The Wrestling Thread

[Gamerforlife]

I listened to someone defend WWE's pushing of Cena over everyone else by saying that he gets more merchandise sales than anyone else and helps keep their pay per view buy rates up. I thought to myself, "Okay, but it's not like he brings you Stone Cold Steve Austin money, or The Rock money, or Hogan in his prime money."

For all they know, there may be a guy on their roster or someone they can hire who has the ability to be that big of a draw, but they are never going to find out as long as they keep putting all their eggs in the Cena basket without giving anyone else a huge push. Remember, Cena was just some nobody at one point, until the WWE machine got behind him. He's only the top guy because WWE chose to make him the top guy. If they got behind someone else like that....

Punk could have been so much more over than he is, if they hadn't effed up his post Money in the Bank 2011 storyline with their lack of balls and creativity.

Anyway, I'm really curious to see what happens tomorrow night. There's rumblings that the WWE is really going for broke on this episode, and wants to try and hit a 4.0 rating. I doubt they'll succeed, as the product just isn't good enough for that kind of rating no matter how much they hype the 1000 episode of Raw.

On another note, I really think they rushed into this AJ/Bryan marriage thing. I know it's just to get more ratings for the 1000th episode, but it still annoys me. The love triangle was kind of interesting. As much as I like AJ and Bryan, I don't really like seeing them together again. That's old news to me. We've been down that road. They could have gotten way more mileage out of AJ and Punk, or even to a lesser degree AJ and Kain. Keeping her with Punk would have gotten her more and more over as time went on. I'm talking Lita/Trish Stratus levels here, then somewhere down the line they could have given her a really nice heel turn at Punk's expense and then put her with a heel to help get him over (Ziggler maybe?). It's been a while since we've had a real main even level, heel, power couple like Edge/Lita or Triple H/Stephanie. I don't really count Dolph and Vickie. Vickie is too old, thus not as interesting as characters like Steph, Lita, and Trish were. Not that I have anything against Vickie. She's a good heel, but her age limits her appeal and usability as a character a bit. I feel like audiences are already getting less interested in her and I don't think she draws as much heel heat as she used to.

[Menegrothx]

http://spoonyexperiment.com/2011/11/16/ ... 5-seconds/
The video isnt that new but seriously....... wrestlers talk about )(#)#"(#ing twitter nowadays?! Can you imagine going back in time to year 1999/2000/2001 and showing the Rock clip to wrestling fans? The South Park wrestling episode doesn't seem like a parody anymore all of a sudden

[Gamerforlife]

http://spoonyexperiment.com/2011/11/16/ ... 5-seconds/
The video isnt that new but seriously....... wrestlers talk about )(#)#"(#ing twitter nowadays?! Can you imagine going back in time to year 1999/2000/2001 and showing the Rock clip to wrestling fans? The South Park wrestling episode doesn't seem like a parody anymore all of a sudden

The funny thing is, they started on this social media train AFTER Facebook and Twitter had already hit it big. They think they're on the forefront of something cool and hip with Twitter and Tout, when they're really just late to the party and too stupid to realize that.

Also, what happens to Tout when Twitter, with its already large user base and recognition, decides to let people put up short videos? How successful will Tout be then? Just something to think about. How much have they invested in this Tout thing?

I hate the WWE right now. I love the people who work for them, like CM Punk, AJ, Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, etc, etc. but the company itself and the upper management that runs it, those people I despise. The WWE is such a shameless, soulless, corporate entity these days, and having Linda trying to get ahead in politics is probably only going to make things worse

I watched a little TNA recently, it's such a different feel. Aside from the Direct Auto commercials, I don't feel like TNA is constantly shilling stuff. Half of every WWE show is talking about Tout, talking about Twitter, talking about Facebook, talking about Cena's Make a Wish stuff, talking about the Be a Star campaign, talking about some shitty movie some wrestler is in, talking about its ratings, talking about some stupid movie a guest host is in, talking about some stupid album they are using for a pay per view, talking about their stupid youtube shows, talking about bullshit, made up facts to convince us that they are more successful than every other show on TV when they are not even comparable to those shows, talking about anything and everything that has nothing to do with wrestling. It drives me insane. That's not even factoring in the ACTUAL commercials we see during commercial breaks, when half of the damn shows feel like commercials.

If they spend half as much time on good booking and storytelling as they do advertising shit, shilling social media, bragging about their humanitarian work (nothing humble about the WWE) and making up bullshit facts trying to convince us that they are more successful than everything else on TV, maybe they'd have higher ratings.

[Razzmatazz]

http://spoonyexperiment.com/2011/11/16/ ... 5-seconds/
The video isnt that new but seriously....... wrestlers talk about )(#)#"(#ing twitter nowadays?! Can you imagine going back in time to year 1999/2000/2001 and showing the Rock clip to wrestling fans? The South Park wrestling episode doesn't seem like a parody anymore all of a sudden

The funny thing is, they started on this social media train AFTER Facebook and Twitter had already hit it big. They think they're on the forefront of something cool and hip with Twitter and Tout, when they're really just late to the party and too stupid to realize that.

Also, what happens to Tout when Twitter, with its already large user base and recognition, decides to let people put up short videos? How successful will Tout be then? Just something to think about. How much have they invested in this Tout thing?

I hate the WWE right now. I love the people who work for them, like CM Punk, AJ, Ziggler, Daniel Bryan, etc, etc. but the company itself and the upper management that runs it, those people I despise. The WWE is such a shameless, soulless, corporate entity these days, and having Linda trying to get ahead in politics is probably only going to make things worse

I watched a little TNA recently, it's such a different feel. Aside from the Direct Auto commercials, I don't feel like TNA is constantly shilling stuff. Half of every WWE show is talking about Tout, talking about Twitter, talking about Facebook, talking about Cena's Make a Wish stuff, talking about the Be a Star campaign, talking about some shitty movie some wrestler is in, talking about its ratings, talking about some stupid movie a guest host is in, talking about some stupid album they are using for a pay per view, talking about their stupid youtube shows, talking about bullshit, made up facts to convince us that they are more successful than every other show on TV when they are not even comparable to those shows, talking about anything and everything that has nothing to do with wrestling. It drives me insane. That's not even factoring in the ACTUAL commercials we see during commercial breaks, when half of the damn shows feel like commercials.

If they spend half as much time on good booking and storytelling as they do advertising shit, shilling social media, bragging about their humanitarian work (nothing humble about the WWE) and making up bullshit facts trying to convince us that they are more successful than everything else on TV, maybe they'd have higher ratings.

Excellent post. As a Brit I find the WWE has also alienated some of its viewers, as the time difference means that most of us watch WWE the day after (having recorded it, as it is broadcasted live at 2am) and couldn't give a toss about what is trending on Twitter whilst we are asleep. I'm sure a lot of Europeans feel the same.

[mas]

Saw a full episode of raw last night for the first time in years. 26.00 minutes of wrestling for a 3 hour show? dx was cool, brock ended being a bitch again, brothers of destruction was nice, lita and trish was hot, not enough time with the legends, cm punk turning on the rock was cool, aj... new gm? and WTF!!!!! No austin, or flair or hogan. I know hogan and flair work for tna but they can go to wwe on special moments like this. But no austin? He made raw

[Gamerforlife]

I don't know if I like the Punk heel turn, because it just once again cements Cena as the top guy. I do think a heel turn might let Punk be a bit more creative though. Let's face it, faces in the WWE are bland as fuck. You're not actually allowed to do anything even remotely interesting when you're playing a face. Heels are where the fun is at and this turn might finally bring back the real pipe bomb CM Punk that I miss so much.

Oh what a surprise, Triple H using Brock Lesnar to get his old, aging, egotistical ass over

I hope Brock gets paid well, because they have done nothing but bury the guy since his debut. They should have had him bloody up Triple H, break his arm, and then attack Stephanie with Paul Heyman laughing the whole time. We should have went to commercials with an unconscious Stephanie and an angry looking but badly hurt Triple H watching the paramedics take her up the ramp. THAT is how you build up anticipation for their pay per view match. THAT is ballsy writing, but the WWE is so freaking boring and pussified these days. God I miss when heels actually were worth a shit and not just fed to babyfaces like lambs to a slaughter.

The reunion of the REAL Degeneration X (i.e. not just Triple H and HBK) was cool, but it's one of those things I've wanted for such a damn long time that when it finally happened I felt like I just didn't care anymore.

Thumbs up for AJ as general manager. You can't waste someone with so much character and personality in the divas division. She's above that right now, which is a sad commentary on the division.

Trish Stratus looked hot as fuck. I think yoga is actually shaving the years off of her cause she don't look like she's aging at all if you ask me.

You know, for purely entertainment purposes and nostalgia, it was a good show and a well done celebration of Raw's history. However, looking at what it set up long term, it's still the same WWE with the same problems in their booking and storytelling. I'm not at all excited about this new era of Raw where we go from two hours of bad booking and writing to three hours of bad booking and writing. At least they did right with the Jericho/Ziggler thing. I liked Ziggler costing Jericho the match when it was clearly looking like Jericho was has having no problems dealing with Sheamus. This feud is the best thing they have going right now if they do it right

[Menegrothx]

Oh what a surprise, Triple H using Brock Lesnar to get his old, aging, egotistical ass over

I hope Brock gets paid well, because they have done nothing but bury the guy since his debut.

I havent been watching WWE at all lately but didnt Brock Lesnar loose to Cena in a PPV like the minute he returned? I wonder why he quit MMA for that. I'm no UFC expert but it probably pays as well if not better than WWE these days if you're at his level, and you dont have to make yourself look weak so that the babyface hero could please his 10 year old fans in MMA.

[BurningDoom]

Last night was just what they promised, a spectacular! I was thoroughly entertainined and marked-out many moments. I know this quality won't last, but it was nice for at least one night.

[sevin0seven]

Last night was just what they promised, a spectacular! I was thoroughly entertainined and marked-out many moments. I know this quality won't last, but it was nice for at least one night.

last night show definitely had it moments. the best was the "real" DX reunion. it would had been nice if they could had included Chyna...but with her career as is, that would never happen.

also, where was Steve Austin????

[retrosportsgamer]

Austin had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago and is on crutches. He blogged about it today after the Twitter backlash. I promised my wife he would be on the show so she suffered through three hours...and no Stone Cold