2011 Pro Wrestling Thread

This whole story line has lost its steam. It's become a trainwreck. I still don't understand why Punk is the new leader, and I'm not sure what'll happen with the SmackDown faction.

The Morrison-Bryan match was the match of the night, even though it was pretty quick. I'd love to see those guys get a good 15-20 minutes in the future.

 

Also: I'd love to hear "He's a man called Sting" blaring over the speakers at the Rumble. How awesome would that be?

 

It wouldn't surprise me if that became a Rumble match, maybe with the title on the line. I definitely agree, it was a very good match that left both guys looking good after it.

(Plus, I don't mind the Bellas on my television set. Also, Maryse essentially wrestled in a leather thong, which was also awesome.)

 

Mason Ryan has the goods. Last time I really watched FCW he was the champ. I suppose he dropped it recently.

For my money Raw had some good wrestling on it. Morrison-Bryan was damn good as was Cena-Punk.

 

Hitler had the open hand. I suppose they could bring back JBL as another Nexus leader.

I agree though, they've never really explained why Punk is leading Nexus, other than Otunga's "We're under new management." Hardly any mention of Gabriel & Slater. It's like Nexus-lite, now.

Heck, they could have had Cena beat Barrett in a "Loser goes to Smackdown" (but ends up on Raw 2 weeks later thanks to the WWE's lack of logic).

They could have then shown Barrett telling Nexus, "You guys can choose what to do," followed by Punk coming in and telling the guys about being Straight-Edge. Punk could then form a new Straight-Edge Society, and Slater and Gabriel could tell them that it's not for them, Punk wishes them well, and they go and join Barrett on Smackdown.

Simple, and to the point. Nope.

The rest of the show was pretty good. Morrison/Bryan looked excellent for the short time they were on. Give these guys a lot longer, and they could have a classic. Cena/Punk was also very good.

The fake 'Rumble' was stupid after DiBiase got thrown out. Why exactly, were all the midcarders, except for Sheamus, running down and getting thrown out? And Cole was being stupid by saying they were eliminated. Hello? It wasn't an actual match.

 

Not sure why they didn't transfer the Nexus name to Barrett and his group, since there's more original Nexus members in it (three) than the New Nexus (one). CM Punk as cult leader has potential, though we've already been down that road with the Straight Edge Society, but it feels grafted onto the Nexus platform. I guess they're comitted now.

Weird closing angle. Not sure why Punk invited Batista II to hit him with the running kick. Maybe they'll explain that next week. He definitely has the look, this Mason Ryan fella, though he's not as tall as Batista. A little surprised they put him in Nexus; I thought they were going to give him a fairly sizeable push as a solo act, similar to how they fast-tracked Sheamus (who, by the way, has been totally hamstrung by this hokey King Sheamus gimmick. He works well as the bemused bully heel who kills people, but this isn't really it).

 

Hitler's was open-palmed, not a closed fist, and he stole it form this guy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bellamy_salute

 

I agree that the Punk/Nexus thing doesn't quite feel right. I would guess that they feel like they need some group around Punk because of his size. Without henchmen he doesn't look like someone that should be champion. Although I thought he looked entirely credible battling Cena last night all on his own, before the run-in..

Also, as an aside, I think Punk has the most revolting tattoo set I've seen on a wrestler.

 

According to Meltzer:

New NEXUS member is:

Barri Griffiths from Wales, who has been wrestling under the name Mason Ryan, and was fast tracked to the main roster due to his resemblance to Dave Bautista.

I had to look closely before I believed it wasn't Dave. Sure as hell looked like him.

 

Agreed - the resemblance is uncanny. If this was the 1990s, he would be teaming with "Diesel" and "Razor Ramon"

 

Had to do a double take when I saw him on DVR last night. I thought for a second that WWE had pulled off one hell of a surprise by bringing Batista for a short program involving Cena. Ryan definitely has that "look" that makes Vinny Mac and Trips lust to push him.

Put it this way: Kevin Nash wouldn't call him a "Vanilla Midget."

 

Punk sacrificed himself by taking the kick, so it could be his "initiation." Also, since he received the kick, it (1) ended the match, allowing everyone to then beat up on Cena if they so pleased, or (2) gave Punk the victory via DQ ... the way Punk's character is/has been, it's highly likely he could use that as a "Haha, I beat Cena!" sort of thing.