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

[Invader3K]

The whole "hardcore" thing got pretty silly after a while. "Real" wrestling is more exciting than two guys hitting each other with frying pans and kendo sticks. Barbed wire matches with lots of blood were exciting when I was 16 years old, but not so much today.

[Raw Biz]

i wish they would just get rid of the brands, the whole thing was always stupid to me. re-emphasize the tag team titles, simply have the wwe championship, IC, and bring back the hardcore belt.

I think the problem with that is the roster is too big. Mid-carders like Ziggler, Morrison, Swagger, Bryan, Sheamus, etc. have had a hard enough time getting face-time as it is now (though Morrison and Bryan seem to be getting a bit of a push now). And it took about half the year to finally get Zack Ryder some air-time. I fear that if they scrapped the brands, it would just be the Cena/Punk/Orton/Christian shows. All the big name guys, while talented, would be the primary focus. I think splitting the roster up at least gives the mid-carders more of a chance. Hopefully with HHH taking over, he realizes that these are legitimate talents and they get more air-time (and better storylines).

I wouldn't mind if they just went to one WWE Championship and had the champ compete on both brands. But I would definitely keep both secondary championships. I think fans (at least adult ones) realize that the storylines are more important than who's the World/WWE Champ. If you have great storytelling (like the whole CM Punk angle), people will watch. Sure that involved the championship but it was great storytelling nonetheless. And some guys just shouldn't be the champ as much anymore (Cena/Orton). These guys already have their millions of fans and don't need to be champion to be popular. They should be using the championships to elevate the younger talents IMO.

[BrewCrewForever]

I hope that since Punk and Cena each currently have a copy of the "spinner" title (even though it does not spin anymore, thank God) that at Summerslam since they are crowning an Undisputed champ that they bring back the old title belt (one before the spinner) or introduce a brand new, better looking one than the current.

[carniesandrubes]

And the kill the angle with tonight's Nash/ADR nonsense. Back to the status quo.

[Invader3K]

Seems crazy that they basically killed the hot Punk/Cena feud by having Del Rio win the belt right after. Maybe I'm missing something, since I didn't actually watch the show.

[PrinceEatMeat]

How do we know that the story won't end up being that Nash was actually a hired gun from either Stephanie or HHH to purposely screw Punk? I'm waiting to see what happens tonight before I pass judgment. This storyline isn't over yet. Keep in mind there's the whole Cena foot on the rope thing going on too. Technically it could turn out that the McMahon family had a plan to screw both of them. The title being on ADR doesn't really end this storyline in my opinion. It will continue as more of a HHH and Cena/Punk storyline from here. It'll be interesting to see why Nash was truly involved.

[patrickgpe]

i'm sure Nash was a hired gun, since triple h and Nash are friends. They wouldn't have brought him out from nowhere if he wasn't. RAW should be interesting tonight, I was just expecting Triple H to be more involved in the match than just missing cena's foot on the ropes.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, just the way HHH reacted when Nash showed up tells me that it was his doing and he was just covering it up. It's possible that Del Rio was involved, but I think it's gonna end up that it was the McMahon's plan to screw Punk.

[sargennm]

How do we know that the story won't end up being that Nash was actually a hired gun from either Stephanie or HHH to purposely screw Punk? I'm waiting to see what happens tonight before I pass judgment. This storyline isn't over yet. Keep in mind there's the whole Cena foot on the rope thing going on too. Technically it could turn out that the McMahon family had a plan to screw both of them. The title being on ADR doesn't really end this storyline in my opinion. It will continue as more of a HHH and Cena/Punk storyline from here. It'll be interesting to see why Nash was truly involved.

That's a good point. There's seems like there could be a good strange bedfellows Survivor Series angle coming from all of this.

[BrewCrewForever]

Raw should be good tonight. It was largely rumored that Del Rio would cash in and win the title after the main event so that did not surprise me. But the fact that both Punk and Cena got screwed out of the title was a cool twist. I am sure Nash was a hired gun, will be on Raw tonight and then disappear. Will be interesting to see who did what and if Del Rio was in on it or not. Lots of possibilities.

[jerichoholicninja]

Since we're talking wrestling I would just like to say that I think T-Plush is one of the voices R-Truth is talking to.

[thablingster]

Since we're talking wrestling I would just like to say that I think T-Plush is one of the voices R-Truth is talking to.

Maybe Little Jimmy is Jim Riggleman and he wanted Nyjer to be a good T-Plush?

[brettac1]

I just watched Summerslam... wow, what a terrible botch. What's the point?

 

Why not just leave the belt on Punk? I loved the screwing of Cena angle and they should have left it at that, it was just going to get hotter if they could do the TV shows right.

[thablingster]

My theory is eventually we find out that either Stephanie or John Laurinaitis texted Nash from HHH's phone on behalf of Vince as Vince wants the belt on Alberto Del Rio since Cena failed him and Punk embarrassed him.

[BrewCrewForever]

My theory is eventually we find out that either Stephanie or John Laurinaitis texted Nash from HHH's phone on behalf of Vince as Vince wants the belt on Alberto Del Rio since Cena failed him and Punk embarrassed him.

I think you are spot on. And I think that Punk will get the belt back at some point within the next few months.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, I also think that's what'll happen. I think this storyline is just getting started. I'd love to see Punk/ADR at some point. I hope it happens. But for now we'll have to deal with Cena/ADR.

[Raw Biz]

Yeah, I also think that's what'll happen. I think this storyline is just getting started. I'd love to see Punk/ADR at some point. I hope it happens. But for now we'll have to deal with Cena/ADR.

I actually read the WWE Creative wants to start a Punk/Nash angle with them eventually meeting in the ring. They said they wanted a "big" name for Punk to feud with to help him get over. Apparently Cena wasn't a big enough name and Punk wasn't over enough. Nash has absolutely nothing left in the ring and he's 52. For some reason, people at TNA and WWE think guys over 40 and even 50 are main event worthy. Some guys can still hack it (Angle, Sting, Undertaker) but I'm starting to get sick of these guys being the main focus just because they are bigger names. The young talent needs to be pushed because they are the future.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Nash is actually still in really good shape. Granted a match with Punk may not look that great, but he can still hack it. He'd obviously look better against another big guy though. They might swing it so they face off at Hell in a Cell though in a HIAC match. That might cover it up a little, and make the match better. I think I'd rather see Punk wrestle HHH though. That might happen at some point too, we'll see.

[Raw Biz]

Nash is actually still in really good shape. Granted a match with Punk may not look that great, but he can still hack it. He'd obviously look better against another big guy though. They might swing it so they face off at Hell in a Cell though in a HIAC match. That might cover it up a little, and make the match better. I think I'd rather see Punk wrestle HHH though. That might happen at some point too, we'll see.

I don't know, just because someone is in good shape doesn't make them a good wrestler IMO. I never considered Nash that great of an in-ring performer (though I was a big nWo fan) so this doesn't really excite me. I do agree though that a gimmick match like HIAC would make it a lot better than a straight up one-on-one. I just wish they would've kept the Punk/Cena feud going until Survivor Series. Then they could've started focusing on Cena/Rock. But who knows, maybe Creative has something up its sleeve (though I won't hold my breath considering how much they've dropped the ball in the past).

[radman12484]

Yeah, I also think that's what'll happen. I think this storyline is just getting started. I'd love to see Punk/ADR at some point. I hope it happens. But for now we'll have to deal with Cena/ADR.

I actually read the WWE Creative wants to start a Punk/Nash angle with them eventually meeting in the ring. They said they wanted a "big" name for Punk to feud with to help him get over. Apparently Cena wasn't a big enough name and Punk wasn't over enough. Nash has absolutely nothing left in the ring and he's 52. For some reason, people at TNA and WWE think guys over 40 and even 50 are main event worthy. Some guys can still hack it (Angle, Sting, Undertaker) but I'm starting to get sick of these guys being the main focus just because they are bigger names. The young talent needs to be pushed because they are the future.

I agree with what you are saying, but in order to push the young talent. They need to beat someone who is over. Now you know Super Cena and Super Orton can't put anyone over, cuz that would be just awful (sarcasm). Nash working with Punk (who is already over), will push him a little bit more with the non CM Punk fans. Can't really seeing it being a good match, but its someone else for Punk to beat other then Cena. Also, with what TNA is doing with all the old wrestlers is a joke. They are burying themselves by not pushing the young guys in the main events. Sting should be feuding with Styles, Daniels, Morgan, Joe, etc. Get the old guys to put over the young guys. WCW was the same way, they go of so much talent during the nWo era (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Stone Cold, etc).

[Raw Biz]

Yeah, I also think that's what'll happen. I think this storyline is just getting started. I'd love to see Punk/ADR at some point. I hope it happens. But for now we'll have to deal with Cena/ADR.

I actually read the WWE Creative wants to start a Punk/Nash angle with them eventually meeting in the ring. They said they wanted a "big" name for Punk to feud with to help him get over. Apparently Cena wasn't a big enough name and Punk wasn't over enough. Nash has absolutely nothing left in the ring and he's 52. For some reason, people at TNA and WWE think guys over 40 and even 50 are main event worthy. Some guys can still hack it (Angle, Sting, Undertaker) but I'm starting to get sick of these guys being the main focus just because they are bigger names. The young talent needs to be pushed because they are the future.

I agree with what you are saying, but in order to push the young talent. They need to beat someone who is over. Now you know Super Cena and Super Orton can't put anyone over, cuz that would be just awful (sarcasm). Nash working with Punk (who is already over), will push him a little bit more with the non CM Punk fans. Can't really seeing it being a good match, but its someone else for Punk to beat other then Cena. Also, with what TNA is doing with all the old wrestlers is a joke. They are burying themselves by not pushing the young guys in the main events. Sting should be feuding with Styles, Daniels, Morgan, Joe, etc. Get the old guys to put over the young guys. WCW was the same way, they go of so much talent during the nWo era (Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Stone Cold, etc).

Yeah I get that. Which is why I mentioned earlier I'm sick of the rotating champions (Cena, Orton, Edge before injury, HHH, etc.). I just started getting back into it this year since February after not really watching for a couple of years (and before that it was like 5 years without watching). But it really seems like not much has changed in regards to cycling through the same champions.

They've pushed younger guys in the past (Sheamus, Morrison, Ziggler, Swagger) only to bury them almost immediately. I did like what they were did with Miz/Cena in order to get Miz over (I think Miz has been great the past year and has improved a lot) and now it seems like they're using Miz to help get Riley over. I just hope they don't end up burying all these guys that they've been building up.

And I agree with TNA. I really wanna like it cuz they have some great in-ring performers there and they pull off (or at least used to) some moves that Vince would never allow for fear of injury. But now it's like they want to be WCW Part 2 (even recycling the nWo with The Band and the 4 Horsemen with Fortune). But I do like that TNA is starting to push the X Division again because I think those guys can be the most exciting wrestlers to watch in the business today.

 

[brettac1]

I don't think Kevin Nash wrestling anyone is a good idea at this point in time. I always loved him on the mike, and think he's funny, but he's certainly not going to look good in the ring. The main thing I struggle to get with this is the love for Del Rio. The character sucks, he's not a good worker, etc. Isn't it the same exact character as Bradshaw did, just from a little further south?

 

This was the only thing he's ever done that I liked:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Biz3sfhqWY

[thablingster]

Yeah, Del Rio is biting on JBL's gimmick hard. WWE does tend to recycle gimmicks, though.

 

Del Rio's push probably has a lot to do with the fact there are really no viable heel options that are over at the main event level, especially on RAW. There is Miz and that's about it. Del Rio at least has the ability to make people not like him, while creative has already crushed guys like Swagger and Ziggler as to where they have no credibility at the main event level.

[LouisEly]

I think Kevin Nash looked more bad-arsed with gray hair.

[brettac1]

Yeah, the first thing I noticed was the horrible Just For Men job.