2008 Running Pro Wrestling Thread

He came out with Cryme Tyme, no?

Love, love, love, that opening segment. Booking at its finest. We criticize WWE like hell, and they oftentimes deserve it, but they hit on all cylinders during the first 20 minutes of Raw: JR got his farewell speech in OKC, Edge continued to be built as a monster heel, SmackDown was put over well, Batista got his revenge to end the feud, and CM Punk finally cashed in and brought a major title to freshen up Raw.

I understand the criticism that there wasn't much wrestling, but last night was used to set up future Raws, introduce the new talent, and help set up house show matchups. If I was a betting man, I'd say they are setting up JBL vs. Cena. vs. CM Punk for the title at the Bash and Cena vs. Punk at SummerSlam.

 

at least we dont have to go thru another trips-cena summer long feud again.

 

To be fair, they didn't really do much with a Cena-HHH feud for a few years, so they could have run this to SummerSlam without killing it.

 

doesnt matter. those two and orton have been at the top for too damn long, imo.

 

Cena and Cryme Time ... made sense to me. Given their love of hip-hop, they would seem friendly.

Agreed on the first 20 minutes tonight. JR got his sendoff (in Oklahoma City no less), which was good to see. But the moment Edge talked about how he wouldn't have to defend his titles against Batista and the likes during his bit, Punk immediately came to mind. I didn't think it would happen, though. Great to see them make the transition there AND have him defend the title, too.

Re: Rhodes-DiBiase, is it me, or did they get no response from that crowd? No cheers, few boos, but mostly disinterest. Didn't seem like they drew much emotion one way or another. I'm glad they turned Rhodes heel to run with DiBiase, because it does make sense, because they actually LOOK like a tag team as opposed to some of these tandems they've come up with. But if no one cares ...

 

I've criticized WWE for years and I know I'm not the only one on this thread to do so, but for once, I shouted out loud at something done right. When CM Punk won the title off Edge last night, it was followed by me shouting "He did it, James! He did it!" Having Punk defeat JBL in a title defense later in the show was a total bonus.

YES, Tripp was a CM Punk fan. He also hated JBL with a passion that only comes from those who understand the term "X-Pac heat." As my avatar has said since learning of James' passing last week, "do it for JM" under a photo of CM Punk. The first post I had on the pro wrestling thread after I learned of James' passing said I hope CM Punk wins the world title. The only thing that would have made this moment better would have been calling James at home to see if he was watching it (he usually taped it to watch later).

CM Punk did it. He did it for JM!

 

i immediately thought of james last nite when punk won it. it would have been awesome if punk had said "this is for you, james" during his promo.

 

I watched CM Punk's actions right after he won the title and I swear I saw him mouth the words -- "We did it"

What would be cool, actually, is to have a way to send CM Punk an e-mail or a letter telling him that James was one of his biggest fans.

 

didnt james interview him once? and i wonder if CM knows about his passing?

 

RVD and James had a better relationship. Perhaps RVD could pass the news along to Punk somehow.

 

Found the post(s) I had soon after hearing of James' passing last week. I hope James is smiling today.

 

I wonder who they'll throw into the #1 contenders spot for the world title on RAW. I'm assuming JBL, but a CM Punk and JBL feud will be boring and kill ratings. There is talk, however, of turning Batista heel.