WWE Raw LD 8/01/11 - The Champs are Here!

[X]

I enjoyed the show tonight for the most part. There was an unfortunate lack of wrestling on the show, but we did atleast get that sweet tag team match and that was enough to satisfy my hunger for free TV matches. I really enjoyed all of the Punk/Cena/Triple H and even the fuckin Johnny Ace promos. I laughed at the Dynamic Dudes reference too, and god damn someone said it and it's true, Johnny Ace is a dead ringer for Super Dave Osborne. Funny stuff.

I honestly thought they might have the title match be a ladder match to allude to the dueling IC titles ladder match that Razor and Shawn had back in the first one, but I get why they wouldn't since we just had a PPV with two different ladder matches.

Punk obviously has to win at Summerslam. 110% has to. And he will, they know that I think. It's starting to look more and more like it might wind up being Punk vs. Triple H at 'Mania. But then, what the hell does Undertaker do? They dropped hints already about doing a rematch after they had their match at Mania this year, so I thought they would do that one more time again honestly.

Fuck the haters. This angle isn't too rushed or anything, it's fucking perfect. And my oh my do we have some very promising looking main event matches on the book in the future.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

Fuck the haters. This angle isn't too rushed or anything, it's fucking perfect. And my oh my do we have some very promising looking main event matches on the book in the future.

Yeah, I have no idea how anyone can say this has been "rushed." This isn't 1988. Punk can't sit home for three months, come back, and finish this angle. I'm sure he'd get an insane reaction three months from now, but the angle would be dead (especially with Rock hanging around). It needed to happen now - strike while the iron is hot sort of thing.

 

[Uncle Sam]

Yeah, I fell asleep on the sofa before the end. Didn't really miss much.

 

[The Bearded One]

Either this city stunk ass

It was in Indianapolis. Of course the city stunk ass.

 

[suttree]

well, the crowd was kinda cold for punk at the ending segment, so i wouldnt say the iron is heating up too much.

 

[X]

That's just one Midwest town though. And even still, they cheered Punk all night long pretty much until the end of the show when they gave Cena a bigger pop for an inexplicable reason. It was weird cause they were being smarky all night and chanting for Punk and shit. Odd.

And yeah Nick I totally agree with what you said, the days of the slow-burn feud in the WWE are dead, this generation can't wait 3 months for a match to build and shit. They're already going out of their norm by announcing the Cena/Rock match a year in advance.

 

[Slyfox696]

Punk obviously has to win at Summerslam. 110% has to.

I disagree, I think Cena has to win. You don't want THIS feud to have matches where they end in DQ, or some other silly reason. You also don't want THIS feud to blow itself out (because it seems like one that can be redone, over and over again). I think Cena has to win, setting up the tie-breaking match at the next PPV.

That's just one Midwest town though. And even still, they cheered Punk all night long pretty much until the end of the show when they gave Cena a bigger pop for an inexplicable reason.

I'd hardly say its inexplicable. In fact, I can explain it right now.

Cena is still a bigger star than Punk. That's why more people popped for him. Those smarky guys (and they were mostly guys) who kept chanting Punk's name in the opening segment were a smaller percentage of the audience than it sounded like.


That's not a dig at Punk, in any way. It's just the truth. If they were to hold Raw in New York next week, I'm sure most of the crowd would cheer for Punk. But Cena is still the bigger star, and still has more fans.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'd be astonished if it were any other way. And the last time I was astonished was when I saw NorCal's dick pics, so you know it takes a lot.

 

[shattered dreams]

Yeah, I have no idea how anyone can say this has been "rushed."

A lot would have been gained by waiting a week IMO. It isn't three months rushed but what did they gain by having Punk come back last week? Unless he is John Cena now and they have to protect him from crowds that might not be as agreeable. They burned Cena-Mysterio and no one even remembers it happened. They are having a unified title match between two guys that one of them just won the title from on the last PPV. I watch a lot of TNA and even I think that is just stupid. The big announcement this week was something they could have done on WWE.com and then Punk and Cena did the same thing they did last week. The writers haven't impressed me at all with how they dealt with the changes.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

If the SummerSlam match between Cena VS Punk were to end in a draw (doesn't matter how weather it's double count-out or double DQ or whatever) and it's decided that both keep there belts, can this feud continue into Night Of Champions and still remain intresting or will do you think you will get bored in the whole 2 WWE champions thing

 

[X]

I disagree, I think Cena has to win. You don't want THIS feud to have matches where they end in DQ, or some other silly reason. You also don't want THIS feud to blow itself out (because it seems like one that can be redone, over and over again). I think Cena has to win, setting up the tie-breaking match at the next PPV.

Uhh, no. If Cena wins everything goes back to the status quo. That can't happen, and it won't. This isn't your typical feud where you have each guy win a match and then have a tie-breaking blow off match, this is bigger than that and Punk NEEDS to win at Summerslam or this shit is dead, just like the Nexus angle fell on it's ass last year as soon as they lost to Cena and Team WWE at Summerslam.

I'd hardly say its inexplicable. In fact, I can explain it right now.

Cena is still a bigger star than Punk. That's why more people popped for him. Those smarky guys (and they were mostly guys) who kept chanting Punk's name in the opening segment were a smaller percentage of the audience than it sounded like.


That's not a dig at Punk, in any way. It's just the truth. If they were to hold Raw in New York next week, I'm sure most of the crowd would cheer for Punk. But Cena is still the bigger star, and still has more fans.

That explanation might make sense if Cena had been receiving vocally louder pops and had people chanting for him throughout the night. He didn't. They pretty much gave Cena nothing but shit up until that last segment, when they suddenly just started cheering for him strangely. I agree Cena is a bigger star than Punk, but that doesn't explain why the majority of the crowd was booing Cena through out most of the night only to cheer him on at the very end. And even then they went right back to cheering for Punk again.

I wonder if they'll do Punk-Triple H at Survivor Series or try to stretch it out until Wrestlemania?

A lot would have been gained by waiting a week IMO.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to disagree man. For god's sake, what difference would 7 measly days make? What could waiting that one week possibly have done for this angle that can't still be done with Punk back on TV? I mean come on man, you're seriously complaining about ONE WEEK? That seems ridiculous to me and like you're kind of just looking for an excuse to complain about the angle. One week would have changed nothing.

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

A lot would have been gained by waiting a week IMO. It isn't three months rushed but what did they gain by having Punk come back last week? Unless he is John Cena now and they have to protect him from crowds that might not be as agreeable. They burned Cena-Mysterio and no one even remembers it happened. They are having a unified title match between two guys that one of them just won the title from on the last PPV.

It needed to happen now because Summerslam is two weeks away. They're concerned with PPV buys, obviously.

I watch a lot of TNA and even I think that is just stupid. The big announcement this week was something they could have done on WWE.com and then Punk and Cena did the same thing they did last week. The writers haven't impressed me at all with how they dealt with the changes.

There was nothing overly creative about this show, that's for sure.

Uhh, no. If Cena wins everything goes back to the status quo. That can't happen, and it won't. This isn't your typical feud where you have each guy win a match and then have a tie-breaking blow off match, this is bigger than that and Punk NEEDS to win at Summerslam or this shit is dead, just like the Nexus angle fell on it's ass last year as soon as they lost to Cena and Team WWE at Summerslam.

Hard to imagine Cena losing this match, honestly. Summerslam is an ideal event for a blow-off match, but unfortunately, the timing isn't right. You think Punk is going to go over at Summerslam, and that's it? That ends the feud? Punk wins this rivalry? If Cena loses this feud, as a whole, I'd be absolutely shocked.

 

[Shocky]

Yeah I can't really Cena losing this thing. This feud might make it to Hell in a Cell, which means Punk has to lose at either Summerslam or NoC. Punk can lose this feud and be fucked over by HHH and still look good.

I'm pretty sure you can lock HHH and Punk for survivor series. With it being in the Garden, theRock being there, and Survivor Series hurting overall the last few years, no way the WWE doesn't push this thing.

 

[shattered dreams]

It needed to happen now because Summerslam is two weeks away. They're concerned with PPV buys, obviously.

They were clearly concerned about drawing an audience so they rushed things. They loaded all the material they had on to last weeks show. I have a hard time believing that they couldn't build Mysterio-Cena into something that would sell PPVs, especially if Punk dropped enough hints he would show up. I do not think it was necessarily a bad idea to strike while Punk was hot. I just think the execution was shit. I'd have preferred to see them save Punk to this week at least and actually think the story was solid enough to wait until Summerslam and continue it in a way that made sense instead of rushing everything.

 

[Coco]

Anyone think that they are trying to set up CM Punk vs Triple H like Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon?

I think Punk is definitely closer to the Austin character than Randy Orton ever was or is.

Fresh take, man!

Anyway, reading this, I'm disappointed in some of you. Not surprised, but disappointed. Exactly how many times do you need to jump on a guy like IDR just because he disagrees with your point of view? Do you need external validation for your words so badly that you'll run down anyone who comes close to having a dissenting opinion? Better yet: Why does the opinion of someone whose opinion you have no reason to value bother you so much? One of these days, you people should learn to take "no" for an answer and move on.

 

[Slyfox696]

Uhh, no. If Cena wins everything goes back to the status quo. That can't happen, and it won't. This isn't your typical feud where you have each guy win a match and then have a tie-breaking blow off match, this is bigger than that and Punk NEEDS to win at Summerslam or this shit is dead, just like the Nexus angle fell on it's ass last year as soon as they lost to Cena and Team WWE at Summerslam.

I just disagree with that thinking.

Why would this feud fall apart if one of them doesn't lose every time? Do you really think so little of Punk that losing one match means he cannot keep up his part of the feud?

I read that all the time about the Nexus feud and it's just so silly. Nexus beat Cena up all the time. They left him laying face down on almost every edition of Raw. Cena's TEAM wins at Summerslam, and suddenly the Nexus has no credibility? That says far more about Nexus than it does anything else.

For all the crap I give Punk fans, he's not the Nexus. He can take a loss and go on, especially if the loss can be construed as "controversial" while clean.

That explanation might make sense if Cena had been receiving vocally louder pops and had people chanting for him throughout the night. He didn't. They pretty much gave Cena nothing but shit up until that last segment, when they suddenly just started cheering for him strangely.

Cena didn't show up in front of the live audience until the end, if I'm not mistaken.

How many guys get regular cheers when they're not involved in the show? But when Cena finally came out, the place ROARED for him. And when they did dueling belts, Cena obviously had more fans. Cena didn't create those fans throughout a show he wasn't on until the end, those fans were already there.

So, I wouldn't say it was inexplicable, it was simply a case where when that audience had to choose between Rock and Hogan Punk and Cena, they chose the guy who has been the bigger star for a longer period of time.

I wonder if they'll do Punk-Triple H at Survivor Series or try to stretch it out until Wrestlemania?

I don't see how they could stretch it out for 9 months. I think Survivor Series is most likely. Wouldn't be surprised to see a Punk vs. Undertaker match at Wrestlemania though, if Punk can continue to hold his heat.