Shock Value in 2011

[The Architect of Anarchy]

Well as the title of the thread suggests, this is an element that also keeps us watching the WWE day in, day out. However, have they been of quality this year?
I'm going to review different events that have happened over the past year with a rating of shockness but some of them I'm going to leave with you to judge!
Let's review shall we>

Vince Mcmahon comes out and announces a mystery host for Wrestlemania. We kept and kept on guessing who it could be - Stone Cold, HHH and ect, we waited till the next episode of Raw to find out that it's actually the Rock. He returns in what I must say , excellent style, he used his stage presence to make the return all as surprising and shocking.

Rating: 9/10

Ok, so that's one return, we also had the three vignettes air on Raw consecutively which would go on to build to a double return - Taker and HHH who would eventually go on to have a match at Wrestlemania! I didn't see much suprise in the Taker return as about 70%(wild guess) of us knew it was him behind the mysterious promos. but HHH returning on the same night was highly unexpected!

Rating:6/10

Then you had other returns such as Stone Cold, JBL, but I didn't feel any shock for them. please feel free to enlighten me on what you thought about their returns? Did WWE pull it off as a huge suprise?

For me, even though you had the promos for Kane's return quite recently, I wasn't expecting him to return on the same night as his last vignette. The fact that he came back as monster heel Kane with a mask was frikkin awesome and I can't wait what they're (WWE) going to do with him!

Rating:7/10

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Shock value can be a good thing if it's used sparingly and if there's an actual purpose involved that goes beyond merely catching the audience by surprise.

I wasn't all that shocked by The Rock being announced as the Guest Host of WrestleMania. I don't think a lot of people were to be quite honest but they were thrilled to see that the WM Guest Host turned out to be the person they thought and the one they were hoping for. If nothing else, The Rock's return to Raw will be looked back on as a classic moment in WWE.

When it comes to shock value, CM Punk's worked shoot is the one thing that really stands out for me. Not only did you not see it coming but it was the moment in which you had to look at CM Punk and say that he'd finally broken through to the next level of his career. Even if you're not a fan of him, you could sense that he'd hit a major turning point in his wrestling career. The promo was so well done, so heartfelt and so passionate that his words, coupled with his mic being shut off, that it had a lot of people wondering if it was a legit shoot. I'm not just talking about fans, but hardcore smarks and knowledgable wrestling insiders were uncertain. Logic told us that it had to be worked but they were able to manufacture enough doubt & uncertainty that you didn't know and you couldn't wait to see what happened next. If I were grading it, I'd give it a definite 10 out of 10.

Punk's match at MITB against John Cena also delivered some great shock value. I don't think most people expected Punk to win that match. We expected a great match in which Punk left it all in the ring and took Cena to his very limits, but I don't think we expected him to "walk out" with the WWE Championship. I'd give it a 9 out of 10. When Punk won the match, it became pretty obvious that he'd signed a new deal with WWE.

 

[Defekt]

The WWE had quite a few surprises this year:

Nash and Booker returning at Royal Rumble.
HHH returning and confronting The UT.
Cena and The Rock agreeing to a match a year in advance.
CM Punk's worked shoot.
CM Punk winning the belt at MITB.
The RAW walkout angle.
Nash powerbombing CM Punk.
Big Show and Mark Henry destroying the ring.
Daniel Bryan cashing in the briefcase.

I'm sure there are many more I'm forgetting. As Jack-Hammer said, I think the CM Punk angle this summer was the most shocking event of the year. That worked shoot got everyone talking, and I think most people expected Cena to retain at MITB.

 

[EdgeHead21]

I'd say Triple H returning immediately after The Undertaker coming out is up there, we knew it was 'Taker despite some reports suggesting it was Sting.

The Miz retaining at WrestleMania. Cena almost never loses at WrestleMania, so far he's lost twice, but The Miz, a guy who was an ex-Reality TV guy headlining WrestleMania against WWE's golden boy and retaining? Kinda surprising.

The Rock/Cena being announced for WM 28. Not a lot of people were expecting The Rock to return in some sort of capacity other than appearing live or pre-taped.

Edge's retirement. It wasn't expected, a shocking moment and a great loss for wrestling.

Christian and Mark Henry's Title victories. Del Rio was on fire and it would've made sense if he won, but I think had Edge not retired he'd have not won, at least not at Extreme Rules. Henry all of a sudden got a push, in the past he went nowhere within a matter of days, but he proved he's worthy.

CM Punk's worked shoot, was out of the blue and shocked the world, similar to his promo in ROH back in '05, which eventually lead to the shocking return of Nash at SummerSlam, ultimately screwing Punk out of the Title.

Triple H releaving Vince of his duties and becoming the new COO. Didn't see that one coming, we know Hunter will one day take over but in kayfabe terms, didn't see it happening at least not so soon.

Kane returning with a new look with a new mask. We'd seen the promos and people hoping for the return of the mask but most blew it off, to see a return the same night as a viginette airing isn't very common.

 

[King of the Words]

I would say that John Morrison leaving WWE when his contract was up was some what shocking. I thought for sure he would resign with the WWE. He was one of their best in ring talents, he had the looks, the only thing he lacked was mic skills, which I hoped would develop eventually to an extent. I seen him as a future WWE Champion on WHC. I didn't think he would actually leave. Maybe he got tired of being Vince's whipping boy. If that's all Vince was gonna do with him then I'm glad he left to pursue other interests. I would love to see this come back to haunt the WWE. They had a future star and in my mind, they blew it. I know he had a few pushes that weren`t very succesful, but I think he deserved better then what he got. He might have got on Vince`s bad side because of the Trish thing but Vince shouldn`t let personal things like that interfer in business. If Vince had of over looked this and not punished Morrison, I say he would have stayed with WWE and sooner or later became the star he was meant to be.

 

[bk555]

The Rock's return had everyone surprised. It was easily the biggest "shock value" of the year. I think it beats anything Punk did, the 2 21 11 stuff, and the Triple H/ Vince Firing.

 

[thebromm]

Someone out there said shock value should be used sparingly and you're exactly right and I 100% agree with you. Now to touch on some of the shockers that others mentioned and maybe one or two of my own.

Undertakers return: Well done, but not that shocking. They did a good job reversing course and making them about Undertaker and not Sting once that deal fell through. Not shocking because in the last 1 or 2, The Undertakers face was seen in the videos. Triple H making his return at the same time was pretty awesome. Nobody saw that coming.

Rocks return: As great and awesome as it was, it did not shock me.

Undertaker being stretchered out at Mania: To this day I'm not sure if it was real or not. Triple H looked genuinely concerned and even went to help him when Taker stumbled and fell. In hindsight he may have actually had a concussion because he was hit in the head with a chair which even HHH was fined for.

CM Punk: Shoot or no shoot it was the best promo done in many years. It did its job. Casting doubt and causing fans to tune in. More shocking was that he did win the title when it was stipulated that if Cena lost to Punk he'd be fired. And you knew damn well they wouldn't write off the make-a-wish boy.

Booker and Nash at the Rumble: Not surprising since it was pretty well widely known and WWE has brought back numerous guys for the Rumble over the years even if it was just for the match.

The rise of Mark Henry: Less of a surprise and more of a "ya finally did it big man." Hell the guy came along way from concieving a hand with Mae Young. He deserved it. Hope he has another title run down the road.

Kane Ressurected: Although it was in the dirt sheets about Kane coming back with the mask and goin heel, it was still shocking for him to go after John Cena. Lets face it, anytime Cena gets put on his back is a shock in and of itself and men all over the world take a little more of the blankets at night in bed.

All in all I think 2012 may be a pretty good year for WWE and wrestling fans. Just do yourselves a favor and forget what you know and just try and enjoy the show. Its worth it.

Small Sidenote: I was on the road to WrestleMania. Just 2 weeks before Mania WWE was in Pittsburgh and I was in attendance. All during the build up to Mania there was return after return and great moment after great moment. Pittsburgh got nothing but crap. WWE shits on us constantly and it was the hottest WWE crowd in that town in years. NOC is coming, they better do us right dammit!

 

[TheRealDeal]

CM Punk's shoot would be on the #1 list of the Shock Value.. No one thought it was going to happen, it was just like what, and at the same time I was thinking whether it was scripted or not, but then the mic went off and I could go and on, but I'm sure everyone saw that awesome moment in July.. I was basically speechless and it had the internet running, basically everyone was (how do you put it) SHOCKED, that Punk had the guts to diss his boss front of Live television.. Definitely, a mark in 2011 and in WWE

 

[#heel]

Cm punk worked shoot promo for sure, when that happened wrestlezone forums exploded and at that moment I became a wrestling mark again! The promo was so realistic it felt so kayfabe.. All other returns and 'shocking' moments were predictable.