WWE General Discussion - January 2009

[Rob Anybody 0]

I feel like this should be lumped in beside "why wrestlers run back from Irish whips", but it still bugs me.

Because when a wrestler hits the ropes, they launch the wrestler back.

 

Sort of a poor example, I guess, but it helped illustrate the secondary point - you can explain it easily enough, but no-one ever really does. When a wrestler's thrown to the ropes, he either bounces back or grabs it, and whichever one he does is taken as the logical choice for him in that situation. In the situation I described, you can rationalise it afterwards, but in-story the explanation is "that's how it is". It's just pedantic crap that bugs me enough for me not to just take it like that, not really a writing failure that's worse than anything else going on.

 

Because the heels are bad guys and are letting the guy who is turning do all the work. Beer Money should jump Abyss AFTER Morgan beats him down (even though Morgan cut Abyss open, thus Beer Money won the match), not during. What if Morgan turned his attention back to them? Sure, 2-on-1 but Morgan is a giant and you don't want to mess with that.

 

But they didn't jump Abyss, which is part of the point. They stood around, then left the ring. They'd gotten this far in a match with two-on-two against guys called the Genetic Blueprint and the Monster, and when one of them is knocked down and bleeding, they don't press the advantage? If it was a normal wrestling match, then it could be explained as they won the match, they don't care any more. But it was a First Blood match, they just spent however long trying to cut these guys open and vice versa, then the bad blood vanishes once the bell rings? If they'd won via their own hand then it would be understandable, but it's a grudge-style match, and they're letting the grudge slide when they have a perfect opportunity to put the boot in.

 

Like I said, it's more pedantic than anything else - like asking why winning a wrestling match makes up for someone trying to steal your son or trying to kill you or something. It's wrestling, that's how the story works. It just bugs me.

[LuckyLopez 0]

Yeah, but there's also a basic bigger picture issue. Beer Money slinking off has a likely result. Morgan and Abyss forget about them and get into their own thing. A tag team that has been a thorn in Beer Money's side for months no longer cares about them. But attacking one or both could well piss them off enough to continue the fight. In a worse case scenario you might even piss them off enough to have both them of them find tag partners and you've created 2 threats where you had none. Sometimes its just easier to walk away and stay out of people's business. Let two threats get distracted with each other and forget you even exist. Getting some shots in may satisfy your ego or hostility but in the long term it may well extend your grudge feud when you had the opportunity to end it.

 

Because lets face it, in situations like that Beer Money probably would have been happy to walk away from that feud before the match. They have the belts. They're the heels. Odds are they would be ok getting away with as little damage as possible when the opportunity presented itself. It was Abyss and Morgan pushing the feud both for revenge for heel actions against them and to get the gold.

 

 

 

I really think there's a lot of unexplored stories to tell with MitB. WWE has basically told the exact same story 3 out of 4 times and TNA's Feast or Fired version has repeated that story a couple of times. But there are plenty of other ways to go. Similar to RVD's usage a wrestler could well choose to do it in his hometown or a place special to him. WM is a clear option as is a repeat of using ONS to get a Hardcore match (or in TNA to use Lockdown for a cage). A face could well retain an advantage while being "noble" by challenging an opponent randomly but in a fair fight, retaining the element of surprise and advantage of preparation but not resorting to the heel usage Punk risked.

 

There's been two ideas I've sort of imagined over the last year. With Punk I originally thought they were going to have him taunt the champions with the case. He did it a few times early on going to teh various champs and teasing that he could use it... but he didn't keep it up. I think extending that idea would be interesting with the MitB winner increasing his profile while getting in the head of the champion(s) looking for the right opportunity very publicly. Punk kind of just lurked in the background and then sprung on Edge. Edge's first win seemed to be more high profile and he used it to elevate himself even while feuding with Kane, Matt Hardy, and Flair.

 

Another thing I sort of imagined with Punk or Hernandez in TNA was for the challenger to sort of go into training. Announce publicly that this was his big shot and he wanted to make sure he was in peak form. So he takes on challengers of all sizes and styles, eventers into a variety of match gimmicks, all under the notion that he wants to be ready for anything. You could play that out into a ton of high profile matches and gimmicks that win or lose, could elevate the guy. Some could turn into real feuds and some just mutual respect bouts. But all building up the guy as he doesn't look for the opportunity to take advantage of the champ at his weakest, but rather looks to use the shot at his (the challenger's) strongest.

 

Its just fantasy booking but the point is I think there are plenty of unique stories left to tell with this notion. WWE's been pretty lazy with it and I'd really like to see them branch out. Its 1 story a year so the match could have amazing shelf life before you NEED to repeat stories. And 2 or 3 years without giving it to an opportunistic heel and doing the Edge move could seem fresh and exciting again. And as was said, it serves as a cheap booking tactic to give a bunch of midcarders something to do in a crowd pleasing match every WM. And while that's a bit of a booking crutch, its one that WWE can use since they tend not to put much focus on their midcard.

[Scroby 0]

I feel like this should be lumped in beside "why wrestlers run back from Irish whips", but it still bugs me.

Because when a wrestler hits the ropes, they launch the wrestler back.

 

Sort of a poor example, I guess, but it helped illustrate the secondary point - you can explain it easily enough, but no-one ever really does. When a wrestler's thrown to the ropes, he either bounces back or grabs it, and whichever one he does is taken as the logical choice for him in that situation. In the situation I described, you can rationalise it afterwards, but in-story the explanation is "that's how it is". It's just pedantic crap that bugs me enough for me not to just take it like that, not really a writing failure that's worse than anything else going on.

 

Like I said, it's more pedantic than anything else - like asking why winning a wrestling match makes up for someone trying to steal your son or trying to kill you or something. It's wrestling, that's how the story works. It just bugs me.

Ever hit a pair of ropes that are elevator cable? You get launched back. That's why even when you see people grab the ropes, they still have a little whip to it. Besides if you want a more logical question, why doesn't the wrestler whose Irish whipping the other wrestler, Irish whip hard enough so the wrestler goes flying though the ropes?

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

Expect a cleansing soon - I was very close to getting a record amount of low posts in the monthly mega thread but it's picked up in this last week of January.

[USC Wuz Robbed! 0]

Two possible scenarios I'd like to see used with the MITB:

 

For the sake of the fantasy booking, I will use wrestlers as examples for the type of character that is best fit for the storylines...

 

 

1. MVP, in middle of his losing streak, has in a way, won a spot in the match by fluke. He wins the MITB also by fluke. However he deems himself ready to challenge for the championship, using the MITB shot. He picks the first sign of the champion, Triple H's vulnerability, but Triple H regains his form and retains the title. MVP has crapped out here. Humiliated, he goes in hiding for a few months. He reappears with a renewed sense of focus. He shows off the serious side by scaling back on the showmanship that might have distracted him in the past, and he is seen as slowly rebuilding his credibility. This might be coupled with a babyface turn when he shows that he isn't down for the usual heel tomfoolery that he has been involved with in the past, and he enters the Royal Rumble, and wins it. With the Royal Rumble shot, he goes to Wrestlemania, and he captures his first World championship in a good match that shows him off as finally being ready to be a championship level wrestler.

 

2. Shelton Benjamin has won the MITB. He announces that he will not exercise his shot any time soon. The WWE scales back on the promotion of his MITB victory, to the point it's nearly forgotten. Shelton is pushed as a guy on the cusp of being a main eventer. He has some good feuds with upper midcarders/main eventers which he is allowed to look strong. He enters the Royal Rumble, and wins it. The focus is on his Royal Rumble victory as they build to a Shelton/Triple H match. At the show, Shelton begins by battering Triple H badly with weapons, to the point Triple H cannot continue the match. He is however, awarded the DQ victory. Shelton simply restarts the match, having NOW cashed in the MITB shot. He goes for the simple pinfall to win the championship. If the WWE doesn't want the fans to go home like this, they can either have a face win the other title in the main event, or have a babyface win the new MITB that night, and cash it in the same night, to take away what Shelton worked all year to accomplish.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

Jack Swagger's All-American Swagger to the front, please.

 

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/superstars/ja.../photooftheday/

[dubq 0]

I feel like this should be lumped in beside "why wrestlers run back from Irish whips", but it still bugs me.

Because when a wrestler hits the ropes, they launch the wrestler back.

 

Sort of a poor example, I guess, but it helped illustrate the secondary point - you can explain it easily enough, but no-one ever really does. When a wrestler's thrown to the ropes, he either bounces back or grabs it, and whichever one he does is taken as the logical choice for him in that situation. In the situation I described, you can rationalise it afterwards, but in-story the explanation is "that's how it is". It's just pedantic crap that bugs me enough for me not to just take it like that, not really a writing failure that's worse than anything else going on.

 

Like I said, it's more pedantic than anything else - like asking why winning a wrestling match makes up for someone trying to steal your son or trying to kill you or something. It's wrestling, that's how the story works. It just bugs me.

Ever hit a pair of ropes that are elevator cable? You get launched back. That's why even when you see people grab the ropes, they still have a little whip to it. Besides if you want a more logical question, why doesn't the wrestler whose Irish whipping the other wrestler, Irish whip hard enough so the wrestler goes flying though the ropes?

 

I think another reason could be that the guy being thrown into the ropes allows himself to bounce back instead of holding on and stopping each time is because he may have some sort of "rebound-offense" in mind. *shrug*

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I met Hornswoggle at a green bay bar last night. He didn't seem terribly interested in talking to this mark.

 

Kennedy will be at Best Buy here sunday to sign his movie.

 

 

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

I met Hornswoggle at a green bay bar last night. He didn't seem terribly interested in talking to this mark.

 

Kennedy will be at Best Buy here sunday to sign his movie.

 

You should have decked him with an aluminum trash can.

[TheFranchise 0]

I'd have loved a Hornswaggle and Brody photo together.

[Matt Young 0]

I met Hornswoggle at a green bay bar last night. He didn't seem terribly interested in talking to this mark.

 

He can't speak English, dumbass. Don't you watch ECW?

 

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I'd have loved a Hornswaggle and Brody photo together.

 

I didn't bring my camera

[BruteSquad_BRODY 0]

I called him Dylan, was that too inside?

[Enigma 0]

Probably.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Jack Swagger's All-American Swagger to the front, please.

 

http://www.wwe.com/shows/ecw/superstars/ja.../photooftheday/

 

 

Man, that guy is so goofy he's great.

[Silence 0]

The only thing that doesn't make him smile is when his belt gets stolen.

[Papacita 0]

Did anything significant ever come of Randy Orton costing Punk the title? I was seriously looking forward to that feud when it went down.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

IIRC, Orton was on his way to beating Punk in a match on Raw when DiBiase ran in for some reason and got punted. I don't think they ever wrestled one on one after that. But if they did, Orton went over.

[Epic Reine 0]

They had a lumberjack match on Raw the week before Survivor Series which Orton won after interference from William Regal. It's a shame that the Orton/Punk fued never really took off, it would have been huge.

[Papacita 0]

I literally would have mailed WWE my wallet for the chance to see that feud. I'm sure there's some bias here on my part, since I'm a Punk fan, but Orton costing him the belt like that (especially when you consider that Punk was such an unlikely champion) was one of the more significant heel acts I can remember in recent years. On top of that, both guys can be really strong characters/mic workers when given the opportunity, so the feud could have conceivably carried the show. I mean, I could've seen some Rock/Austin level stuff coming from these two.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. I doubt WWE will let a feud like that pass, although they did pass on Hogan/Flair. But I definitely think these two will have another feud, and a better feud; one that will be built for a few months.

[foleyfanforever88 0]

I can't wait for a good Punk/Orton feud. I think if they hadn't halted it, (and Batista hadn't gotten injured) it could have been Raw's title match at Mania.

 

In other news, 25 reasons Wrestlemania is better than the Superbowl:

 

http://www.wwe.com/magazine/articles/supersunday

 

 

[luke-o 0]

Doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. I doubt WWE will let a feud like that pass, although they did pass on Hogan/Flair. But I definitely think these two will have another feud, and a better feud; one that will be built for a few months.

 

Sure, but it's been too long now. They can fued and it will be great, but they can't really use, "Hey! You cost me my title a year and a half ago! Now I want revenge!"

 

The fued would have worked better if it had been done from the when Punk lost the title.

[luke-o 0]

4. Hallelujah! No Bob Costas

With Super Bowl XLIII airing on NBC this year, you’ll be subjugated to at least four hours of inane pregame chatter spewing from the mouth of diminutive, non-athlete Bob Costas. He’s not nearly as entertaining as the similarly-sized Hornswoggle, but he is much cleaner.

 

Yeah, but Horswoggle wasn't in BASEketball.

 

Costas > Hornswoggle.

[bob_barron 0]

f-e-u-d. Not f-u-e-d.

 

I wonder what Costas said to piss off WWE recently. He's a big wrestling fan, but it seems like he goes back and forth with being in their good graces

[Mike wanna be 0]

f-e-u-d. Not f-u-e-d.

 

I wonder what Costas said to piss off WWE recently. He's a big wrestling fan, but it seems like he goes back and forth with being in their good graces

Didn't Costas give Vince shit on an interview a while back?

[Enigma 0]

Bob Costas is a wrestling fan, but he totally turned a 180 on the WWF when they started going raunchy in 1997 and smeared Vince to anyone that would listen.

[bob_barron 0]

But he participated in the buildup to Hogan v. McMahon

[The Truthiness 0]

Wasn't Vince a producer of a show hosted by Costas in the 80's?

[Beto Chavez 0]

Cool site. Okay now.

 

You can cash it in up to next year's Wrestlemania. So concieveably, if you want to main event Wrestlemania, you can

 

If they wanted to, have somebody from one brand win Money in the Bank and then the other brand can have a superstar win the Royal Rumble. Both main events would be covered for Wrestlemania, but of course that takes the fun out of the Elimination Chamber.

 

They had a lumberjack match on Raw the week before Survivor Series which Orton won after interference from William Regal. It's a shame that the Orton/Punk fued never really took off, it would have been huge.

 

If only Punk was taken seriously more, I think he would've done great headlining WM. They had a perfect storyline set-up, but the wrong person went over.