WWE Championship Tournament Discussion

[The Golden Boy]

OK, now whether or not Punk signed is the question. What you folks need to realize is when negotiating a contract in the big leagues there are stipulations like how many titles you will get in your contract span, which title you will get and so on and so forth. With that being said CM Punk must have had one more WWE Championship in his contract so McMahon had to comply or be sued. Now that he complied that part is over. If he didn't resign then Vince has a number of options available. Hopefully for Vince's sake and the WWE he did. If he didn't it will surely be a great loss for the WWE. That was the best angle I have ever seen unfold in history and to be honest with you I hope it isn't over.

 

[Devlin Mathis]

I'm pretty sure the WHC belt is 2nd rate in the eye's of the WWE. The WWE title will always be the most prestigious title since it is their title, not the old WCW/NWA title. So by that logic, they will create a new WWE title.

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

How about this?

1) Opening segment on tonight's RAW. McMahon fires Cena and announces a tournament for the RAW World Champion.

2) Sometime during the show, Del Rio is found lying and his briefcase is missing.

3) Miz wins tournament and is crowned RAW World Champion. He makes a big thing of how he would never have found himself in Cena's position.

4) Cena turns up somewhere down the line (once he has recovered sufficiently from wear and tear), cashes the briefcase in and becomes RAW World Champion.

5) A livid Punk returns because getting Cena fired meant more to him than winning the belt.

6) A WMX style ladder match is held at Survivor Series. Rock screws Cena.

7) Punk's elevated to being a legitimate headliner for WM where he will defend the WWe Title. Cena and Rock's match will be for bragging rights (it doesn't need the belt to get it over).

Thoughts?

 

[Genuine_Smoke18]

I havent been this pumped to see Raw in a long time. Id have to say the last time i canceled plans just to watch Raw had to be when I heard that Ric Flair lost at wrestlemania and was retiring. My point being I have NO idea what the WWE plans on doing. Over the last 2 years it has been the most predictable, boring shit I had ever seen but the last couple months have been pretty decent. Still more of a TNA guy (only because its not PG and Im a huge fan of Mr. Anderson), plus there product is way better then this WWE crap, yes i know a thousand of you people will criticize me for sayin that but its my opinion, so get over it. But I think WWE is headed into a new Era and away from PG (no not another attitude Era, thatll never happen again) but more like a every man for himself badass era. To answer the original question however, I got NO clue what happens to the title, personally my hope is that it was all a work and punks in wwe for another ten years, but i can see cena being "fired" and takin time off to heal, probably returning at Survivor Series to fuck with Rock cause hes suppose to be there. And Punk legit taking the title and the Heavyweight title being the only title, lets face it there isnt enough star power for 2 top belts and besides thatll make the 1 belt more credible.

 

[Cosmic Hate]

In my opinion, this entire Cena/Rock thing and especially the WWE Championship, may very well not be the focus of creative. It's not important to immediately fix these plot discrepancies, they have a lengthy amount of time to work with. With the absence of the Championship and perhaps even Cena (maybe even for a few months), this could be an opportunity to:
1) Push new wrestlers. Perhaps more and better storylines? Though I doubt it, Zack Ryder could get his own feud and his "Long Island Iced Z story." People we want might get the push they deserve.
2) Reaffirm the Position of Lesser Titles: Let's face it. The WWE has only had its real focus on the WWE Championship and the World Heavyweight Championship. The other titles have taken a backseat. With the absence of the WWE Championship Title, McMahon can decide to have MitB briefcases cross over between brands, promote the United States, Intercontinential, and Tag Team Championships. Hell, this and the signing of the Kings of Wrestling (a tag team from Ring of Honor) could mean that WWE has decided to focus on improving tag team matches, making them actually entertaining.
3) Dazzling the Stage: WWE has just shown off two men wrestling, and was one of the best matches in years, and by the drama and mainstream heat alone outshines even the Rey Mysterio/John Morrison match a couple years ago. With the opportunities ahead of them, WWE could have listened to those study groups they made of former fans and new fans and old fans and the IWC and decide to put an emphasis on in-ring ability, as it really does raise the roof as we saw in Chicago. We're tired of shitty, repetitive matches, and they now know it. Things can be changing for the better, and we might have great matches more often.

Biggest question is, how about WWE working with Ring of Honor? Punk's story could transcend promotions, and hold title matches in the Indy group.

 

[Starchild]

It's totally up in the air at this point and there is really no telling where exactly this thing is gonna go. If it were my choice, we would finally get a new championship belt. How I would do this would be one of two ways.

First and imo the most likely, is you announce a tournament on Raw tonight that will conclude at Summerslam to crown a new WWE champion with a new belt. Afterwards, Punk could return and claim he's the true champion leading to a unification storyline where the person who wins at Summerslam (likely Cena) ends up beating Punk, but the new belt becomes the official one.

Second, and one that I think would be far more interesting assuming Punk has resigned in some capacity. You basically continue the storyline as if the title is now gone and Punk is the hottest free agent in wrestling. With the rumors of Cabana, Hero, and Castagnoli signing with WWE there could be an ROH invasion story. I think including Ace Steel to reform the Second City Saints stable would be cool too. Maybe even have DBD switch to them after cashing in his case then they could have BOTH of WWE's world titles. It would be an interesting twist that we haven't seen aside from what happened during the Alliance Invasion. It could potentially create many new stars, catapult Punk into that upper echelon of guys in the company where he belongs, etc.

 

[Smeth]

Vince won't fire Cena, the Wrestlemania 28 travel packages are just about to go on sale so why on earth would non-internet fans risk buying a ticket if they thought that the Cena/Rock match would no longer be happening?

Punk will 100% have resigned, Vince would never let somebody leave the company with a title again, let alone his most prized one.

I honestly can't figure out what will happen on tonight's Raw, but i personally feel that this whole storyline may be a way of writing Vince off TV for good, the promos all seem to focus on Punks statement about Vince dying, I don't believe they'll try to kill him off again but I do see this storyline leading into a storyline of him retiring.

 

[IvoryHHH]

I can see something like before Vince fires Cena he exercises his rematch clause tonight on RAW & being that there IS a rematch clause, Punk is forced to defend the title & loses it back to Cena tonight

 

[JSpaz]

Many interesting "What if's" about tonight and going forward past RAW. Here are some questions based on some of the ideas thrown out there.

1) I agree 100% there is not the roster power for both the WWE and WHC to exist. The titles should be combined. Having one less title may help revive the IC and US title which are pretty much meaningless.
BUT............... Vince had a chance to do this when Edge was forced to retire, and MIZ was the only champ. Instead we had a full blown tournament to crown a new champ. My guess would be no..

2) John Cena fired......... Everyone is talking about what Punk will do. Sign this person.... Sign that person..... Cena is still the top face on Raw. If he is out who takes that role? And, no, Vince will not just settle for losing money for 2 months to 3 months.

3) The MIZ ending up with the title............ If this was the case wouldn't he have won MITB last night??? If he was going to win the title, Del Rio could still lay clam to being the #1 contender and get his matchj.

4) Just handing the title to Alberto Del Rio........... NO. We saw a title change hands last night by someone getting kicked in the nuts. This would give NO credibility to either champion.

5) TNA is a better product that The WWE...... No Comment

 

[cmpunk4lyfe]

i personally doubt cm punk is going anywhere. he would have to have made some deal with vince under wraps before the match. but nonetheless, yes WWE should host a tournament and have the finals at summerslam. but i guess we will have to wait and see tonight on raw.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's an interesting question because, quite frankly, I don't think any of us has a clue as to what the answer is at this point in time. Given the fact that CM Punk is the new WWE Champion, I'm almost positive that he's signed a new deal with WWE and probably already did a while back.

I expect that WWE will continue the Punk is leaving angle for a while and I don't think he'll be on Raw tonight. After all, when he was "suspended", he didn't show up on Raw that night and it lent creedence to the angle as a whole. I think it'd be cool if they played a video or something from Punk, like a pre-recorded promo on the Titantron to sort of rub the whole thing in Vince's & Cena's faces. If the idea is to keep this going for a bit, then I'd say that Punk will take some time off just as John Cena might as we're all expecting him to be "fired" by the end of tonight.

With the WWE Championship out of the picture, I'm wondering if they might temporarily render the World Heavyweight Championship as no longer being brand exclusive. It'd be a good way of giving Christian more exposure and, as a novelty, it'd be kind of neat to see a single World Title in the WWE after all this time. I could see Punk eventually making his return and Vince could decide to merge the two into one title. After all, Punk "trashed" his company and the WWE Championship in and of itself so maybe Vince would feel that the WWE Championship is somehow tainted.

It's definitely a bit of a stretch and most likely won't go down that way. But, all things considered, it's probably not all that more outlandish than most other theories at this point in time. We'll have a much better look at the overall picture after Raw tonight.

 

[BigRedPunk]

I don't think we'll see Punk again at least not for awhile but who knows? I do expect a new design and belt to be introduced tonight and have some kind of match or tournament for the vacant title be held.

 

[Honkey_Kong]

Why does the WWE have to stop recognizing Punk's title reign? I mean the WWF Jr. Heavyweight Championship was mostly defended in NJPW back in the 80's.

The UFC had a problem when Randy Couture walked out as the UFC champ. They didn't stop recognizing him as the UFC heavyweight champ, but the interim'ed out the title. The WWE could do the same thing. Plus Punk could be defending the title out on the Indy circuit and eventually they will have a unification match. WCW did this back with the international heavyweight championship too when Flair left with the belt to the WWF.

 

[usfbullbob2006]

I've said it before and I'll say it again... there's NO WAY John Cena is actually fired. He is WWE's biggest draw right now, and with the company being TV-PG, he caters to the right crowd... children and women. Aside from Orton, he is the company's biggest moneymaker. They tried the whole "Cena gets fired" thing last year with Wade Barrett and it either didn't work like they'd hoped, or the intention was the same. Give him a while to heal from injury, and he'll be back. If McMahon was really going to fire Cena, he would've done it at the PPV last night, like he said.

 

[DarkLordFett]

If Punk hadn't re-signed with the company, the belt would still be Cena's. Vince couldn't stomach Hart going to WCW with the title, hence the Screwjob. They played on that last night. The Almost Screwjob, I guess you could say. I think this is one of the biggest swerves they've done in a long time. Punk signs, Vince gives him the title all the while Punk is "leaving". A week, maybe two. New title belt is made. Vince comes out and introduces not only the new belt but it's holder, the man he used to screw over John Cena. I guess you could call it, The Reverse Screwjob in Chicago.

 

[jmh1971nyr]

As of right now Punk IS at the Cubs game with the belt! AKA look at the photo on wrestlezone's homepage! Do you REALLY think that Vince would allow a non-employee to walk around with the belt? OBVIOUSLY this is a well thought out agreement he and Punk have for Punk's eventual return. Cena is going to be fired, take some time off to heal and show up shortly after Punk does to seek a rematch and go into WM champ.

 

[goodwinm]

Here is a scenario: McMahon rewrites the ending of last night's show. Have either a pair of 150 lb'ers in Cena and CM Punk t-shirts or a pair of midgets recreate the ending in the ring set up in an empty arena before the Raw taping, then have McMahon come out and call for Del Rio, who comes and defeats the fake CM Punk, show that at the very start of the Raw show and then announce Del Rio as the new champion.

I do however believe Punk re-signed... just ask Bret Hart how McMahon feels about someone leaving the company with a championship.

 

[The 3rd Amigo]

what is to come of the champiosnhip? i reckon rey is going to win it, mcmahon sweetened rey by offering the new championship to him, and in swap, allow for del rio to take off the mask of rey. After all we know how important the mask is to mexican wrestlers and mysterio also, so it wouldnt have been a hard decision, but in the end mysterio will take the title!

 

[Degenerate88]

Well as of now, we're either going to see Miz, Rey, or R-Truth crowned as new WWE Champ. Personally, i'd only like to see Rey Mysterio out of those 4 be the new champ. To be completely honest, if I have to watch The Miz be champion again, WWE just completely went from being awesome the past month, back to complete shit.

 

[RkoMachine]

If there has already been a thread made about this i am sorry but i couldn't find it


So who do you see getting the win here? Or will something happen with Punk that stops the match from happening? Will Delrio cash in after the match and win the title? Will the title have a new look?

I look forward to your opinions!

MODERATOR'S NOTE:
NO SPAM! Stay on topic.

 

[GCoh]

I don't think either will be WWE Champion next week. I dislike Mysterio and I am a Miz fan, but I don't see either getting the title. With a new CEO in the mix, I believe he will get CM Punk back next week in some shape or form, with Mysterio/Miz become No.1 Contender with Cena for a Triple threat at Summerslam.

Reason I think this is because on WWE.com, CM Punk is still listed as WWE champion on the superstars page. If he was "gone" it would say vacant much like it did when Edge was forced to give it up

 

[TheUndertakerFTW]

I'll go with Rey but you know what I really think? After I saw CM Punks twitter of "New WWE Champ? How can that be?" I think we will see CM Punk next week, I have a strong feeling we haven't seen the last of him, I think he has resigned it's just a big secret and now with HHH "in charge" he'll probably come back cause the E is under "new" managment. But that's just my 2 cents. PS: I hope they have a new WWE title and not another stupid spinner toy belt, that thing is god awful! It was cool for a week or two then got boring as hell!!

 

[skhotkieo]

Hope you have a good time and get ready for the pyro. If the Miz wins, i'm sure Cena will invoke his re-match clause. If Rey wins, ADR will cash in and win setting up a possible triple threat w/ Cena and Rey @ SSlam. Punk will face the winner @ Night of Champions to have a true WWE Champion.

 

[trashboy]

My thought tonight before they ran out of time and vince came down to do his promo.. is that Mysterio would win the title, only for ADR to come and cash in and beat Rey for the belt.. but now, since it's postponed till next week, don't know.. it could still happen that way, or something different goes down.. either way, I don't care because i hate all 3 of those guys, Miz, Rey and ADR, I wish neither of them would be champ.. ADR should cash in and lose, but that honor will probably go to Daniel Bryan..

 

[Vintage Nick]

Honestly, I don't think either will get the belt next week. The events that are happening on RAW lately will obviously lead to a screwjob in the title match next week, possibly instigated by Mr. McMahon himself. Perhaps CM Punk (if he's signed and they're just keeping it under wraps) makes a little appearance?

Anyways, I am not too high on either guy winning the title. Rey I know is a cash cow for Vince, but I just don't like his championship reigns. Yeah I know, "suspend your disbelief", but I honestly can't help but think it's preposterous for Rey to beat people that basically tower over him.

Miz, I don't think will get the title back so soon. He's fine at where he is with Riley at the moment, and he doesn't need the belt at this point.

But like I said, I smell a screwjob next week. Let's tune in!