The Wrestling Thread Mustache You a Question

[Wheels]

The only question is how big of an ass kicking will Punk take, that's about it. The main event is useless to someone like me, no doubt the casuals will love it whether it's good or not. Rock nor Cena have done anything to make me want to see it. Triple H and Lesnar is match that will be a good brawl I imagine but it doesn't mean jack to me.

Something huge has to happen that shocks everyone at WrestleMania 29, because this is paint by numbers stuff right now.

 

[Slushy]

Brock Vs. Hunter will be No Holds Barred. Whoop dee doo!

 

[Metallo]

Originally Posted by AntMan
Rock's movie career had cooled off considerably before he and his agent/ex-wife decided to return to action movies. Rock is a smart man and knows that he alienated his fans wih some of his choices. It was a good decision for him to return to WWE.. People forget that his career was in the crapper before Fast 5. This whole deal was about getting his fanbase back on board and giving himself another platform to hype his movies, while taking fat checks from McMahon.

Vince brought Rock back for publicity and buyrates. This Rock comeback isn't about Cena really. It's about McMahon's obsession with the Hollywood mainstream and quick fixes. Ironically, it doesn't seem to be working as well as Vince hoped, but his expectations are probably too high.

Exactly, AntMan. I don't see why some people can't see this or are trying to play it off like its not true. We get more Rock on Raw in movie trailers than the actual man on Raw.

Originally Posted by bullets
That was epic. They also did a good job promoting Wrestlemania last year. I guess they are just phoning in the Rock vs Cena rematch. I haven't watched RAW , but heard no mention of it. The Undertaker vs Punk feud is enjoyable , but nowhere near what it could of been. I wanted to think Punk could end the streak , but instead it's the "let's pay to see him get his ass kicked" formula.

Its kinda lame that its being built up to "Punks going to get the ass kicking of his life." I wonder how this would have played out if Bearer hadn't died. Punk and Taker could be doing better than this. It all just feels so forced to get Punk heat. This angle is easy to do thus the cheap heat.

Originally Posted by Darkness Falls
hit the nail right on the head metallo
exactly what i thought when the stipulation was announced

Yeah its no coincidence that HHH had to take on The Undertaker two years in a row like Michaels did so he would look on his level. One and done like most other victims/souls wasn't going to cut it for him. And HBK and Flair had one of the best career ending matches ever. This match at WM29 is playing off peoples memories and expectations of other matches like this. To create doubt and make HHH sympathetic and put him on a certain level.

I once called Vader the closest thing to Lesnar 20 years ago...well almost 20 years ago Flair put HIS career on the line against Vader at Starrcade. And Triple H has partly been basing some of his work and career off Flairs for years.

Vader vs Flair looked a lot better and a lot more important than ANY big match at Mania this year and thats just sad with the kind of star power and the resources WWE has in them.

Originally Posted by The Sage
Biggest disappointment for me on RAW was the Taker/Punk promo. It felt like both men phoned it in. Taker didn't really say anything except a few idle threats. CM Punk taunting Taker and playing with the urn was okay but it wasn't anything special. If this was a regular PPV, stuff like that would work, and if they had more time to build this feud, this would work as the 2nd part of 6 weeks before Mania.

But three weeks before Mania? It's not working. Both men are better than what they did tonight, and need to show it immediately. This whole feud is getting built on Paul Bearer and the urn, which shows Creative had nothing planned here until William Moody's death.

As I said a couple of weeks ago the "Greatness vs Redemption" theme they're using for Rock/Cena should apply to this match. It makes more sense. CM Punk is the most passionate, driven guy in the business. More than Rock, and he edges Cena out. Undertaker is a walking icon that defines Wrestlemania. The feud didn't need Paul Bearer's death. It could've been built on this alone.

Maybe next week they'll step it up, but it's been lackluster. This whole "Road to Wrestlemania" has been lackluster. All three main-events are predictable, nothing intriguing has occurred to produce doubt for who will win or lose. It's obvious.

Yeah it just could have been so much better. Its like they went this way because they knew it would be easy since they just waited til a month or so before Wrestlemania to actually start building the match. It doesn't feel like anywhere near the same effort was put into this as there was put into Taker vs Triple HHH at the two previous Manias. The frustrating thing is they could have done more and Punk would have delivered. Instead he's Snidely Whiplash in true chickensh** fashion. He's good at it because he's so talented but he's capable of more. It just shows how desperate they are to get him heat because they know many of the fans want to cheer him.

Excerpt from a 411mania.com article. Hits one of the nails on why Rock's absences from a wrestling standpoint are so off:

They show the Rock/Cena video again and it's good. I thought of something earlier. Rock's missing these shows leading into WrestleMania. I get the real life idea of the whole thing is that having Rock go all over the world with the shiny new belt is great promotion, but think about it from a kayfabe point of view. Rock has talked over and over again about how important it was that he won the WWE Title one more time. He's been waiting 10 years to win it-- and now he's just going to walk away and do other stuff for a while? God damn, man! I don't know about you, but if I had been pining for years to get something, I would ****ing savor it. I would want to defend that title every ****ing week! Did he really want to be the champion or did he just want a cool thingy to clumsily take through airport security? It just ruins the whole premise for me. Dude has stressed so hard that he has been dying inside to have that belt and that it's so deeply ingrained in him, but as soon as he gets the belt he just walks away? Again I understand the real life idea behind it, but in kayfabe it makes negative sense.

This is one of my big problems with this piss poor run. If Rock was so desperate to get the belt back why isn't he doing more as champion (kayfabe wise...realistically we know why)?

Triple H putting himself over with obscenely over important and drawn out title runs was pretty *****ey but he always made sure people knew he desired that belt more than ANYTHING. And he was around more than enough to show people why. He showed off the title and himself as champion every chance he got. Thats why the Rock's reasons for wanting the belt don't ring true. He was so hungry to be champ again that...he doesn't bother to actually BE the champion like he should be? Again I'm speaking of his character in a kayfabe sense.

Whenever Hogan wanted "his belt" back he made it seem much more important.

 

[cyclone]

Being in England, I gotta say, I hope something totally shocking and amazing happens at Wrestlemania, because right now, it's looking awfully predictable. I've booked the Monday off work so I can watch Mania at midnight through til 4am. I'd hate for it to be a waste.

So far, it's looking like this;

Cena BEATS Rock
Undertaker BEATS Punk
HHH BEATS Lesnar
Orton, Sheamus, Big Show BEATS Shield

And the rest, no one cares about.

It looks like an awfully predictable PPV, let alone the supposed biggest night in the wrestling year.

Really not too excited about this Mania at all now

 

[Kaleb]

Being in England, I gotta say, I hope something totally shocking and amazing happens at Wrestlemania, because right now, it's looking awfully predictable. I've booked the Monday off work so I can watch Mania at midnight through til 4am. I'd hate for it to be a waste.

So far, it's looking like this;

Cena BEATS Rock
Undertaker BEATS Punk
HHH BEATS Lesnar
Orton, Sheamus, Big Show BEATS ShieldAnd the rest, no one cares about.

It looks like an awfully predictable PPV, let alone the supposed biggest night in the wrestling year.

Really not too excited about this Mania at all now

sadly you are correct, however the only twist I could see is if Randy Orton finally turns heel and costs his team the win,other than that the card looks like a glorified house show.

 

[Slushy]

While Punk is stuck being Undertaker's job boy, I used to hate it, but now I don't mind it as he's doing a great job to get heat plus its nice that The Best In The World is getting into The Phenom's head by toying with his emotions!

The main reason Wrestlemania was a success (aside from celebrity involvement) was because Roddy Piper was such a sh** talking assh*le, people paid good money to see Hulk Hogan try to kick his ass. Punk is simply continuing a time honored tradition.

While I'm getting what I've always wanted with Rock and Cena fighting for the title, Punk will give Undertaker the best match of the night and his best WM match since Michaels at 25. Fair trade.

 

[Kaleb]

Im pretty sure that the Punk backstage segment was taped earlier that day.

 

[chamber-music]

Why does Cena talks like a southern preacher when he delievers his serious promos?

Great to see Booker T inducted into HoF. Can You Dig It Sucka!!!

Besides Punk playing hot potato with the urn and the Jericho v Barrett v Miz match Raw was rather lame.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Why does Cena talks like a southern preacher when he delievers his serious promos?

It's that thing of when a yankee presidential candidate speaks in front of a black church anywhere in the USA, they start pretending to be gospel preachers. Hilary Clinton does it, Obama does it, Romney does it.

 

[NDX]

Anyone else hearing the Harlem Globetrotters theme here?

What else? I didn't think Rock/Cena's build up and match was all that last year, and surely you can't be implying Cena/Miz was epic...

I didn't think it was epic at all. It was boring as **** for me. Didn't give a **** whatsoever. Nothing really has been for a long time.

 

[Hunter Rider]

I didn't see Raw and am out of the loop in general but a quick read through gives me the impression I haven't missed out on anything.

The Triple H/Lesnar stip is puke-worthy, the No Holds Barred stip is uninspired and the career stip is just Triple H trying to generate false doubt and plastic sympathy/empathy, as Metallo said, he so badly wants to be Flair and HBK.

The rest seems by the numbers, The Shield vs Show/Orton/Sheamus should be good and I still like Ryback vs Henry as a good old powerhouse match.

I see the tag title match I thought might happen has been added, solid enough booking I guess and a big chance for Langston to work on the big stage,

Are the IC and US titles looking like getting defended?

This looks incredibly goofy to me, like something from the mid 90's, not at all what I was hoping for and it makes you wonder what the plan was if Paul Bearer had not died. At this rate I just hope they go the whole hog and make it a casket match.

 

[Dr. Evil]

The stipulation is all wrong because it'll make Brock Lesnar look weak by getting pinned or submitted.

BTW, there is a 0% chance that Lesnar wins. The WWE is not smart enough to allow that to happen nor will Triple H allow it to happen.

Should have made it Last Man Standing. That way, Triple H can still win the match and yet Lesnar would not look weak and Lesnar would then claim that Triple H has never pinned him.

 

[UnionJack]

Anyone think we will see the ring break in the Ryback vs Henry match?

 

[Dr. Evil]

Anyone think we will see the ring break in the Ryback vs Henry match?

I hope so. That and I hope we see the Spanish Announce Table. The Spanish Announce table is an indication that it will be destroyed.

 

[Lobo]

I say there's a chance Barrett defends the IC title at Mania. Woud like Barrett vs Jericho or even Bo but it will probably be Miz.

A throw on match I can see:

Rhodes Scholars and the Bellas vs Brodus/Sweet T and the Funkadactyls

We still need something for Cesaro (Christian would be a great feud for him and could elevate the title f they feud over it and change hands a few times over a couple months IMO)

Any NXT faces worth calling up?

 

[Hunter Rider]

According to WZ's Josh Isenberg, who is in attendance for Raw tonight, during the commercial break right before Alberto Del Rio's entrance, WWE ran a video on the TitanTron with Ricardo Rodriguez challenging the fans to chant Del Rio's name as loud and long as they can.

As we reported earlier today, WWE is not pleased with the lack of connection Del Rio is making with the live crowd as a babyface, so it appears the Rodriguez video is an attempt to make his pop appear as big as possible on TV.

 

[UnionJack]

Jericho needs a title, he has put on great matches, is way over with the crowd and is a good character.
While its good he is jobbing to put people over, in the long run it might hurt his overall status, WHC or IC run would be great.

Y2J and Christian in a feud would be nice.

 

[Dr. Evil]

The UFC Women's Division reduces the WWE's chances of improving their division, if they choose to do so, which is 100% unlikely.

 

[Pink Ranger]

The UFC Women's Division reduces the WWE's chances of improving their division, if they choose to do so, which is 100% unlikely.

Interesting, but why do you say that? Is there because you think there might be a lot of lost talent, of legit female fighters going over to the UFC rather than pro wrestling?

Not so sure about how much talent crossover there will be, in my own opinion. When I think back to the "golden age" of women's wrestling in the WWE, basically 2000-2005, I can't think of too many of those divas that would have been suitable for an MMA career. Take the athletic ones--Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, Ivory, Lita--not sure if any of them would have started an MMA career had the option been more attractive. Lita maybe, but I get the impression she got the wrestling bug for the time she was there.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[TheFuture]

That was a pretty shocking Raw. Cena's opening segment was horrendous, and even the PTP (who I'm a fan of) were woeful too.

Taker might as well not have shown up at all.

That's two of the marquee matches for WM and the stakes were barely risen in both, if at all.

 

[Hunter Rider]

 

[Dr. Evil]

Interesting, but why do you say that? Is there because you think there might be a lot of lost talent, of legit female fighters going over to the UFC rather than pro wrestling?

Not so sure about how much talent crossover there will be, in my own opinion. When I think back to the "golden age" of women's wrestling in the WWE, basically the late 1990s to early 2000s, I can't think of too many of those divas that would have been suitable for an MMA career. Take the athletic ones--Trish Stratus, Molly Holly, Ivory, Lita--not sure if any of them would have started an MMA career had the option been more attractive. Lita maybe, but I get the impression she got the wrestling bug for the time she was there.

Yes. If a female from a combat sport such as kickboxing, judoka (where Ronda Rousey came from), amateur wrestling or boxing also had the look that the WWE wants from their divas and both the WWE and the UFC were interested, I think that the female would choose the UFC over the WWE 9 times out of 10.

As for crossover during the Attitude Era....well during that time, the UFC was nothing more than an underground barbaric fight club. It was before Zuffa and Dana White took over the UFC and transformed it into the sport you see today. When the Attitude Era in the WWE ended was when the UFC started to become a legit sport.

 

[Dr. Evil]

Spoiler

TNA taped their One Night Only World of Wrestling pay-per-view show tonight, which will air at a later date. Here are the full results.

Team USA
James Storm
Mickie James
Kazarian
Christopher Daniels
Kenny King

Team Aces and 8s
D.O.C.
Wes Brisco
Mr. Anderson
Knox
Team Aces and 8's did not reveal a knockout for the event

Team UK
Douglas Williams
Rob Terry
Rockstar Spud
Hannah Blossom
Magnus

Team International
Judas Mesias
Funaki
Sonjay Dutt
Lei'D Tapa
Petey Williams

- Kenny King defeated Sonjay Dutt.

- Magnus defeated Mr. Anderson.

- Wes Brisco defeated Rockstar Spud.

- Lei'D Tapa defeated Hannah Blossom.

- Aces and 8's introduce Ivelisse Velez as their Knockout representative. Velez defeated Mickie James.

- Christopher Daniels and Kazarian defeated Doug Williams and Rob Terry

- James Storm defeated Judas Mesias.

- Team USA defeated Team Aces and 8's and win the World Cup of Wrestling.

Spoiler

TNA taped their One Night Only Tag Team Tournament pay-per-view event. Here are the full results.

* Generation Me defeated Sonjay Dutt and Petey Williams.

* Bobby Roode and Austin Aries defeated Rob Terry and Doug Williams.

* Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff defeated Cassidy Riley and Chase Stevens.

* Hernandez and Chavo Guerrero defeated Christopher Daniels and Kazarian.

* Samoa Joe and Magnus defeated Wes Brisco and Garrett Bischoff.

* Team 3D defeated Generation Me.

* Bobby Roode and Austin Aries defeated Samoa Joe and Magnus

* Team 3D defeated Hernandez and Chavo Guerrero.

* Team 3D defeated Bobby Roode and Austin Aries to win the tournament. This concludes the tapings.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Yes. If a female from a combat sport such as kickboxing, judoka (where Ronda Rousey came from), amateur wrestling or boxing also had the look that the WWE wants from their divas and both the WWE and the UFC were interested, I think that the female would choose the UFC over the WWE 9 times out of 10.

As for crossover during the Attitude Era....well during that time, the UFC was nothing more than an underground barbaric fight club. It was before Zuffa and Dana White took over the UFC and transformed it into the sport you see today. When the Attitude Era in the WWE ended was when the UFC started to become a legit sport.

Fair enough, but my thinking is that, maybe unlike the male wrestlers, female wrestling and female MMA are much more different skill sets, and each one would attract a different sort of female athlete.

For example, take the uber-diva Trish Stratus. Even if MMA was more legitimate back then, I wouldn't see her gravitating to that sport, or at least being very good at it. She and Molly Holly came from competitive fitness backgrounds: the most successful wrestling divas tend to be more gymnastic-like (smaller, more compact frames) whereas most of the successful female MMA fighters I've seen tend to be rangier for their size and basically would have competed in martial arts of some sort from an early age.