The Wrestling Thread Is At Home Until Further Notice - - Part 141

[SpideyFan866]

See, I can respect Punk walking out because he's just utterly demoralised. But if it turned out it was all a big bluff in order to get what he wanted from the booking, then I'd think he was going into business for himself and would feel that was a bit of a dick move.

I doubt that money, or getting a new deal, was his main reason was for leaving.

However, (like in 2011) its a big part of it.

Punk is badly beat up and is in poor health. Also, he's very unhappy with the current product, decision makding, booking, and just overall direction of the company. So, his thinking probably is "If I have to work under these conditions, and in this condition, Book me better and/or Pay me more. Otherwise, I'm gone".

 

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

See, I can respect Punk walking out because he's just utterly demoralised. But if it turned out it was all a big bluff in order to get what he wanted from the booking, then I'd think he was going into business for himself and would feel that was a bit of a dick move.

I get the feeling that it's less of him going into business for himself and more of a general unhappiness with the direction of the company plus being extremely burnt out. If you've seen that video posted of his Q&A at Wizard World from last week, you'll know what I mean. Basically, he said that he feels this is Daniel Bryan's year and basically hinted the fact that the company hadn't planned (as of the time he was speaking) on giving DB the main event slot at Mania. Interestingly enough, he was complimentary of Batista and said he didn't have a problem with his return because he'd be working a full-time schedule. Now whether or not he meant that, or that he was hiding his true feelings on whether or not Batista should be in the title match at WM, that isn't 100% clear.

Most importantly, you can just tell that he's a guy who had resigned himself to the fact that he was never going to make a change to the company the way he had hoped. When he re-signed in 2011, he made a point to say in interviews that he wanted to lead a change in the company & that he couldn't have done that if he walked away. Now, 2.5 years later I think he's seen that things aren't ever going to be all that different and he's just over it all... kinda like saying, "If you don't want your heart broken, don't put in the effort."

And it's really a shame that he left the way he did... I think we all knew Punk was leaving in July, but I was hoping that they'd use it as a way to put someone over (kinda like when Punk himself "retired" Jeff Hardy). Honestly, my heart was set on Ambrose being that guy as a way to establish him as a potential main eventer, especially since Punk has personally praised the guy and sees a lot of himself in Dean.

 

[chamber-music]

MEANWHILE! on WWE.com:

Spoiler

Does Batista own a mirror?

 

[Lobo]

This Punk video seems to have gotten passed over, so I'll post it again

Punk interview from Wizard World 1-24-14

 

[Benstamania]

 

[Keyser Soze]

I get the feeling that it's less of him going into business for himself and more of a general unhappiness with the direction of the company plus being extremely burnt out. If you've seen that video posted of his Q&A at Wizard World from last week, you'll know what I mean. Basically, he said that he feels this is Daniel Bryan's year and basically hinted the fact that the company hadn't planned (as of the time he was speaking) on giving DB the main event slot at Mania. Interestingly enough, he was complimentary of Batista and said he didn't have a problem with his return because he'd be working a full-time schedule. Now whether or not he meant that, or that he was hiding his true feelings on whether or not Batista should be in the title match at WM, that isn't 100% clear.

Most importantly, you can just tell that he's a guy who had resigned himself to the fact that he was never going to make a change to the company the way he had hoped. When he re-signed in 2011, he made a point to say in interviews that he wanted to lead a change in the company & that he couldn't have done that if he walked away. Now, 2.5 years later I think he's seen that things aren't ever going to be all that different and he's just over it all... kinda like saying, "If you don't want your heart broken, don't put in the effort."

And it's really a shame that he left the way he did... I think we all knew Punk was leaving in July, but I was hoping that they'd use it as a way to put someone over (kinda like when Punk himself "retired" Jeff Hardy). Honestly, my heart was set on Ambrose being that guy as a way to establish him as a potential main eventer, especially since Punk has personally praised the guy and sees a lot of himself in Dean.

Yeah, that perspective I can totally understand, and I sympathise with CM Punk. It seems to me that he's broken down, and his morale has taken a beating too, with the state of the company. Taking this into account, I can respect his decision to walk away. My previous post was more in response to people saying, "Maybe he'll come back if they let him headline WrestleMania." I personally doubt that would make a difference at this stage, but if that DID make him come back, then Punk would fall down in my estimations. Because while walking away marks a distaste for the way wrestlers are treated in the company, walking away but coming back for a headline spot suggests that he's fine with the way wrestlers are treated so long as he gets to stay at the top of the heap. And if diverting fan outrage in favour of Daniel Bryan into fan outrage in favour of Punk was an effort by Punk to snipe the top spot people want Bryan to get, then he'd be doing as much to undermine Daniel Bryan as anyone.

 

[Kaleb]

Regarding the current CM Punk controversy within WWE, it’s said that Punk and Triple H haven’t seen eye-to-eye on Punk’s character in a long time. At the same time, Punk and Vince McMahon have formed a surprisingly great relationship. Punk does not have the same kind of relationship with Triple H.

Word is that Vince is not giving up on Punk and still wants him on the WrestleMania XXX card. Vince is said to be hard at work in trying to get Punk back and make this all into one big storyline.

While the Punk situation isn’t believed to be a work, it should be mentioned that given the nature of the business it could be or has the potential to become one big work if things are smoothed over between the two sides.

- Kevin Nash tweeted about Daniel Bryan being left out of the Royal Rumble and CM Punk leaving WWE:

"Bryan wasn't going to win the Rumble. He gets tossed out.His fantastic base would be more upset than him not in it at all..Just my opinion"

"Punks beat up and burned out,works his ass off.Phil is a very smart guy he may just need to decompress."

http://dailywrestlingnews.com/whos-fighting-punk-stay-wwe-vince-triple-h-work/
http://www.pwpix.net/pwpixnews/headlines/393058494.php

I wouldn't doubt it.

Vince, IMO, has always shown a willingness to put aside his personal beliefs and vision of the company if a different direction really is best for business. Though he's stubborn as hell about, everytime, at first.

Hunter has never believed in 'little' guys like Bryan, Edge, Punk, or Ziggler. He's always pushed moreso for guys like Batista, Ryback, and Mason Ryan. Which is freaking hilarious considering who his best friend is. I.E. One of the greatest "little" wrestlers of all time.

All of this being compounded by the fact that he has always been the guy to put his buddies, and himself, over others without a second thought. This, all going back to the days of the Kliq quietly running things in the back during the mid nineties in order to put themselves over. Hunter, out of that group, just never wanted to stop.

This shouldn't surprise anyone, Hunter has always looked down on wrestlers who started off wrestling in backyard wrestling promotions.I mean is the same guy who didn't think Mick Foley was good enough to put over, and when Mick Foley finally made the Hall of Fame Hunter made sure Bruno Sammartino got into the hall of fame so it would over shadow Mick Foley.

 

[Keyser Soze]

This shouldn't surprise anyone, Hunter has always looked down on wrestlers who started off wrestling in backyard wrestling promotions.I mean is the same guy who didn't think Mick Foley was good enough to put over, and when Mick Foley finally made the Hall of Fame Hunter made sure Bruno Sammartino got into the hall of fame so it would over shadow Mick Foley.

If that is indeed true, it must really torment Triple H that, after numerous failed attempts by many people to get him over and establish him as a bona-fide top level star, it took Mick Foley to truly make him and cement his status as top heel in the WWE.

 

[Hunter Rider]

As we reported earlier this week, the final two spots for the WWE World Title Elimination Chamber Match taking place at WWE's Elimination Chamber PPV will go to Antonio Cesar and a returning Christian, on Smackdown this week.

According to F4WOnline.com, Christian's spot in the match might be temporary, unless WWE can find someone "better" take Christian's spot in the match. If WWE does find someone that they'd rather have in the bout than Christian, an injury angle will most likely be run to take Christian out of the match.

As of now the booking plan is to have Christian in the match next month, but if WWE should change its mind an angle is reportedly in place to take him out of the Chamber.

Christian comes back from injury; "So what have you got for me guys?"....Creative: "Well we were thinking of doing an injury angle!"

 

[Hunter Rider]

- Word is that WWE officials realized they had to “tread lightly” with Brock Lesnar and Batista in the segment on this past Monday’s RAW because of the fact that fans want to turn them both. There was a lot of angst among officials backstage over the big 9pm segment with Randy Orton, Lesnar and Batista because they were scared Batista would continue to get heat while Lesnar would end up the babyface.http://dailywrestlingnews.com/john-cena-injured-raw-backstage-news-orton-lesnar-batista/

Eh? I've never gotten the impression that fans wanted Brock to turn face, I think they like him just the way he is.

 

[OctaviusINC]

Brock's character is at least pretty consistent. He's "The Beast". And he comes off as one. I love when he does the whole chickens**t heel thing...he really gets some heat off that. Not to mention he puts on good matches. I like his character. Not to mention having Paul Heyman as your vocal chords can only make things better. If they go a Brock vs. Batista or a triple threat with Orton I feel like the crowd will be on Brock's side.

As for part timers/old timers that steals spots and spotlights? Well, I wish they would just do things like Jericho. That guy understood his role. He put on great matches. He put guys OVER. And I never felt like he was stealing opportunities from the newer guys. Part timers take note! We need more Jerichos.

 

[SpideyFan866]

So, how do we all feel about Sting officially signing his legends contract?

 

[H.U.S.T.L.E.]

So I've been listening to some podcasts & reading around the internet regarding the way WWE is handling Daniel Bryan, and there's a couple interesting arguments at play...

The best parallel I've seen to the way Daniel Bryan's character is being treated is the famous Ric Flair/Dusty Rhodes feud (which gave us the the brilliant Dusty 'Hard Times' promo). Flair got the one up on Dusty time & time again, screwing him out of the title and using the infamous 'Dusty' finish on multiple occasions... and Daniel Bryan has been treated much the same way in his chase of the title. And all of those comparisons are pretty spot on, with a couple huge huge differences.

When Dusty was feuding with Flair & the Horsemen, it never really deviated from the core issue of Dusty vs. Flair. This whole Bryan storyline has been about him vs. The Authority... not the CHAMPION, Randy Orton (which is one of the main reasons he's been so underwhelming, because he's not being used as the focal point of the feud but a means to an end for The Authority). Even if the eventual end point was for Daniel Bryan to win the title, the way he's been shunted to the side and away from the championship has been the reason people are crapping over it. All of the stuff with the Wyatt Family, while good in its own right, pushed him away from the actual chase that had been hampered by The Authority. That's why the crowd has violently turned against everyone associated with 'the establishment' (including Cena & Batista by being 'WWE guys'). They made a HUGE mistake by shuffling Bryan back down the card to build up Wyatt & would have been much better off having Orton pull a stunt like the Horsemen did to Dusty (by putting him on the shelf by breaking his leg). If they had just kept Bryan out of the ring for a couple of months with an 'injury' and kept the focus on Bryan in the title picture, I think the fans would have not turned so badly against everyone else.

Granted, that scenario also assumes that Bryan would have been given the title after returning from injury, which it seems like WWE has been hesitant to do all along. So I'm not really sure what to think any more... but if the plan was really to get the title on Bryan all along, they completely screwed it up by pulling him away from the picture and seemingly moving him in a different direction.

Really, the only benefit to this whole fiasco has been the way Bray Wyatt has come into his own by merely being in a storyline with Daniel Bryan. And sadly, everything STILL could have been fine had Bryan made a surprise entry into the Rumble, winning it to stick it to The Authority & going on to beat their hand-picked champ at Mania. It's so frustrating because instead of doing the completely LOGICAL thing, they continue to swerve us and then are worried when the crowd continues to crap over everything else surrounding the title picture.

 

[Kaleb]

So I've been listening to some podcasts & reading around the internet regarding the way WWE is handling Daniel Bryan, and there's a couple interesting arguments at play...

The best parallel I've seen to the way Daniel Bryan's character is being treated is the famous Ric Flair/Dusty Rhodes feud (which gave us the the brilliant Dusty 'Hard Times' promo). Flair got the one up on Dusty time & time again, screwing him out of the title and using the infamous 'Dusty' finish on multiple occasions... and Daniel Bryan has been treated much the same way in his chase of the title. And all of those comparisons are pretty spot on, with a couple huge huge differences.

When Dusty was feuding with Flair & the Horsemen, it never really deviated from the core issue of Dusty vs. Flair. This whole Bryan storyline has been about him vs. The Authority... not the CHAMPION, Randy Orton (which is one of the main reasons he's been so underwhelming, because he's not being used as the focal point of the feud but a means to an end for The Authority). Even if the eventual end point was for Daniel Bryan to win the title, the way he's been shunted to the side and away from the championship has been the reason people are crapping over it. All of the stuff with the Wyatt Family, while good in its own right, pushed him away from the actual chase that had been hampered by The Authority. That's why the crowd has violently turned against everyone associated with 'the establishment' (including Cena & Batista by being 'WWE guys'). They made a HUGE mistake by shuffling Bryan back down the card to build up Wyatt & would have been much better off having Orton pull a stunt like the Horsemen did to Dusty (by putting him on the shelf by breaking his leg). If they had just kept Bryan out of the ring for a couple of months with an 'injury' and kept the focus on Bryan in the title picture, I think the fans would have not turned so badly against everyone else.

Granted, that scenario also assumes that Bryan would have been given the title after returning from injury, which it seems like WWE has been hesitant to do all along. So I'm not really sure what to think any more... but if the plan was really to get the title on Bryan all along, they completely screwed it up by pulling him away from the picture and seemingly moving him in a different direction.

Really, the only benefit to this whole fiasco has been the way Bray Wyatt has come into his own by merely being in a storyline with Daniel Bryan. And sadly, everything STILL could have been fine had Bryan made a surprise entry into the Rumble, winning it to stick it to The Authority & going on to beat their hand-picked champ at Mania. It's so frustrating because instead of doing the completely LOGICAL thing, they continue to swerve us and then are worried when the crowd continues to crap over everything else surrounding the title picture.

Man that was a good read, thanks for posting that.

 

[X Knight]

Christian comes back from injury; "So what have you got for me guys?"....Creative: "Well we were thinking of doing an injury angle!"

genius!!

Eh? I've never gotten the impression that fans wanted Brock to turn face, I think they like him just the way he is.

Brock would be a face if he destroyed Boretista!! t:

 

[X Knight]

So, how do we all feel about Sting officially signing his legends contract?

what??!! it really happened??!! Sting signed with the WWE?!?

 

[Warhammer]

MEANWHILE! on WWE.com:

Spoiler

 

[Benstamania]

Officially!? I know TNA wrestlers more or less believe he is 100% done with TNA.

 

[Warhammer]

If that is indeed true, it must really torment Triple H that, after numerous failed attempts by many people to get him over and establish him as a bona-fide top level star, it took Mick Foley to truly make him and cement his status as top heel in the WWE.

Wow, I had no idea Haitch had such disdain toward Foley. Yeah, without Foley, he wouldn't be half the wrestler he believes himself to be.

Christian comes back from injury; "So what have you got for me guys?"....Creative: "Well we were thinking of doing an injury angle!"

Always getting the short end of the stick.

Eh? I've never gotten the impression that fans wanted Brock to turn face, I think they like him just the way he is.

I can see the logic of the fans cheering Brock. Because it was Orton and Batista (with the freshly squeezed heat) in the ring, it is only natural to begin to cheer for Lesnar, especially because Heyman said he'd whoop on both of them to get what he wants.

 

[X Knight]

http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/448675-sting-signs-wwe-legends-deal

ok, just went back and saw this post.

If it's indeed true. Holy ****!!

I thought I'd never see this day.

at least Sting will give me something to look forward to in the WWE.

 

[Lobo]

Yeah my reaction to that is Still won't believe it until Stinger shows up on TV

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Hunter is the popular guy in high school and only associates with people HE thinks it worthy of his attention. He has that stupid "clique" mentally and to be honest he isn't even THAT good of a wrestler in my opinion. I mean yea, over the years he has had some solid/ great matches and is a solid performer but he is no Shawn Micheals, Undertaker, Rock, Stone Cold, or Mick Foley in my eyes. Heck I think Punk and Daniel Bryan is just as good if not better than he ever was. That Clique mentally is also the cause of the frustration from guys like Punk. I mean really what have the New Age Outlaws done to deserve having the tag team titles other than being Hunters boys?

Also, even though it was a work... I still get kinda mad at the EXTREMELY racist promo he did during his feud with Booker T. It seem like some of his real life personal views where showing during that promo in my opinion. But I don't hate the guy but just think he is a little arrogant and narrow minded in his ways.

 

[X Knight]

Yeah my reaction to that is Still won't believe it until Stinger shows up on TV

do you think we'll get an official announcement from WWE?

 

[OctaviusINC]

do you think we'll get an official announcement from WWE?

It'd be awesome if he just showed up on Raw out of nowhere like Lesnar did when he returned. But knowing WWE they have to tell you and promote it months in advance so you can download the official Sting countdown widget through the WWE app because my god if WWE tried to surprise you nowadays.

 

[Lobo]

Nope. Even if he does show up I still might not believe it lol