The Wrestling Thread Damn Sure Doesn't Work For You!

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Anything to get Canada into a thread title again.

I just want to win the title thread once. Had to drag Canada into this.

 

[Wheels]

Anyone else want one last Jeff Hardy WWE run? I know you guys are gonna give me **** about this, but I'd like to see Cena vs. Hardy.

Cena vs Hardy in 2009 would've been a massive martch. Do you think it be as big now?

 

[The Sage]

Cena vs Hardy in 2009 would've been a massive martch. Do you think it be as big now?

You'd have to gauge how popular Jeff is with the WWE audiences nowadays.

 

[baby_webhead]

I'd love to see Jeff return and pick up where he left off with punk.

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Cena vs Hardy in 2009 would've been a massive martch. Do you think it be as big now?

Do I think they can still go? Sure. But back then, Hardy was either equal to or past Cena in fan popularity.

 

[sweetre15]

So....Thoughts on Impact tonight lol?

 

[Wheels]

You'd have to gauge how popular Jeff is with the WWE audiences nowadays.

Yeah, that's a question mark for me. I mean I think he might not ever reach that level again.

 

[bullets]

I'd love to see Jeff return and pick up where he left off with punk.

Oddly enough Punk turned out to be right in that feud. Jeff Hardy could of been the face of WWE, but that's never going to happen now. It would be nice if he came back. It would probably be similar to RVD's recent return.

 

[Dr. Evil]

There are plans for a WWE Slam City animated series to be released in conjunction with the 2014 Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. No details have been provided as of yet on how the series will be distributed.

According to PWInsider, the series would be released as part of a toy line from Mattel with the same time, likely meaning the series is for a very young audience, and that it will be an extension of the current WWE Rumblers toy line.

 

[Hunter Rider]

Best comment on that news report I've read:

Surely it had nothing to do with Vince running down Cena and especially Bryan for a month ahead of time, making it feel like Cena taking on a guy who didn't deserve to be in the ring with him. And it absolutely wasn't because the only other match on the card that had any real build to it was the Punk/Lesnar match. Certainly, it had nothing to do with the fact that Cena had clearly pointed out his massively deformed elbow, thereby giving him an excuse for losing the match long before it ever started. No, I'm sure fans just didn't "buy the attraction" of the best wrestler in the WWE taking on the most popular member of the WWE roster. The argument that I keep hearing is that for as over as Bryan is with the live crowds (and he is, make no mistake about that), he can't monetize that fan base to actually buy PPVs. My two counters to that argument are as follows: a) Bryan captures the casual fans in live crowd because he has an easy-to-do chant (that's now being co-opted by the Big Show) and puts on exciting matches; that hasn't yet translated into pay-per-view buying fans because he hasn't consistently been booked someone who is as important as the John Cenas and Randy Ortons of the WWE. Which leads into my second point - the Daniel Bryan fans who would actually buy the PPV have no real reason to, as he's had his legs cut out from underneath him every time he should've been having a big PPV moment. Wrestlemania 28, again Sheamus, in what should've been an outstanding match (based on the fact that they actually had several outstanding matches at other points)? 18-second loss. Beating the biggest star in the WWE at SummerSlam this year? Pedigree, cash-in, instant loss of the title. Every attempt to get the title back since then? Screwy BS designed to make him look inferior to Orton. It's not rocket science, Vince - if you want people to "buy the attraction", you need to make them believe that it's a) something worth buying, and b) not a false bill of goods. When people were calling their cable companies/satellite providers demanding refunds after Bryan was stripped of the title following his win at Night of Champions, maybe that should've been a clear indication that they bought the PPV for Bryan. The so-called "monetized" fanbase is there, you just keep giving them no reason to open their wallets.

The thing is Vince already knows this IMO, he just wont acknowledge it as he doesn't really want Bryan in that spot, not when he's salivating over Reigns. We'll know for sure where Bryan stands between January and April next year.

 

[ImWithTeamConan]

The thing is Vince already knows this IMO, he just wont acknowledge it as he doesn't really want Bryan in that spot, not when he's salivating over Reigns. We'll know for sure where Bryan stands between January and April next year.

Without any competition, they do what they want and steer heat towards guys they want to. It annoys the crap out of me that Big Show does the YES chant, it's not his chant. I hope crowds start to NO him when he tries it.

 

[Wheels]

I wonder what's going to happen if WWE creates another top face who splits the crowd due to their own force feeding? Surely WWE couldn't act like Cena is an anomaly then.

 

[OnTheAir]

if that event happened last night, then hell the show that occured last night here in belfast must have been majorly lacking in big names

The Belfast show:

Santino def. Fandango w/ Summer Rae
Los Matadores def. The Real Americans w/Zeb
Natalya def. Aksana
Kofi def. The Miz (who turned heel)
Cody/Golddust/Big E def. The Shield
Barrett def. Ryder
Sandow def. Ziggler in a no DQ match
Show def. Orton via DQ (Shield interference)

 

[sweetre15]

The thing is Vince already knows this IMO, he just wont acknowledge it as he doesn't really want Bryan in that spot, not when he's salivating over Reigns. We'll know for sure where Bryan stands between January and April next year.

Well since Rock ain't coming back and Bryan's fans are NOT going to turn their backs on him anytime soon he'll have to give Bryan the belt whether they like it or not because Orton vs Big Show likely won't draw that well and if the third hour drop this week is any indication they might have to learn the hard way not to be so fricking stubborn and counterproductive.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Without any competition, they do what they want and steer heat towards guys they want to. It annoys the crap out of me that Big Show does the YES chant, it's not his chant. I hope crowds start to NO him when he tries it.

Yeah, taking Bryan's chant and letting Big Show use it is about as bad as when Stephanie and Vince were basically begging people to chant Triple-H's name during the Lesnar feud, like they had to convince everyone of how much we are supposed to love him.

 

[Darkness Falls]

So....Thoughts on Impact tonight lol?

besides the stuff with roode and angle i thought it was underwhelming

 

[MMMMM...Pancakes]

Finally won the Wrestling Thread Championship!

[YT]9rTzJIxBHKc[/YT]

Now I can finally leave this place!

Spoiler

 

[chamber-music]

The adventures of GoodNewsBarrett! t:

[YT]1M5mzp8EB3g[/YT]

 

[Hunter Rider]

Without any competition, they do what they want and steer heat towards guys they want to. It annoys the crap out of me that Big Show does the YES chant, it's not his chant. I hope crowds start to NO him when he tries it.

I've noticed Show trying to co-opt it as well, at first he was doing it in conjunction with supporting Bryan but now he's doing independently.

Well since Rock ain't coming back and Bryan's fans are NOT going to turn their backs on him anytime soon he'll have to give Bryan the belt whether they like it or not because Orton vs Big Show likely won't draw that well and if the third hour drop this week is any indication they might have to learn the hard way not to be so fricking stubborn and counterproductive.

It's incredibly frustrating, all the hope built up across the summer is dissipating and we are back to the same two guys as Champions that we've had there since the mid-2000's, with Big Show and Triple H also in the main event angle.

 

[Donnie Darko]

Last night I went to see Thor. I couldn't help but keep saying that I bought my ticket through...

FAAAAANDAAAAAANGOOOOO

as well as correct the pronunciation during the pre-movie commercial for...

FAAAAANDAAAAAANGOOOOO

 

[Pink Ranger]

Finally won the Wrestling Thread Championship!

[YT]9rTzJIxBHKc[/YT]

Now I can finally leave this place!

Spoiler

So you're the Goldberg of the Wrestling Thread, in other words.

 

[sweetre15]

Caldwell of PWTorch's take on the Bryan Issue:

The Case of Daniel Bryan. It was inevitable Bryan would be blamed for poor summer-time PPV buys for Summerslam and Night of Champions. After all, WWE set up Bryan to fail. Plus, there's the over-arching issue of it taking time for the general audience to accept newer stars - especially undersized wrestlers - as worthy of $55 plus tax.

It started with Bryan being granted a WWE Title shot at Summerslam against top star John Cena, not by the merits of winning streaks or recent victories over Randy Orton. But, by emerging through a crowd of taller, bigger wrestlers assembled on-stage after being presented as if he won a fan sweepstakes to get a title shot.

Then, WWE presented PPV build-up that diminished, knocked, ridiculed, and stressed perceived weaknesses of Daniel Bryan. But, not in a way that set up Bryan to "prove those comments wrong." More, it was Vince McMahon reminding the audience over and over and over that "this guy" is who you want to cheer for? Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

Then, Bryan beat Cena clean for the WWE Title and the narrative quickly shifted to new heel Triple H's "The Authority" faction ruling WWE. Bryan's great accomplishment was quickly erased and WWE went even heavier on knocking Bryan leading into Night of Champions. But, again, not in a way that set up Bryan to "prove those comments wrong." More, it was Vince McMahon reminding the audience over and over and over that "this guy" is REALLY who you want to cheer for? Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

John Cena giving way to Bryan was proven to be a temporary move while Cena recovered from his triceps procedure. But, WWE had a chance to make a new PPV-money-spending star - a process that could have been accelerated.

PWTorch columnist Greg Parks and I discussed the other side of this story concerning Bryan and C.M. Punk a few weeks ago on the Livecast. How long does it take for the general audience to accept undersized, non-John Cena/Hulk Hogan-like stars as worthy of their PPV dollars and general disposable income?

Punk's spotlight was in 2011 when the pipebomb begat MITB 2011, which begat Summerslam 2011. Neither produced the type of significant bump in business that many people expected coming out of Punk's promo. Why? The general audience is used to a certain type of top-level, #1, ace, Face of WWE star. For eight years, it's been John Cena. Trying to break the mold with someone else takes time.

Fast-forward to 2013 and WWE had their shot with Bryan while Cena was on the sidelines. Instead, the hype for Summerslam, Night of Champions, and the October PPVs was all about why Bryan should NOT be The Guy. Assuredly, some of it stuck with the audience, even if it was clearly presented as heels knocking the rising babyface star.

So, WWE remains in the John Cena Business. Which is fine. He's the proven #1, opening-day star who connects with the broadest audience. But, look at the list of injuries on Cena's resume. It reads like an injury report for a retired NFL Quarterback. At some point, WWE is going to need that back-up QB again.

People say the back-up QB is the most-popular player on a struggling team. That was Punk in 2011. And Bryan in 2013. But, most recently, WWE set up Bryan for failure and decelerated the process of finding the next starting QB for the fanbase to rally around.

There were surely other factors affecting summer-time PPV buys - diminished value of Brock Lesnar as a draw, three-hour Raws reducing value of three-hour PPVs, etc. But, Cena vs. Bryan for the WWE Title was supposed to draw people in. I just can't put my finger on why Cena vs. Some Guy Who Seemingly Lucked Into A Title Shot And We Don't Know Why Everyone Shouts "Yes!" All The Time didn't draw.

 

[The Batman]

You kinda realize that nothing has really changed in WWE when you think about Punk facing Taker/HHH/Rock/Lesnar and the fact that he jobbed to all of them.

The only part timer Punk went over was a upper midcard guy known for jobbing to virtually everyone.

 

[the_ultimate_evil]

The Belfast show:

Santino def. Fandango w/ Summer Rae
Los Matadores def. The Real Americans w/Zeb
Natalya def. Aksana
Kofi def. The Miz (who turned heel)
Cody/Golddust/Big E def. The Shield
Barrett def. Ryder
Sandow def. Ziggler in a no DQ match
Show def. Orton via DQ (Shield interference)

Damn I occionally do work for the arena it was held in as they're house photographer for some concerts and have supplied them shots of the wwe for records if I had got tickets, but I wondered why nothing was mentioned for this year

Now I know why damn what a lack lustre card

 

[Keyser Soze]

If Daniel Bryan's main event run really is over, that sucks, but we at least partly have ourselves to blame. There was a period there when WWE product was the most compelling it's been in years, and it was responded to with some of the lowest buyrates and TV ratings of 2013. I ordered Summerslam this year, the first non-WrestleMania PPV I've ordered since the Summer of Punk in 2011, but many didn't, and it had one of the lowest Summerslam buyrates in years. I saw outspoken Daniel Bryan fans talking about streaming the show, which isn't really putting your money where your mouth is. Sadly, the larger fanbase has spoken, and depressingly, the resounding message is, "We don't want quality wrestling, we want the same old guys, we want John Cena as champ and franchise player." And so that's what we'll get.