As the world title turns

[CM Steel]

For the past few months the WWE universe had to bare witness to the soap oprea that is the love threesome between WWE champion CM Punk, number one contender Daniel Bryan, and WWE diva AJ Lee. Granted that pro wrestling is a male soap oprea in-general. But this is as extreme as it's gotta in a long time.

The last time that the WWE touched the lines of a monologue of a soap oprea since a few years ago on RAW when JBL told Mr. McMahon that Finlay was Hornswoggle's "bio-logical father". And the soap oprea factor hasn't been used to that extent since, unti'l now with the CM Punk/Daniel Bryan/AJ storyline. Throwing in Kane was a bit too much, now he's out of the storyline.

You would think that this is a showing of "As the world turns". But it's vintage WWE. Makes you think of who's writing this scripts?

But what do you think of this day-time soap oprea brought to prime-time in the WWE going on a monthly time frame?

 

[The_Midnight_Show]

I'm not 100% sure what you are asking...our opinions on the Bryan/Punk/AJ feud? Or "soap operas" in general in WWE. Well, I'll try to give my opinion on both. I like the Bryan/Punk/AJ feud. Would I go as far to say I love it and that it is one of the best angles WWE has done in recent memory? Probably not. But still it is an above average world title angle. I think part of the reason WWE went this route is because they wanted to get quite a few matches out of Punk and Bryan. When they first met at Over The Limit I guess it was, Bryan had just finished his feud with Sheamus and even though I was just as excited to see Punk/Bryan wrestle as the next guy is, the quick transition between the two titles for Bryan seemed a bit quirky for lack of a better word.

Anyhow, they had their match, it was good, and Punk obviously came out victorious. From this point, "common sense" would say that Bryan had his chance and now moves to the back of line; which prior to the match at Over the Limit was the way I thought they were going to go with the feud, get one match out of Bryan/Punk and move on. Either WWE was out of creative ideas or they loved what they saw out of Punk/Bryan (I would hope the latter) but no matter the case they wanted to continue the feud, which begs the question, how to do this? WWE gave everyone an answer in AJ. She's the REASON, not FOCUS (that's the WWE championship) as many people have been saying, that Bryan and Punk are fighting. From this point, WWE ran with the crazy angle. I for one did not think twice of the extreme "soap opera" marriage proposal from last RAW. She's crazy! It makes sense she'd propose. It makes sense that the heel Bryan proposes back with the sole FOCUS of the WWE Championship in mind.

As for "soap operas" in general in WWE. It really depends how much they suspend disbelief. A crazy AJ is fine for me, it makes sense. Katie Vick, well, that wasn't even a soap opera as much as it was just dumb. We understand that wrestling matches are booked and obviously watch despite this. But when we start getting shoved personal stories that aren't just gimmicks down our throats, then it becomes bad TV because we know it is "fake." A crazy AJ is not so much a personal story as much as it is character development. As mentioned two times before, it makes enough sense so I do not mind it.

 

[Little Shadow]

I think the main reason of them doing this is to prolong the Punk/Bryan fued. Look how long this feud as been going on... When they first announced D Bry as the number one contender I was upset and thought we wouldn't get to see them at SummerSlam or Wrestlemania, but from the looks of it we may get a SS match between them.

 

[Degenerate88]

I think the main reason of them doing this is to prolong the Punk/Bryan fued. Look how long this feud as been going on... When they first announced D Bry as the number one contender I was upset and thought we wouldn't get to see them at SummerSlam or Wrestlemania, but from the looks of it we may get a SS match between them.

I doubt they'll go with Punk vs Bryan for the WWE Championship at SS. They'll probably have Cena cash in for a match against Punk. That seems more main event worthy.

As far as this whole storyline soap opera crap goes, just hurry up and get it done and over with please? On to the next storyline.

 

[GameOver]

I doubt they'll go with Punk vs Bryan for the WWE Championship at SS. They'll probably have Cena cash in for a match against Punk. That seems more main event worthy.

As far as this whole storyline soap opera crap goes, just hurry up and get it done and over with please? On to the next storyline.

Punk vs Bryan for the championship (submission match)
and Cena vs Big Show/Laurinitis is booked for WWE's tour of Australia in late August so yeah they are dragging it out longer

as for the question, don't think the storyline is really anything new, but its a nice change from the normal and just proves that either Vince has stepped out of the majority of the decisions or he's finally listening to the right people, though getting Charlie Sheen to be the social media ambassador for RAW is a big WTF are u thinking, it's obvious that was only gonna end badly even if he did last til 23rd. and on an AJ note, she's single handedly done more for the women's prominance in wrestling in the past few months then any other female in the last few years and is out acting everyone she's onscreen with.

 

[lil bitch Kid]

I would think that if they're serious about Bryan, he wins at MiTB, then defends and wins against Cena at SS. Yes, Super Cena would be the first to cash in and lose. If there is anyone on the roster who can handle that in the fans' eyes, it would be Cena. Someone will have to be the first to lose with the briefcase, and it cannot be a guy who has yet to be established.

 

[JaylisJayP]

Bryan needs to face Cena if he's going to get to that top heel status. He's gone as far as he can go feuding with PG bufoon Punk. Punk's character is so unwatchable now, I'd welcome Cena/Punk/Miz taking the title off him and seeing him fade back to upper mid-card for a while.

While I like AJ and think she's added something different to WWE lately, her interaction with Punk has taken the Punk character even lower than his stupid "bewildered" facial expressions and cringe-inducing go-to-sleep hand gestures. Plus, Punk doesn't draw on his own. Especially as a watered down pseudo-anti-face face.

 

[Ryberg]

If Cena wins MITB I won't even channel surf to RAW when American Pickers and Pawn Stars are on a commercial break anymore. The show has become unwatchable since Wrestlemania. With the exception of the DB/AJ/Punk angle and DB/Punk matches, RAW is HORRIBLE.

Plus, Punk doesn't draw on his own. Especially as a watered down pseudo-anti-face face.

Obviously you don't watch RAW or Smackdown when he's on and the reaction he gets. So you're way off he doesn't draw. THOUGH he needs to give up the belt and I would LOVE for DB to have it. As long as no CENA!

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I'm not much of a fan of soap operas in general. I don't really get that soap opera vibe from the Punk/Bryan/AJ situation. They haven't tried to bog it down with tons of drama, which is the calling card of soaps in general, but they've used AJ's "mental instability" to generate an aura of unpredictability. Bryan's relationship with AJ, their natural chemistry and his treatment of her after becoming WHC all played a major role in Bryan's rise to prominence. Daniel Bryan has spent this entire year either wrestling as a World Champion or trying to become a World Champion. In turn, the WWE has used Bryan's increased stock as well as Punk's popularity to make AJ into the single most relevant Diva the WWE has had in a very long time. Week in and week out, fans actually want to see AJ and don't sit on their hands when she comes out. Even though Kane is now out of the picture, his involvement did add another little jolt of unpredictability to this and left you wondering where they were going with it. They manged to keep it light enough with just enough humor to make parts of it funny. To top it all off, all of them played their roles perfectly. Bryan plays a douche bag heel quite well, Punk also did well as the sympathetic & well meaning guy that found himself put in uncomfortable and very awkward situations and AJ has a great blend of sweet innocence and possibly dangerous instability. She can go from being sweet & chipper to behaving as though she needs to be in a padded room while heavily medicated. Facial expressions & body languages also got all these stories across.

I agree that AJ was an added element to this situation to keep Punk vs. Bryan going for a while longer, not to mention add a personal element to their feud. At the same time, the best possible thing could've happened as the WWE was able to jack up the stock of all three involved, especially AJ. She was given an opportunity so she grabbed the ball and ran with it. She might not be someone that'll be in the main event scene forever, but she's shown that she's someone valuable to have on your roster. Rather than piss & moan via the internet like so many wrestlers do these days, she worked her ass off at her chance instead of feeling as though it should've been handed to her on a silver platter.

 

[a member of wwe universe]

Bryan needs to face Cena if he's going to get to that top heel status. He's gone as far as he can go feuding with PG bufoon Punk. Punk's character is so unwatchable now, I'd welcome Cena/Punk/Miz taking the title off him and seeing him fade back to upper mid-card for a while.

While I like AJ and think she's added something different to WWE lately, her interaction with Punk has taken the Punk character even lower than his stupid "bewildered" facial expressions and cringe-inducing go-to-sleep hand gestures. Plus, Punk doesn't draw on his own. Especially as a watered down pseudo-anti-face face.

You're crazy. Why the hell would you want punk to fade back into the midcard? This will only justify the wwe to position cena in the mainevent picture even more(well cena is maineventing every month anyway). as well the wwe star power is very very limited and it will continue to suffer if you pull punk away

Punk is legit over with the crowd as a babyface, not a easy heel. His character stinks but the guy is the clear top guy. Didnt punk outrank cena in merchandising? If you talk about the overall drawing power of cena, nobody can match that. However you got to start somewhere with pushing new star.

 

[rerun406]

I agree, WWE badly needs some fresh faces .. especially in the WWE Title/Main Event picture

**IMO the Bryan-Punk feud has been going well so far and came through with quality matches, with finishes that aren't terribly predictable heck who saw Punk countering Bryan's YES lock with a pin or winning with a top rope back suplex through a table?

but with Cena announcing he's cashing in Next week on RAW what does it mean for Daniel Bryan and the WWE belt?