Not really. He's told WWE what calls they can and cannot make. Hardly impressive and it should not have been put up with by the higher ups.
The same can be said for Triple H, especially on a much grander scale. The "higher ups" have practically let Trips run them all over for years. And I bet you anything that if HE doesn't get what he wants, he runs to Steph, and Steph barks and bitches until it happens. Is Triple H hardly impressive because of his backstage whining?
I'm confused. He's done just about fuck all of that outside of a one month title reign since his 2002 comeback, so he deserves time off... What kind of logic is this?
The logic behind this all is called "bad timing." Michaels made his comeback that year, and Triple H (another big star) made a return from an injury that year as well. It was also just about the time where the McMahon/Helmsley era was initiated (and also about the time where Trips was screwing Steph outside of business). Triple H got his way ever since the middle of 2002, which most likely meant
Triple H was calling the shots, not Shawn Michaels.
Sure, but what face on SmackDown is ready for that? Michaels is actually need, and his constant refusal to help that show leaves that brand high and dry at the moment.
Alright, let's look at who is the current champion on Smackdown: CM Punk. If I'm not mistaken, Punk was facing midcarders on ECW (a brand that I now consider a midcard clusterf*ck) as the ECW Champ (a championship of which I now consider a glorified silver midcard shit-title). And who was he facing for that tin piece of crap? John Morrison. At that point in time, Michaels was with HHH (two apparent superstars "calling the shots," if you will, feuding with Vince McMahon. Triple H was allowing other wrestlers take the strap at that time. Now, back to topic, CM Punk is now main-event status. John Morrison is currently on Smackdown with CM Punk. Aside from Jeff Hardy, I see Morrison as a potential face to begin a feud with CM Punk for the WHC. Built up right, Morrison could very well be the next WHC. But since you are such a Michaels mark, I'll leave you to your current opinion on that topic.
It hasn't happened, though. Cena's the biggest draw since Rock and Austin and continues to garner more crowd interest than any other wrestler today. People want Cena now more than ever.
Cena is like the modern day Hogan. Kids love him. My two four and five year old boys fight over who gets to be Cena. He is a superhero. And he fills the role of a clean-cut Marine. Who doesn't respect a US Marine, who fights for the people and for our country? But I also see Cena like the New York Yankees. They constantly win the World Series (not so much lately), and everyone still goes to see their games. Yankees draw like no other baseball team. And I bet that people want to see Hogan still, either in the WWE or TNA doing
something, even with the high school drama that surrounds him. But Hogan is long past us. Cena will be pretty soon.
Taker is legit injured on crutches. It's a completely different situation than Michaels, who is taking time off by choice. If that's what he wants, he should retire.
Maybe Michaels should retire. That is up to him. He does have personal preferences. And so did the Rock. He wanted to do movies when he left and even fucking plugged one of them in his speech for his father at the HOF. What stupid, inconsiderate fuck plugs an irrelevant movie during his father's inductee speech!? But I digress. Michaels is getting up there in age, along with every other famous wrestler. And if you think Michaels is selfish, go look at Sting. An awesome talent, but Sting is a frickin' asshole. He signs year long contracts just to see "whether or not" he feels like wrestling. He demanded a title shot in his contract for TNA. He will not put over other young talent. He does not want to take serious bumps. Yet Sting is still wrestling. And yet, Michaels wants to work with younger talent, and push them. He worked with the Spirit Squad members pretty well, and made them pretty popular jobbers to the stars, and a lot of them branched out. Mind you, they were still jobbers, but they got the opportunity to work with HHH and Michaels. Sting wouldn't even give a lot of the stars the time of day.
No new faces are ready. Somebody needs to carry the torch while they
get built up on SmackDown. No reason to rush anybody to a title run.
Creative hasn't worked anyone to give them either a face or a heel push. But like I mentioned above, I think Morrison has been slowly brought into the light, and he could step up to the plate (if and when Jeff Hardy leaves) and bring some solid action with Punk in the main event picture as a face. Smackdown is the wrestling brand, and if there are some decent storylines, faces and heels can be made prominent.
What the fuck? I'm in the IWC and I sure want them! Some guys deserve the belt more than once... more than twice even! It can't always be new for the sake of new when you have strong placeholders still ready to go and make money.
I agree with you for a two-or-three time run with certain wrestlers. But look at the wrestlers I called off; Cena, Edge, Orton, Batista... they have either had repetitive reigns with both heavyweight titles, or they've had long runs WITH repetitive reigns with both heavyweight titles. And it's been the same wrestlers... over and over again. You may like these faces continually in the spotlight, but I, for one, am sick and tired of it. It hasn't been a new face for a couple of years. I really think CM Punk will be some sort of transitional champion this time.
Proven draws who make money and put asses in seats don't need to be Champion. Yeah, okay.
I never said this. Far from. And I will use Michaels and Undertaker at WM25 for this; that match was arguably THE best match of the night, and possibly the most anticipated. Undertaker didn't have a title. He had a streak he ALWAYS puts on the line at Wrestlemania. You could consider that as a title. But it wasn't a gold belt. Hogan vs. The Rock at WM18. Were these two champions at the time? No. Yet this match was so frickin' hyped up (along with the Michaels/Taker match) that it put money in seats. The other matches didn't. And The Rock defeated Hogan, and that gave the Rock a HUGE rub. Simply put, a match with Undertaker, HHH, or any other top star really doesn't require a championship to be put on the line, or to have that superstar to be a champion. Truly, it really is all about the hype that draws.
Okay, Orton doesn't really fit that description. But the others can be fine champions should the right circumstances arise. Or in Cena's case, he'll be a fine champion any time he's given the gold.
I agree with this as well. There are a lot of superstars that are without gold, who have people thinking this same thing. You think Cena, you think Championship. You think HHH, you think multiple championships. You think of Flair, and you think of his legacy as a 16 time champ, and how he became champ. Now, do you think Undertaker and think champ? I think Undertaker, and I see the WM streak.
But seriously, sacrificing Michaels' title chances for guys who aren't ready for the belt is silly. Morrison and R-Truth as top faces won't cut it, so Michaels should be available.
Vince McMahon cannot rely on Michaels when other faces aren't available. Look what happened to Mr. Kennedy. He even said before his Lakers/Nuggets match that he was going to be the next champion. Moments later, he fucks up. And not even twenty-four hours after those words were spoken, he was given the axe. This is exactly why creative is there. They were probably going to push Kennedy into the main event, and when he screwed up, Batista was thrown in the mix. People who defend a certain superstar have to remember; everyone is expendable. They have to be, because they may be WWE Champ today, and pop positive for drugs (or something monumental) tomorrow and be stripped and fired.
