Pro Wrestling Thread)

[BrewCrewForever]

What does everyone think of the current angle Punk is involved in? I have to be honest, as I said in the WM27 thread I used to be as into wrestling as I am baseball. But over the last 5 years I got out of it. But ever since they started this current angle with Punk and really pushing him WWE has me hooked again. Punk as he says is clearly the best wrestling in the world and he is fantastic on the mic.

 

I think they may have rushed him back a little too soon. Maybe he should have been off TV at least a few more weeks. I am very anxious to see how they explain his return to Raw last week on this coming Monday's show. Punk was on Bill Simmons podcast this week and I liked how honest he was about everything. Saying this is not the "attitude" era anymore but the "reality" era and that he along with a lot of the younger talent want to make wrestling cool again.

 

I hope to things come from the Punk vs Cena rematch at Summerslam. First that Punk wins, if Cena wins everything they did would be for nothing. Second, make it a 2/3 falls match. I think that would really spice it up.

 

Thoughts?

[PrinceEatMeat]

Totally agree on all points. I haven't been this interested in the WWE in years. I've watched all along, but I'm more entertained now than I have been since the attitude era ended. Absolutely love the Punk storyline, and the McMahon/HHH things is interesting too. Actually has me excited for Raw each week. Haven't said that in awhile. I don't think they rushed him back necessarily, but yeah they probably could've prolonged it a little bit. I think Punk/Cena at SS will be HUGE. I can see why they wanted to do it. I can't wait to see what comes next. Very compelling stuff.

[brettac1]

I pretty much agree. I have mainly just been watching passingly lately, but I downloaded the Money In The Bank PPV and thought that match was awesome. I haven't watched Raw since, but I was shocked that someone could carry Cena to a five star match. I was definitely anticipating that they would hold off on him until right before Summerslam and then main event with Punk vs Cena. While watching the PPV I was all but certain they would do a stupid Del Rio vs Cena match there.

 

One thing that I love in wrestling is a worked shoot, and they did it to perfection in the lead-up to MITB. Now they need to go back to TV-14 and start making money again and making entertaining TV. And to turn Orton into a mega-heel. He's awful as a face.

[jerichoholicninja]

It has all the elements to be good but how many times in the last few years has the WWE totally dropped the ball on something with potential? A lot. I'll enjoy it while it's good but I expect it will be crap sooner than we all want.

[brettac1]

Right. Since they are a publicly traded company, they tend to rush everything to try and make cash on it as soon as possible.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, there have been some storylines that could've been gold, but they completely messed up. Nexus is the main one that comes to my mind. They booked that angle terribly.

[brettac1]

Punk could be almost a Stone Cold type of character, but they'll blow it.

[BrewCrewForever]

Yeah, pretty crazy that Punk vs Cena was the first 5 star WWE match by Dave Meltzer since 1997. But he match was that good, only thing that would have made it better would have been Jim Ross calling it, not Michael Cole.

 

I totally agree on Orton as a face, he just can't pull it off. He seems uncomfortable.

 

I was not watching during the Nexus stable, but all I have seen and read is that it was great but they totally screwed it up and now it pretty much went away with no real reason.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yep, Nexus could've been as big as the NWO if they would've booked it right, but they didn't. Orton does suck as a face. Just turning into another Cena. It's a shame. Also, Jim Ross is back full time right now, which is amazing.

[brettac1]

Is Ross back or something now?

[brettac1]

The thing that really sucks is that they are building to an anti-climactic WrestleMania main event. You know good and well they will have the strap on Cena for that match... and what would be the point of booking Rock to win when he is just going to go away right after it? I think that a Cena heel turn is something they need to seriously consider. Like I said, I'm pretty casual these days, but even I am bored every time I watch him. He gets beat up, comes back (this is when he does his People's Elbow impression), gets beat down again, Hulks up, and hits the AA and wins. Wow, how breathtaking! I'd rather see a big boot followed by the leg drop than Cena's gimmick.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Is Ross back or something now?

Yep HHH brought him back full-time on Raw this week. It's legit too, he is back. And Cole might be off Raw too reportedly.

[BrewCrewForever]

Yeah a lot of writers on various wrestling sites call it "Super Cena" when he beats all odds and always comes back and wins.

[JimH5]

I'm a wrestling fan from way back. There will be times when I fade away for a few years, but I always come back to see the latest and greatest.

 

The Punk spot was awesome--though I agree that they brought him back too soon. They could have milked it out until later in the fall. But I can see why they want to make SummerSlam a good event.

 

I would like to see less of Orton & Cena & Mysterio. . .I do like that they're giving Christian, Mark Henry & R-Truth some serious attention.

[BrewCrewForever]

Guys I like right now are Punk, Zack Ryder, Otunga & McGillicutty, John Morrison, Christian and Orton.

 

When I came back and started watching I was shocked that guys like Edge, Jericho and Batista were gone. I swear they were still around even when I casually flipped it on just a year ago or so. Still love Triple H even though he is in a non-wrestling role now.

[brettac1]

Oh, yeah, I think once a wrestling fan, always a wrestling fan. It just takes the right angle to hook you again.

 

I certainly agree on less Mysterio. He brings nothing to the table since he bulked up. The 619 has to be the most idiotic move. I'd love to see more Orton as a heel, I guess just because I am partial to heels and think he has a lot of talent if he were to do that... and drop the stupid pounding the mat and looking menacing thing. So lame.

 

I think even though I don't watch that much, I will always love wrestling theory, or whatever you would call it. Not sure if anyone here listens to this, but check out the "Formerly Creative" podcast:

 

http://iwantwrestling.com/podcasts/

[patrickgpe]

yeah Punk has become my favorite wreslter. Didn't have one since the Undertaker started making his once a year appearances. Wasn't a fan of him when he was in the SES or Nexus, because they weren't using him right. This remaking of Punk has been awesome. I still usually only DVR raw (so i can watch MNF or the brewers) and skip most of it, so i can keep track of the story lines and miss most of the boredom. This angle has me hooked though.

[Invader3K]

I should start DVRing RAW again. I stopped about three years ago when I just got so sick of John Cena and the shows seemed so boring and predictable. I've always liked CM Punk since he was "called up" to ECW several years ago.

[BrewCrewForever]

Heard a rumor that Punk might be the leader of a heel stable with Colt Cabana and The Kings of Wrestling. Both Cabana and KOW are rumored to be signing with WWE soon.

[brettac1]

It seems to me they should position him as an anti-hero. Screw stables, let him be a man alone. He gets huge pops when he comes out already. He can seriously be Austin-esque.

[BrewCrewForever]

It seems to me they should position him as an anti-hero. Screw stables, let him be a man alone. He gets huge pops when he comes out already. He can seriously be Austin-esque.

I agree 100%. He can be an Austin type character. Not exactly like Austin of course, but that guy who does what he wants and kind of walks that line of a heel and babyface.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Punk is set-up perfectly to be the next Stone Cold. Not sure if it'll happen or not, but it should. Austin led the Alliance at one point, so it wouldn't really ruin anything if he led a stable with Cabana, etc. We'll see what direction they go in. It has me watching and interested, that much is for sure.

[TracyThom]

This angle is really up and down. Punk's first speech was top-notch. For the first time in a long time, it had people wondering, "Was that for real?" The buzz grew until the next week on Raw. (Taped later in the evening after Punk's speech.) I thought the follow-up was a letdown with McMahon and Cena. "Don't fire Punk. I want to wrestle him at the PPV because of pride. He was just speaking his mind, blah, blah, blah." I also thought the contract signing was a letdown too. To me, Vince McMahon did not need to be so heavily involved in the angle. I was having flashbacks of the Invasion angle. What should have been the biggest storyline/feud in wrestling history (WCW/ECW vs. WWF) turned out to be Shane McMahon & "The Extreme Princess" Stephanie McMahon vs. Vince McMahon.

 

I digress. The Punk/Cena Money in the Bank PPV title match was great. Too many screwups to be *****, but a solid **** match nonetheless. Great crowd, great drama, and I couldn't believe they pulled the trigger letting Punk win. He had to be under contract prior to the match. Too much unknown if he wasn't.

 

They followed it up with Punk and the WWE title in the fridge, and then the Comic-Con showdown. That was fantastic. That's what today's wrestling is sorely missing. Something unexpected. Something new. Punk then showed up at the AAW indy show in Berwyn. All of this led up to last Monday. Punk returned. Way too soon. He and Cena had an anticlimactic showdown in the middle of the ring. (I did love Cult of Personality.) I have a strong idea that the silent showdown was HHH's idea. He loves his silent showdowns, kinda like the one he had with Taker.

 

That leads me to my last point. I really dislike HHH. I've never been a fan. I think he is going to interject himself into the feud, and therefore shoot himself back into the spotlight. Hopefully my expectations are false, and WWE can make wrestling, I mean sports entertainment, cool again.

[TracyThom]

I think even though I don't watch that much, I will always love wrestling theory, or whatever you would call it. Not sure if anyone here listens to this, but check out the "Formerly Creative" podcast:

 

http://iwantwrestling.com/podcasts/

I've tried to listen to a couple different episodes of Lagana's podcast, but I couldn't get through it. Just not interesting enough. I am a huge fan of the Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana. http://www.welovecolt.com/ My favorite episodes are Chris Hero, Zach Gowen, Colin Delaney, Sean Waltman, and Domino aka Cliff Compton.

 

Completely unrelated... There is a free independent pro wrestling show today (Saturday, July 30th) at 5pm in Dousman at the municipal park. The show is part of Dousman Derby Days. Featured is former AWA wrestler Jake "The Milkman" Milliman. Yes, he still wrestles and he looks exactly the same. Also on the show is former WCW wrestler Tough Tom of Disorderly Conduct, who is really good live. There are a bunch of other local wrestlers appearing and there is a woman's match as well.

 

 

[radman12484]

Long time wrestling fan here. Been a long time Punk fan ever since his days in MAW when it was around. Punk is something the WWE sorely needs right now. I honestly think we are getting what we got in the mid to late 90s here when you had Bret Hart and Stone Cold feud. You had Bret who was the fan favorite, the one who was all about the kids, blah blah who is basically Cena now. Then you got Austin, someone who was getting over with the fans as a heel, doing things the non Bret Hart way who Punk reminds me of. WWE is heading in the right direction this summer by the looks of things. Zack Ryder is finally getting some TV time on Smackdown now who I think is very entertaining from his Youtube shows and who isn't too bad in the ring either. But like a few of you have said before already. WWE seems to drop the ball with this stuff this time of year, last year being Nexus. I do seem CM Punk vs. John Cena at Summerslam title vs title. If they put the belt back on Cena, then this way a huge was of time.