If the Wrestling Thread wanted to dance, it'd get a date!

[Dr. Evil]

If John Cena had still been injured three months ago and the injury was more serious than it actually was, a case could be made for his WM 29 status being questionable.

 

[TX85]

IF the side plates become the current champion's logo each time..I actually like it,I mean I prefer the WWE logo But this change is cool to me.

 

[Dr. Evil]

I do hope that Sheamus vs. Mark Henry happens at Wrestlemania 29. I want the Celtic Warrior to join the House of Pain.

 

[Van Petrol]

As seen on last night's RAW, WWE aired a previously recorded video from Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger talking about immigration. Michael Cole revealed that the video came from Zeb's personal YouTube page at "WeThePeopleZeb." That video has been blocked by YouTube for a copyright claim by WWE, in likely what is a miscommunication between WWE and their YouTube people.

Read more at http://www.lordsofpain.net/

 

[Anno_Domini]

They could play that to their advantage though and say Zeb and Swagger's video is so controversial that YouTube banned it. It could actually help the angle, imo.

I do hope that Sheamus vs. Mark Henry happens at Wrestlemania 29. I want the Celtic Warrior to join the House of Pain.

I felt like we'd get more of a feud between Sheamus and Barrett after Raw than Sheamus/Henry.

 

[Van Petrol]

They could play that to their advantage though and say Zeb and Swagger's video is so controversial that YouTube banned it. It could actually help the angle, imo.

Same thought crossed my mind.

 

[The Sage]

Article covering the making of the belt: http://www.wwe.com/inside/the-making-of-the-new-wwe-title-26092146

Excerpts:

The group wasn’t necessarily looking to reinvent the wheel — the championship would look like a championship — but the globes, eagles and whatever else WWE fans had grown accustomed to seeing in bronze on a title would be replaced by new ideas.

Stanski’s plan to make the title instantly recognizable led the team to take the iconic WWE “W” — which was barely legible on older variations of the championship, but front and center on the “spinner” version — and make it so big and jewel-encrusted that it wouldn’t look out of place on the end of an MC’s gold chain.

At one point, the championship was meant to feature a massive, three-dimensional eagle grasping onto the central WWE logo with its talons. And those two symmetrical gold bars on the sides of the finished title? Those are inspired by an earlier mockup that was offset by miniature rings — a perfect example of how designs evolve in the most unexpected ways.

 

[Anno_Domini]

I really like the idea of the belt with its championship ring look, but I would of course be fine with the idea of an eagle being on the belt.

 

[NDX]

Made another edit of the new title, adding some red leather behind the logo, think it helps the belt stand out more.

When I first saw that I thought it was a dodgeball behind there. And now I can't get that FWOOMP! sound out of my head.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Spoiler

WWE SmackDown
* JBL and Josh Mathews are out for commentary. Lilian Garcia welcomes the fans.

* The show opens with highlights from Elimination Chamber and RAW.

* Ricardo Rodriguez and Alberto Del Rio come to the ring. Del Rio talks about Jack Swagger's new attitude. Del Rio says this country was built by immigrants. Del Rio calls Swagger out but Randy Orton appears instead.

Orton enters the ring and says his opportunity was taken by Swagger. Orton wants a match with Swagger tonight. Booker T comes out and announces Wade Barrett vs. Del Rio and Swagger vs. Orton for tonight.

* Damien Sandow vs. Sheamus is up next. Sheamus gets the win after a lengthy match, using the Brogue Kick.

* Aksana and Tamina vs. Kaitlyn and Layla is next. Kaitlyn spears Tamina for the win.

* Backstage segment with Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger and Wade Barrett. Zeb says Barrett is part of the problem. Zeb hopes Del Rio and Barrett kill each other.

* Jack Swagger vs. Randy Orton is up next. Swagger wins a good physical match with his feet on the ropes.

* Promo for Dead Man Down. Backstage segment with Sheamus and Wade Barrett. Sheamus picks on Barrett's acting and Barrett picks on Sheamus for losing to The Shield.

* The Miz vs. Cody Rhodes is up next. Miz wins with a Figure Four.

* Another immigration promo from Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter.

* A vignette for Fandango airs.

* Alberto Del Rio vs. Wade Barrett is up next. Swagger and Zeb come out and watch the match from the stage.

* Alberto Del Rio vs. Wade Barrett is up next. Swagger and Zeb come out and watch the match from the stage. Barrett dominates most of the match but Del Rio gets the win by submission. Swagger and Zeb approach the ring. Swagger and Del Rio have a staredown to end SmackDown.

 

[NDX]

They could easily turn this around and make it part of the storyline by claiming that the WWE censored their "legitimate" claims on behalf of their job stealing, border hopping, bilingual world champion.

****, that's such a gimme right there that is will never happen.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Exactly. Its the WWE title not the P Diddy title. Hell since WMXXX is in New Orleans next year they may as well do the full Arquette and let Kanye West and his own little porn poon Kim K walk in as WWE champion while claiming Vince McMahon hates black people.

I hope Vince isn't reading this man, they are just the type of obnoxious and tacky celebs McMahon loves and would see as "cool"

Barretts got the look, height, and mic skills but he's lacking in everything else. As a worker he's blah. But in WWE land you can still make it as long as you have the first three or hell even two of the three.

But Barrett is stil lacking a certain main eventer feel or magnetism. I think Sheamus even has more of it than him right now. That and Sheamus is big AND can work a lot better.

I think one of the biggest problems with Barrett is they've never found an interesting way to present him once the Nexus was done, the barrage gimmick is not interesting or intriguing, it's just nothing, a hollow statement.

This. A wrestler character's goal on these shows is to be a champion. So saying the show is fake so the character's goals don't matter is ridiculous. Do we cut other shows slack when they trivialize important story elements? No. The WWE Championship is supposed to symbolize excellence. Are we meant to believe as an audience that these characters would take pride in wearing something that looks like the new WWE Championship?

Exactly, the art of wrestling is to draw people in and have them so immersed that they suspend their disbelief.

This is one of the things I don't like about 3 hour Raws. They aren't only giving away bouts that could potentially be on PPV but are REPEATING them. Sheamus and Cesaro was one that really irked me.

I feel the same, Ziggler has wrestled Del Rio 3 weeks in a row across WWE's 3 main programs and lost clean on them all, that match-up now has zero drawing potential.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Stanski’s plan to make the title instantly recognizable led the team to take the iconic WWE “W” — which was barely legible on older variations of the championship, but front and center on the “spinner” version — and make it so big and jewel-encrusted that it wouldn’t look out of place on the end of an MC’s gold chain.

This is the biggest problem right here, why the hell would you want it to look like that!?

At one point, the championship was meant to feature a massive, three-dimensional eagle grasping onto the central WWE logo with its talons. And those two symmetrical gold bars on the sides of the finished title? Those are inspired by an earlier mockup that was offset by miniature rings — a perfect example of how designs evolve in the most unexpected ways.

That might have been an improvement.

 

[Hunter Rider]

This is how you debut a monster heel!

[YT]lv9xfUj5m9Q[/YT]

 

[NDX]

Glorious. Although WWE does get it right sometime, such as Henry's recent return and the whole of the Shield's booking.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Judging by the SD and Main Event reports from tonights tapings I think Show vs Booker and Sheamus vs Barrett may end up on the Mania card.

Glorious. Although WWE does get it right sometime, such as Henry's recent return and the whole of the Shield's booking.

Very true, the booking of The Shield has been nothing short of remarkable in this day and age.

 

[Wheels]

Yeah, The Shield is the best stable since Evolution, and I enjoy them more than Evolution personally. That's just me though.

 

[Mindreaper21]

I like the new belt a LOT better than the "spinner". The only issue I have is that it still looks like it was bedazzled by a 4 year old girl. I'd expect that from the Divas title, but not the WWE title.

 

[Nell2ThaIzzay]

We all know this. But it just feels a real shame that the company seem to be eradicating almost everything that made it so popular and regarded to begin with.

What made it so popular to begin with was over the top characters, storyline, and theatricality, which is exactly what WWE does embrace.

Now, the quality of their current characters, storylines, and theatricality is a subject of debate, and the reason why I would say the product is nowhere near as good. Creatively, the stories are worse. In front of the camera, the wrestlers and characters are worse. There's simply no aspect of the product currently that matches those of years past.

But WWE is embracing the exact elements that make it popular in the first place - the over the top theatricality and spectacle of it all.

 

[bullets]

Like I said, I don't think it's as bad as other people think. I think more people will like it, including me, with time.

Not me , but I think the custom sides are a nice touch. Although it's kind of odd not seeing a nameplate.

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was asked about the Status of Tough Enough during an interview with KISW.com.

"I think that window is closed," remarked Austin. He also added that WWE "dropped the ball with Tough Enough."

- The February 15th episode of Smackdown did 2,682,000 viewers, down over 500,000 people from last week.

- Santino Marella commented on the status of his neck, writing on Twitter, "Neck procedure went well today in Pittsburg, shouldn't be too long now before I'm back in action, I'm hoping!"

http://www.pwpix.net/pwpixnews/headlines/363317518.php

I really enjoyed Tough Enough , but Stone Cold picked a lousy winner. I guess it happened by default since certain people got injured and half the contestants sucked. Still a fun show and I'm surprised it wasn't that popular.

Also glad to read Santino is doing well.

They could play that to their advantage though and say Zeb and Swagger's video is so controversial that YouTube banned it. It could actually help the angle, imo.

The Zeb/Swagger controversy has been mentioned by fox news and Alex Jones is causing a stir about it. I think the intention was to draw publicity and it seems to be working.

Barrett's definitely a bland worker. I could watch the first bout between him and Sheamus on Raw a while back but then they repeated the match at least 2 times.....not even Sheamus could make me watch those other 2 occasions.

This is one of the things I don't like about 3 hour Raws. They aren't only giving away bouts that could potentially be on PPV but are REPEATING them. Sheamus and Cesaro was one that really irked me.

I think Barret is a good worker , but I haven't found him interesting since the Nexus storyline. I thought he was great in the leader role and figured he would be a top star by now. I think he'll reach the top eventually if he's around long enough. I'm looking forward his film Dead Man Down. It has a 90s action feel to it. I wonder if he's in it for more than three minutes.


Also I wish Raw would go back to 2 hours for many reasons. I'd go so far as to say it's hurting Smackdown because it covers some of the main angles. It almost makes the Friday show seem unnecessary. Monday felt like a preview for next weeks episode. Which is why it's not good to have a long RAW after a ppv. I like 3 hours shows on special occasions , but they should be reserved for just that.

 

[chamber-music]

Barrett needs a better gimmick, a better catchphrase and more wrstling moves. Too many holds, kicking and punching with not much wrestling.

Barrett can wrestle. He has done moves in the British/Irish indies and NXT that he hasn't done on WWE for some reason. It makes it look like he is rather limited in the ring.

Barrett can talk but noting he says on the mic is intresting. I know Stu/Wade wants to be his own but they really should make William Regal his manager or pair him up with McIntyre and Mason Ryan. It will make him more popular than he is now.

Backstage segment with Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger and Wade Barrett. Zeb says Barrett is part of the problem. Zeb hopes Del Rio and Barrett kill each other.

WWE's way of saying look we aren't racist we are just xenophobic as we hate white people from other countries too

 

[The Sage]

Thinking about it, the belt does have a bit of a timeless feel to it, but only because the main design is just a giant, plain WWE logo. There's no actual complicated design that could make it feel dated.

But I'd argue that something like the Undisputed Championship belt felt timeless and looked excellent.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Thinking about it, the belt does have a bit of a timeless feel to it, but only because the main design is just a giant, plain WWE logo. There's no actual complicated design that could make it feel dated.

But I'd argue that something like the Undisputed Championship belt felt timeless and looked excellent.

I accept we are never going to get a traditional globe belt again, some 20 year old with too much hair product and a skinny tie probably dropped the "buzz words" brand identity in a meeting and the WWE title will have the logo plastered in the middle instead from now on.

However they should design a new logo as that one has been stupid since 2002 as it has no E. They also need to get rid of the tacky diamonds, basically think "Would P Diddy wear this?" and if the answer is yes, make something that is the exact opposite.

 

[SpideyFan866]

Thinking about it, the belt does have a bit of a timeless feel to it, but only because the main design is just a giant, plain WWE logo. There's no actual complicated design that could make it feel dated.

But I'd argue that something like the Undisputed Championship belt felt timeless and looked excellent.

Agreed. It's for that reason I rank it with the Undisputed title design in the regard.

I accept we are never going to get a traditional globe belt again, some 20 year old with too much hair product and a skinny tie probably dropped the "buzz words" brand identity in a meeting and the WWE title will have the logo plastered in the middle instead from now on.

However they should design a new logo as that one has been stupid since 2002 as it has no E. They also need to get rid of the tacky diamonds, basically think "Would P Diddy wear this?" and if the answer is yes, make something that is the exact opposite.

I don't agree. I find the diamonds fine.

1) Because, unlike the the Spinner belt, the diamonds don't stand out as much and it doesn't have a big bright gold plate and an overall toylike and obnoxious design exasperating it.

The black background of the belt really helps to tone the whole thing down. Had they gone with a gold plating like that of the spinner or even the bright Winged Eagle belt, it could have looked much more obnoxious.

and

2) Contrary to popular belief, this belt, at least from its appearance, does have a unique and standout design. The overall design is VERY similar to that of a Super Bowl ring, and that's something that has never been attempted with a title belt.

Whether you like the overall design or not, it's something we've never seen before and I applaud them for at least that. and if the Super Bowl ring look is what they were going for, even better.

 

[spidey-dude]

I really enjoyed Tough Enough , but Stone Cold picked a lousy winner. I guess it happened by default since certain people got injured and half the contestants sucked. Still a fun show and I'm surprised it wasn't that popular.

Yeah I really liked it too and it definately helped get me interested in WWE again... I know it wasnt that popular over here cos I dont even know if it was on TV but I caught a few girls I knew from class at Uni watching it in the library once and they loved it whilst having zero interest in wrestling

oh Layla is British too so they can even go for the womens title