2008 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

With Orton out, Taker on vacation and Batista rumored to be taking down time, the timing for the WWE Draft could not have come at a better time.

That said, here's the deal: You're Vince McMahon. Ratings are falling to record lows (the 2.9 they did recently really has him on edge). How do you restructure the three shows? Obviously, Trips, HBK and Orton aren't going anywhere but Raw, so that's the only rule.....

 

Batista to Raw would be pretty obvious, since he's already feuding with two Raw faces (depending on how we're supposed to view Jericho). He's a better heel, and if Orton's out for a while, they'll really be hurting for them. If Batista was going to take time, it'll probably have to be pushed back with Orton's injury.

Kennedy would be a natural switch to Smackdown, since a) his feud with Regal was short-circuited by the Wellness Policy, b) nobody really wants a long-term Kennedy-Burchill feud and c) Kennedy has beef with Edge from last year's Money in the Bank, though WWE generally won't pay off a plot point from that far back.

Umaga has been talked about to Smackdown for some time now, so that'll probably happen.

What damned show is Big Show technically on, anyway?

I'm guessing any draft will give Raw the better half of it, especially since Smackdown's dropping down in network quality.

 

I'd love to see MVP moved to Raw.

 

Dead on with Kennedy.....he's no better than a mid-carder with pop on Raw; on Smackdown, he'd have a clear shot at championship gold. I think you will see him and Edge go at since they never really developed the story due to Kennedy's injury. I wouldn't be surprised if they start the arc of Jericho as a heel tonight. Cena-HHH will be the money feud of the summer, but Jericho can play a big role if they play it right.

I did see where WWE is interested in pushing some of their younger stars, a smart move considering 'Taker's probably got a year or less, HBK's got serious mileage on him and the last young superstar they developed was Cena. No one's holding their breath on Shelton Benjamin finally getting a run, but here's one to ponder: what young mid-carder has the makings of a being a superstar?

Makes you wonder how long McMahon rolls the Brinks truck in front of AJ Styles....

 

Jim Ross was hinting at huge changes in his latest blog. Ratings are really low and people are sick of seeing the same handful of superstars main-eventing. How often can you see The Undertaker, Batista, Edge, Shawn Michaels, HHH, Randy Orton, and John Cena wrestle one another? The WWE really needs to start developing some big-time superstars...I think Mr. Kennedy and MVP are two guys that are ready for the spotlight.

If I was Vince, I'd be preparing lucrative contracts for guys like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Petey Williams.

 

I can see MVP doing big things, if they just let him get some wins over some main eventers.

Kennedy's run on Raw keeps getting interrupted due to health and Wellness issues. I could still see him get a good run.

Problem is though, is WWE has been acting like late '90s WCW with the top stars never leaving the main event spot. Watching an MVP/Batista match, I already know that Batista is going to win. Having him put over MVP would elevate the next guy.

For instance, the Undertaker/Festus match on Smackdown a few weeks ago. Taker made Festus look like a genuine threat, plus there was the intrigue of seeing Festus suffer his first loss. It was better that Festus' first loss is to Taker, rather than some mid-carder. That is how you elevate mid-carders.

Instead, we keep getting HHH/Orton/Cena. Nobody cares about HHH as a face champion, because he's so dominant. A face champ should show some vulnerability.

 

They'll give Lance Cade a shot at some point; he was a graduate of HBK's wrestling school and they'd been high on him for a while. I'm guessing some of those next-generation wrestlers (like DiBiase Jr. and, well down the line, Reid Flair) will get their opportunity. I suspect A.J. Styles is a little too cruiserweight for their tastes, and if they signed him they'd make him spend forever in development or make him low-card comedy fodder like Jamie Noble.

 

Kennedy could potentially be the biggest face in the company. He's charismatic and has a little Rock-esque quality about him. He's gotten way better in the ring too...he used to be pretty bad when he first started out, including a piss-poor PPV match against Batista awhile back. He had a few awesome televised Raw matches with Jeff Hardy a few months back. I love how he's retained his edge even though he's face now, unlike Cena, who was toned down compared to his edgy heel rapper gimmick.

If anyone watched One Night Stand last night...HHH's fan reaction had to be startling for the WWE. He drew much less heat than you'd expect a bigtime face champ. And the match was pretty disappointing, but I'll give that to Orton's injury and the fact that Last Man Standing matches rarely, if ever, work. They just get boring. Undertaker's match, on the other hand, was a vintage display of a vulnerable yet dominating face. Really, UT's matches are consistently superb, but I'd argue that he's one of the best wrestlers ever in the last 5-10 minutes of his matches. He knows how to get the fans on their feet and going crazy. He was super over and I loved some of the spots he took, especially that brutal last one.

I enjoyed the stretcher match. Gimmicky as hell, but it was smartly booked. Batista is an underrated worker when he's motivated. I would love to see Jericho/HBK start a heel alliance. The womens match bored me to death. Too many submissions and the crowd was dead as hell because Melina is not likeable and Phoenix is the biggest heel in the division. JBL/Cena never, ever work well together and it's a wonder that they are still put together. If they can't work a memorable WrestleMania title match, what makes you think they'll have a good ONS meeting? Boring. Time to get JBL off TV. Mike Adamle had a funny skit last night, talking to Cena and Mickie backstage about getting high in Tijuana, Mexico or something.

Umaga/Jeff Hardy was fun as hell and a great opener and even the ECW Singapore Cane match was pretty watchable, with Shawne Merriman decking Chavo. Overall, one of the better WWE PPVs of the year.

 

Agreed...they'd fuck up A.J. somehow. He's really small, even though he has main event ability. Vince doesn't realize that people would rather see great workers like Styles than physical freaks who can barely move like Khali. Cade will get a shot and I see him getting a mid-card title push soon as a heel. I'm not completely sold on him, but he definitely has the look. I am impressed with DiBiase Jr. and curious to see how he progresses. He seems much more ready for the bigtime than Cody Rhodes, who is unconvincing to say the least. But I love the idea of a Raw stable of second-generation stars (Orton, Rhodes, DH Smith, DiBiase, Reid Flair, maybe even Chavo and Carlito)

 

Good point on Styles: If TNA thinks enough of him to put in angles where he's wearing a turkey suit, one can only imagine what he'd be in for in WWE. At best, he'd be nothing more than a mid-carder who gets squashed by main-eventers. It seems like TNA may be on the verge of giving him a push, so a move to WWE would be a huge mistake.

WWE has become predictable in that WCW-like manner Baron mentioned. They are running the risk of becoming without making some drastic changes. Pushing someone (MVP, maybe) new to a main-event status would be a start, but it sounds like the top guys are -- much like Hall, Hogan, Nash, etc. 10 years ago -- are going to be resistant to losing their spot without realizing that everyone benefits.

 

So when does HHH job to HBK via Fingerpoke of Doom?

 

I'd like to see MVP, one or both of the Hardys, Kennedy, Benjamin and Carlito at the top of the card.

That group would probably draw - and be enough to shake things up quite a bit but still have a little reliability for the stodgy old boss.