WrestleZone Forums - World Wrestling Entertainment

So, How Much Are You Missing Punk Right Now?

Mr. J. O'Material — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:10:45 GMT

You know, Raw's have really been dragging recently. Perhaps it's my antipathy for Raw Supershow, Starring Brock Lesnar and Triple H. Maybe it's the old fashioned Wrestlemania hangover, the kind that has you puking off the balcony and praying she didn't slit a hole in your condom. During the Raw LD, I had commented many times asking if people missed The Rock? Don't believe me? Well, watch this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. J. O'Material (Post 4454921)

Is there any reason to watch tonight?

Doesn't it kind of suck not having Rock around anymore?

Well, you know what? I was wrong. Hell, Rock had been gone for seven years, and I was happy as a clam. Granted, I don't find that clams are that happy, but that's besides the point. And while it may not be the Rock and his roided out body, I can't help but feel I'm missing something?

Good matches? No, those are still going on, thanks to the Shield.

Decent angles? Meh, they've been about as good as they were before these doldrums.

So what's been missing? And I finally realized it: I really miss CM Punk.

I know it's only been a couple weeks, but we need him. Hell, I need him. I'm a mess without him. I miss him so damn much. I miss being with him. I miss being near him. I miss his laugh. I miss his scent. I miss his musk. And when this is all sorted out, I think me and him should get an apartment together!

Actually, in hindsight, I don't miss his scent, he probably smells like a hobo. It's become apparent how much I've taken him for granted, and how he actually was important to the fabric of Raw. Yes, he's not near as good as he, or the IWC would like to believe he is, but he's still really damn good. His promos are still better than just about everyone in the company, and I forgot how much that helps the product, especially when Cena is the only great promo that gets much time to speak. His wrestling is also majorly missed, as plenty of matches that should be ended sooner just keep going, and it kills the crowd. Punk's become pretty important to Raw, to the point that Triple H and Brock could return, and I couldn't give less of a shit.

So, the question is, just how much do you miss CM Punk? And, furthermore... Doesn't that kind of say something about the product?

What Are Your Thoughts On High Spots In WWE?

Jack-Hammer — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:56:24 GMT

According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, NXT officials have asked Sami Zayn, also known as El Generico, to cut back on the number of high spots he does in his matches. It's being reported that NXT officials are very pleased with Zayn; feeling that he's very good on the mic & inside the ring and that he's intelligent. They simply don't want him to pack his matches with so many of them.

This report got me to thinking about high spots and how they're both a detriment and a benefit. They can obviously be spectacular to witness and inject a certain level of excitement into a match. They can also be extremely dangerous to both the wrestlers involved and can be major contributing factors to the general wear & tear of the business.

Some call this "watering down" the product but I don't see it that way personally. From a purely business perspective and from the perspective of a decent human being, doing what you can to maintain the safety & well being of wrestlers working for you makes complete sense. As I alluded to, high spots can contribute to and result in serious injuries to the wrestlers involved. Also, packing matches with them does cause the spots to lose some of their luster. The extraordinary becomes ordinary if it's used all the time.

Also, let's face it, wrestlers who pack matches with high spots are often labeled spot monkeys. Generally speaking, it's not a term of endearment among wrestling insiders or fans. Getting labeled as a spot monkey when you're working for larger companies like WWE or TNA can be a detriment to a career. As a whole, spot monkeys aren't taken all that seriously in the long run. Their speed & athleticism is often appreciated & respected but these particular wrestlers usually sacrifice telling a story, the use of psychology and developing a persona/personality for fans to rally behind for the sake of the momentary excitement frequent in spot fests. In some cases, the wrestlers don't really have any real storytelling ability, understand psychology or have the personality/charisma to get fans behind them; so the high spots are really all they've got. If that's all that's in you, well then I guess that's that. Just don't expect very, very many at all to reach the upper levels of stardom in the bigger wrestling companies.

Plans for Christian, Evan Bourne & Big E. Langston

Jack-Hammer — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:47:19 GMT

As with the WHC situation, F4WOnline.com is reporting some updated information regarding Christian & Evan Bourne. As of now, the only new information for Christian is that he's expected to return to action sometime soon following the Extreme Rules ppv.

Evan Bourne is still said to be a little ways off from returning. Although he's healed up from the broken foot that put him on the shelf, he's got issues with ring rust that he's working through. He had a match a little while back down in NXT and, based on the match, it was decided that he wasn't ready. There's also talk of teaming Bourne up with Sin Cara upon his return.

As for Dolph Ziggler's heavy Big E. Langston, it's looking like he MIGHT be turning face. It looks as though Big E. is scheduled to feud with Mark Henry, which is expected to culminate at SummerSlam, possibly in some type of strongman competition.

As far as Christian goes, I don't see him going back to the main event scene. As of right now, having him in the tag team picture and/or helping to restore some luster back to the mid-card title scene is a good use for him, in my opinion.

I like the idea of Bourne & Sin Cara as a tag team. I don't see think either of them is going to really be a singles force and, if nothing else, their speed & high flying style could be entertaining to watch in matches. A potential problem, however, is that Sin Cara seems to be getting injured fairly frequently.

Having Langston feud with Mark Henry probably won't result in any match of the year contenders. But it does make sense when you look at their background in powerlifting. Langston is much younger, faster and more athletic than Mark Henry; so the matches could be solid as long as they're kept relatively short.

Antonio Cesaro crowd reaction

Gavschenko — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:46:37 GMT

Every time I go on to this site or any other wrestling site I always see push Cesaro or why Is Cesaro getting buried by the the main people in WWE he's one of the top talents in the company.There's no doubt about that but the main reason he ain't getting pushed is because nobody reacts to him at all. So if you all love him so much why can you hear a pin drop when he comes out surely you would cheer or boo for him? All you people do is whine we want wrestling but when a guy who comes to the main roster who can wrestle and is the best wrestler in the company he gets zero reaction but most people who are over cant wrestle for their lives

Two questions that I have are:

:Why does nobody react when he comes out if he's is loved by a high majority of the IWC?

: What will make him get a crowd reaction?

World Heavyweight Championship Picture

Jack-Hammer — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:34:32 GMT

F4WOnline.com is reporting that the winner of the Del Rio vs. Swagger match at Extreme Rules will get his shot at the title against Dolph Ziggler on the first episode of Raw in which Ziggler is medically cleared & able to compete. As a result, WWE will be able to keep whatever plans they have for the WHC in tact for the next ppv.

Neither the WWE or World Heavyweight Championships are defended on television all that often. In my opinion, WWE really should hype the title match as a big deal and give it a lot of attention.

Who Will Be The Next "Heyman Guy"?

Matyy256 — Wed, 15 May 2013 09:54:00 GMT

WWE posted an article on the possibility of Heyman adding another superstar to his stable. My question is, who would be the most logical superstar to receive the services of Mr. Heyman? I honestly wouldn't mind seeing Heyman screwing over Cena this Sunday to help Ryback win the title. Ryback has lost at 6 straight PPV's. His mic skills are horrid. He needs something to gain some momentum back and Heyman could be that perfect something. Another guy I think would be good, is Antonio Cesaro. The writers seem to think he's boring, which makes no sense when they have two of the most boring superstars in wrestling today in the World title hunt. So why not give Cesaro that mouthpiece? He can wrestle damn good we've all seen that, so imagine if he had Heyman to help get him over. So who do you think would be a good choice to be the next Heyman guy?

Dear WWE "2nd Generation Star" is NOT A GIMMICK!

nWo2 — Tue, 14 May 2013 23:40:35 GMT

:banghead:

Yesterday I sat and thought about one of my favorite gimmicks in the WWE Universe and the guy I THINK should beat The Undertaker's streak. Bray Wyatt.

I do not watch NXT, but once I saw his promos on YouTube having seen him in action as Husky Harris, you can see this unique character fits him and its MUCH better than "Husky Harris 2nd Generation Star" and it got me thinking.

The Rock - 3rd Generation star and he didn't get OVER until he dropped the Mavia from his name and turned heel

Goldust - 2nd Generation Star and a great worker, BUT he NEVER took off in any federation until he painted his face and did homosexual inferences and gestures. The gimmick was controversial, new and taboo.

Randy Orton - 2nd Generation star. Randy is a good wrestler and we as fans respect his HEEL work so much that we just respect HIM. But Randy Orton is the most BOOOORING big name in WWE because he has no gimmick and really never has. His most memorable runs were after Triple H gave him the :thumbsup:, Rated RKO (carried by Edge) and with Legacy. His promos are bland and he's very stale because he has no gimmick and "Legend Killer" or "The Viper" are not gimmicks. How can you be the apex predator in WWE as a face or even while Brock Lesnar is around.

Now lets get into the guys who's GIMMICK was/is that their dad was a wrestler and why nobody cares about them.

Ted DiBiase, Mike McGillicutty, The Usos, even Cody Rhodes & Alberto Del Rio are all guys who have limited gimmicks really because they have no gimmick outside of their dads used to wrestle for WWE.

I say Cody Rhodes because even though he's had success in WWE he tagged with DiBiase and MADE them look good, but tagged with Sandow he's more established and STILL plays second fiddle. Thats because Damien Sandow has a gimmick and puts effort into it and Cody's biggest splash in the last year is a toss up between beating up his big brother at Rumble and growing a mustache

Solution
If the WWE wants these guys to have longevity or relevancy they'll take them off television for a while and put Bray Wyatt on Smackdown and repackage them with an original gimmick, a ridiculous gimmick.... but ANYTHING is better than what it is currently and thats no gimmick at all.

Do you think this is a fair assesment of WWE's 2nd Generation Superstars? Do they need an overhaul or tweaks? The idea that being a 2nd/3rd Generation star is enough to get guys over is FALSE: Agree or disagree?

Is it just me or does Damien Sandow remind you of early HHH ?

#IndyRules — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:17:53 GMT

Damien Sandow as most of you know was trained by Killer Kowalski who also of course trained Triple H. Now maybe the pairs move-set is not identical but the gimmick IMO feels similar.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley when he arrived in the WWE was a snotty, upper-class type who pranced around the ring like he was better than everyone else.
Damien Sandow ? The intellectual saviour of the masses strolls down to the ring in his robe like hes the king and then belittles everyone muck like Mr Levesque did.

Back then everyone called for HHH to start moving up the card, exactly what is happening with Sandow.

I'm rambling on now and i may be the only one to share this opinion but please give me your opinions.

WWE has or is close to signing a HUGE Prospect!!!!

PowerHouse — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:47:04 GMT

The WWE is currently in talks with a HUGE amature and up and coming Strongman was a powerlifter first Adam Big Country Scherr. This guy def has the look to be in the WWE at 6'8 and 385lbs of solid muscle no blubber on this guy he is a freak to look at. He's got quite the personality as well almost a Hillbilly Jim like guy. His ability to learn Pro Wrestling is still of course in question but if all that goes right you are looking at the Next generation of Monster to follow guys like Undertaker and Kane.

Box Office Results for WWE�s No One Lives

AmazingRed — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:19:02 GMT

i kinda knew that the new wwe movie would be a flop but.... even showing in 53 theaters it only made like 860 dollars per theater.. on opening weekend..

but yet its still grossing higher than the other wwe movies on opening weekend

{No One Lives, which opened in limited release for WWE and Anchor Bay this weekend, took in $45,900 for the weekend. The film opened in 53 theaters for an $866 per-theater average, which is low for an opening weekend but well above all WWE Studios limited release films following Legendary including The Day last year ($10,121 opening weekend), 2011′s That’s What I Am ($6,400), The Chaperone ($12,700) and 2010′s Knucklehead ($1,000).}

im kinda shocked that even in select movies that knuckleheads only brought in 1k dollars on opening weekend

why do you make these movies? i really dont get it

Madden felt Jerico should have been squashed

LascoX — Sun, 12 May 2013 02:56:32 GMT

In his latest article Mark Madden felt that Ryback should have squashed Chris Jerico in their match on Smackdown to build him for Extreme Rules.
He said that Jerico didn't need to win and it would have made Ryback look more invincible going into the next PPV. Personally I respectfully disagree with Madden here as I think Chris has done his fair share of Jobbing as of late and I found the match to actually be a good one. The match also made Ryback look like more of a heel going into it as was what I think WWE intended by the finish.
So the question is was Madden right or wrong about the finish of the match? Should Ryback have been made to look more invincible going into the PPV or made to look more like a heel?

Legend's House: The Show with No Home

Lariat Barrage — Sat, 11 May 2013 08:50:41 GMT

The WWE Legend's House is a reality show that's similar to 'The Real World' only with WWE Legends. The show has had episodes taped and was planned on being debuted on the WWE network. Now that the WWE Network may be on hold until 2015, the higher ups at WWE are shopping the show around to air possibly as soon as this summer.

SyFy was tentatively scheduled to pick up the show last year, but didn't do so and is now being rumored to be a network in the running to air the show along with Bravo! in the United States.

The show is supposed to have legends like Mean Gene Okerlund, Howard Finkel, Hillbilly Jim, Roddy Piper, Jimmy Hart, Tony Atlas, and Pat Patterson as guests in the house.

My question is whether or not this is a show worthy of being put on TV? Would any of you watch it?

The WWE Tag Team Division: Progress Report

Mack_Swagger — Sat, 11 May 2013 07:02:28 GMT

A year ago around this time the WWE made a move to resurrect the struggling tag team division. Triple H used his office power to try to fix the dying division with storyline's and even made a tag team torney to highlight some of the newer tag teams in the WWE. Such as...

-The Prime Time Players
-The Uso's
-Tyson Kidd & Justin Gabrial
-R-Truth & Kofi Kingston
-Cody Rhodes & Damian Sandow
-ECT

And now in 2013 we have teams like Tons of Funk and the 3MB.

Team Hell No has had the tag team straps for months now. Since last fall I believe. And is currently feuding with the Shield for the tag team title's (which members we don't know). But with Team Hell No holding on to the WWE tag team title's for so long it took all the attention away from the other teams in the tag team division. The Uso's back to square one, the Prime Time Players back to square one, and Cody Rhodes & Damian Sandow are still trying to figure things out.

So now where is the WWE tag team division and where should the tag team division be right now for the future?

Gimmicks.... What about backstory?

giblet55 — Thu, 09 May 2013 23:40:35 GMT

So, I've noticed something that Triple H said not too long ago popping up in a lot of people's posts. Triple H commented that he doesn't want any developmental talent being brought up from NXT or anywhere else unless creative has fleshed out long term plans for them. Now I, for one, absolutely love that his mindset is long term with these young talents.

I remember reading someone's post, forgive me for forgetting who, about a supposed three strike rule where it's three chances with characters or gimmicks, and if you fail...future endeavored.

Where am I going with this?

Let's say that a young talent is brought up from NXT, given a gimmick, a storyline is written, and he appears on television. Fan's end up hating the gimmick. He's taken off of television, image revamped, given a gimmick, a storyline is written, and he appears on television a few months later. Fan's end up hating the gimmick. Finally this happens a third time and the guy is gone, not because he's a bad wrestler, but he keeps getting saddled with poor gimmicks that have no thought put into them.

Here's my fix. When I was in college for graphic design we were given mock assignments. Design a fictional magazine cover. Design a fictional band cd. Design a fictional website. Do you know what the key to my success was? Backstory... Every time I would design something, I created a backstory that would breathe more life into what I was doing. When more thought is put into something, it has greater meaning and is bound to be more successful.

The point? What if creative spent more time developing a backstory when creating the character? I mean, when an author writes a book, he or she spends a lot of time writing backstories for their characters so that each one is unique and each one has specific responses to situations, decisions, or challenges put before them.

Maybe I'm wrong, but when a gimmick or character is born, I feel it's important to establish a backstory so that character can feel more complete and real. Thoughts?

And it's my opinion that this isn't currently done. They might create a character, but that character just shows up one day with no history or story. The closest I've seen with this generation is Wade Barret's fighter gimmick.

Reliving 2011

thatotherguy — Thu, 09 May 2013 02:41:15 GMT

Hello.

So this is somewhat ambitious, and I'm well aware of that.

2011 was one of the most memorable years for WWE in recent history. I'm going to take a look back at it and try and figure out if anything was actually accomplished in 2011 for the long term (by which I mean the year since). The long term effects of 2011 are obviously still with us � CM Punk just completed a historic 434 title reign that began that year, Daniel Bryan is a bigger star, and "part time" stars are becoming more and more of a thing. But beyond that, what were the long-term effects of 2011? Does the WWE look any different now than it did when 2011 began? Does it do anything differently.

I'm going to take a month by month look at 2011, including important moments, promos, matches, etc. to try and answer these questions. Keep in mind that I don't have a conclusion coming in, so this may be a bit disorganized.

Without further ado�

2010 � A Brief recap

By recap I mean, what happened in 2010 that carried over to 2011.

The big story that carried the WWE through 2010 was the Nexus. The eight rookies from the NXT program � Wade Barrett, Daniel Bryan, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Michael Tarver and Skip Sheffield � would attack John Cena and CM Punk during a match on the June 7th 2010 edition of RAW. Due to action during the attack (choking Justin Roberts), Daniel Bryan was "fired" (I am of the opinion that he was suspended to be brought back later but that's largely irrelevant) and thus the Nexus was reduced to 7 members. For a good portion of time Nexus would dominate RAW before eventually running into John Cena. And although Cena would temporarily join Nexus and ultimately be fired because of them, he was, in the end, their downfall. At this point CM Punk, last seen leading the Straight Edge Society (outside of a well-regarded run on RAW commentary) would take over the "New" Nexus, bringing in Mason Ryan and giving it more of a cult-like atmosphere. By this point, the Nexus looked very different. After Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater left, CM Punk's Nexus was composed of David Otunga, Michael McGillicutty, Husky Harris (the previous three were members of the second season of NXT), and Welsh big man Mason Ryan. Meanwhile, on Smackdown the oddly named "Corre" was begun starring former Nexus members Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, Justin Gabriel and big man Ezekiel Jackson. By the time 2011 rolled around, neither group was looking particularly successful.

The other major storyline that ran through late 2011 centered around three men. United States Champion (at the time) Miz, newly debuting NXT rookie Daniel Bryan (who, and I will get skewered if I don't mention this, was a major independent star under his real name, Bryan Danielson before joining WWE) and Monday Night RAW play by play man, Michael Cole. On NXT The Miz was mentoring Daniel Bryan, who in turn felt that Miz had little to teach him since he had, after all, wrestled all over the world and was fairly successful. Miz, didn't take to kindly to this. Meanwhile, Michael Cole, who normally favored faces in traditional play by play fashion, was actually siding with then-heel Miz, arguing that Bryan had never accomplished anything in WWE. This lead to some very strong promos by all three men, particularly between Cole and Bryan. Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan went through his time in NXT without a victory (although during said time he took then world heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho and top contender to the WWE Championship Batista to the limit, not to mention others). After the first season of NXT ended, Daniel Bryan would join Nexus for a single night, then leave. Meanwhile, Miz would win a Money in the Bank ladder match for the WWE Championship at the Money in the Bank pay per view, causing a few people to think � "wait, Miz? Really?" Meanwhile, Daniel Bryan returned at Summerslam, once again a face to challenge his old Nexus buddies, who had, in storyline, kicked Daniel Bryan out for regretting their initial attack. Bryan would go on to feud with Miz over the US championship, and eventually win it. Meanwhile, Michael Cole's heel persona had all but carried over entirely to Monday Night Raw, save for his dislike of the Nexus. After a Nexus attack, Miz would cash in his Money in the Bank contract on a vulnerable Randy Orton on the 22nd of November winning his first WWE championship to even more shock. I mean seriously. There was one girl in the crowd who looked like her entire world was ending. And then, Michael Cole cost Jerry Lawler the WWE Championship in a TLC match (which was, sadly, an important event for 2011. Look we had three Cole/Lawler matches I can't not mention it). Going into 2011, The Miz was WWE Champion.

On Smackdown�not much was happening. Edge had had a dominant year, and finished it out with a TLC match victory for the World Heavyweight Championship over Kane (after a horrible Kane/Edge feud), Rey Mysterio and fast-rising star Alberto del Rio. And�erm�stuff. It wasn't a memorable year for Smackdown okay?

And then there's John Cena. In spite of being involved in the year's hottest angle (Nexus), Cena had been noticeably quiet all year. He spent the first half of the year as WWE Champion, then dropped the title to Sheamus in a Fatal Four Way match after a Nexus attack, feuded with the Nexus for a bit, and then once that was over�well again�stuff. Randy Orton was nearly a bigger star than Cena at one point in that year.

2010 was a transitional year for the WWE. They attempted to create new stars through the Nexus (which really hasn't worked, but we'll get to that), while dealing with the fact that most of their big stars from previous years were disapearing. Only Cena and Orton were really left Undertaker was on a reduced schedule. Shawn Michaels had retired at Wrestlemania 26. Batista had left earlier that year.

Entering 2011, The Miz was WWE Champion, and now had NXT season 2 proteg� Alex Riley by his side. Edge was World Heavyweight Champion. Natalya was the Diva's Champion. Santino Marella and Vladamir Kozlov were the comedy duo holding the nearly worthless WWE Tag Team Championships. Daniel Bryan was in the middle of a forgettable United States Championship reign. And Dolph Ziggler held the Intercontinental Championship. Top face John Cena had very little direction. The Rock was making movies and not expected to return any time soon, or at all. Randy Orton was on fire in terms of popularity, but had no direction to speak of after failing to recapture the WWE title. Edge was riding high as World Heavyweight Champion. CM Punk was�the guy that lead the New Nexus, but other than leading stables that had not gone anywhere to that point, he wasn't really known for anything. Triple H had largely faded to the background. Vince McMahon had not been on screen in a long time.

Next time: whenever I find the time to post, we'll be looking at January of 2011. The build to the Royal Rumble commences. Miz faces an old friend for his title. Dolph Ziggler becomes a World Champion � briefly. And Alberto del Rio starts talking about Destiny. A lot.